Customer Reviews

Barrier-Free Travel: A Nuts and Bolts Guide for Wheelers and Slow Walkers, Second Edition

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the best how-to guide about accessible travel that I have ever read. I've been traveling for over 10 years in my wheelchair, and this book contains helpful information and resources that I never knew existed.

Every time I pick up a book about accessible travel, it contains all the same trite information. Of course this book is just the opposite. It contains useful information. I don't need to be told to get to the airport early or to remember to pack my medicine. This book covers all the essentials, gives you good solid information and doesn't just give you "common sense" tips. It's the only book on the market that does that.

It's an easy read -- not just a book filled with facts and figures. Real life situations are included in most chapters. The chapter about what to do when things go wrong is one of the most concise and informative advocacy guides I have ever read.

I wish that all travel agents and professionals would read this book too. It's a must for people who travel, but the professionals who plan our vacations also need to know this information!

My wife had a stroke four years ago and now has to use a wheelchair. We both wanted to travel bur I didn't know the first place to look to find out the things we needed to know. The physical therapist said lots of people who have had strokes travel, so we wanted to give it a try. But it was hard to find information. That's where this book helped. It contains a lot of information you need. It should be titled "owners manual" as nobody tells you this stuff when you end up in a wheelchair.

The cruise chapter was very helpful to me. I just figured I could call up a travel agent and book a cruise with a handicapped cabin. I'm glad I read the book before I made that mistake. There is also a very helpful chapter about choosing a travel agent and how to travel on an airplane with a wheelchair.

We just got back from our first cruise and it was great. I wouldn't have been able to do it without this book. If you are even only thinking about travel, I urge you to read this book. We are already planning our next trip.

I highly recommend this book to anybody considering traveling with a wheelchair. I bought this book before my vacation back east and it helped me understand my rights as a consumer. It also gave me helpful tips on how to get the services I need.

For example, did you know that hotels that provide free airpot shuttle service (in the US) also have to provide an accessible option, at no charge to the customer? Well, I didn't -- until I read this book.

A hotel in Boston tried to charge me for this service, but because I read this book, I knew the law and was able to deal with the situation. The result was that I saved (money), and the hotel had to provide me with free accessible airport shuttle service.

That's just one of the helpful tips that I found in Barrier-Free Travel.

This book also contains useful information about how to find and book an accessible room, how to work with (and find) a travel agent, cruises, ground transportation, overseas travel, advocacy, disability law and rights, air travel, protecting your wheelchair when you travel, and resources around the world.

It's a book that I will keep and continue to refer to, as I continue to travel. It makes a great resource book -- I wish more CIL's would add this to their resource library.

I got this book as a primer on traveling with a disability. I have Multiple Sclerosis and am both a "Wheeler" and a "Slow Walker" depending on the day. I found the information in Candy Harrington's book quite helpful as a place to start learning about accessible travel, but was sad to learn that many of her references are now outdated.

Fortunately, there is a new edition of this book, published earlier in the year. I haven't purchased it yet, but intend to. With current information, if the new edition is as comprehensive as this one, it would warrant 5 stars. This is a book for anyone, young or old, who happens to live with a disability -- even a temporary one -- but doesn't intend to be defined by it. Get out and travel!

I bought the first edition of this book and I was interested to see if the second edition had any new information in it or if it was just the same book with a new cover. I have to say that I feel I got my moneys worth. The second edition not only contains updated information and resources, but it also contains a lot of new stuff too.

The cruise chapter is really enlarged and there seems to be new information in the other chapters too. There is also a new chapter about traveling with children, and it seems good, but it really didn’t apply to me.

I would definitely recommend the second edition of the book...even if you bought the first one. It’s important to keep current with the laws and learn about new resources, and I think that the second edition does a very good job of that.

Ms Harrington provides a thorough understanding of how to enjoy travel from a wheelchair and troubleshoot those annoying glitches that tend to pop up. The information is useful and fairly current. It has helped me to secure appropriate accomodations and understand my rights and possible options when hotel/travel problems occurred. Be prepared and enjoy travel again! I look forward to the next edition!

I think it's a fairly good book, but has more focus to those limited to those in wheelchair and less for slow walkers. A couple of tips for slow walkers the author didn't mention was that several hot destination areas rent or loan for free wheelchairs or scooters. Such as all DC museums which loans out wheelchairs free of charge. (A piece of information I learned by chance.) Any travel desinations or activities for slow walkers? I'm still trying to figure that out as I try to plan vacations for my father who's a slow walker and rather a large person, too. Did you know that most Las Vegas hotels rent scooters to those slow walkers - and they let you store them in your room and take them out in the town. Though, the title does suggest that it's a guide for wheelers and slow walkers, it's probably more suited for "...A Nuts and Bolt Guide for Wheelers" and leave out the slow walkers as it doesn't offer too much on this subject.

This is a compilation of overcoming challenges for wheelers and slow walkers (as she describes us!). I found the information somewhat trite and didn't learn a whole lot from it although I view it from the perpective of someone who travelled extensively before becoming "mobility challenged" (as I like to describe it!). I was really looking for more information on how each country outside the USA addresses ADA-like issues. What's it like to use a wheelchair in, say, Madrid or Rio? Are there taxis available to carry wheelchairs? Are wheelchair vans available to rent? Other than these issues I found the book quite informative and would recommend it.

Mary Poppins may have found that a spoonful of sugar helped the medicine go down, but Candy Harrington successfully uses humor and anecdotes to dish out the many details on accessible travel. That makes this a resource book that draws the reader through the entire contents rather than one you just want to view for relevant sections pertaining to an upcoming trip. Her style even makes reading about the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) palpable so that readers will have the best possible flying experience due to what they learn. Chapters are further broken down by small sections which makes it an easy read for a resource book and also easy to return to when looking up some particular subject.

The author has dug deep to obtain the volume of details you'll find rather than the simple generalities that do little good. Seasoned travelers who have disabilities will appreciate the work she has done which will further benefit them. And there are added benefits for those who are later disabled and just starting to travel. They will gain confidence in realizing how available travel still is to them while also appreciating the details which must be handled rather than making the mistakes of assuming that access is always in place and that everyone's needs are the same.

As a travel consultant specializing in accessible vacations, I find that this book aligns with my feeling that knowledge is power and that the more travelers understand their rights and what's available, the more they are empowered to be a partner in ensuring a wonderful trip. This third edition gives updated information, regulations and resources making it invaluable to travelers. Don't plan on sharing your copy as you'll probably be using a highlighter on it for future reference! For travel agents wanting to learn more about accessible travel, I would suggest this as a reliable and necessary resource to keep within reach.

I could, have, and you can get the same information from chat rooms or message boards. Don't waste your money.