I love writing about travel experiences — so many wonderfully amazing places in this world to visit. I’ve waxed eloquent (hopefully) about such magnificent places as the Acropolis in Athens, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, or Skookumchuk Narrows in British Collumbia’s Sunshine Coast. And what can match the mystery of the Giant’s Causeway in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, or the wondrous display of a Creators sense of humour as schools of angelfish decided my freckles were bits of food just waiting for their tiny beaks to feed on me while snorkelling! Do you know how hard it is to laugh while wearing goggles — and how could I not?

What I have never written about are the journeys taken to get to these amazing places, and the hours spent in airports. Who hasn’t experienced the mad rush to make it to the gate before it closes, or endured hours sitting on hard benches while your flight has been delayed yet again. Or what about the seemingly miles of unending halls to navigate, and security that is compelled to aggressively dig through the carefully packed contents of your carryon luggage?  (I know…it’s for our own safety)

On our recent trip to Europe, my husband and I had the joy of spending time in no less than four airports, each way. At times the layovers were of a short duration, other times we had several hours to fill before boarding yet another plane.

We have travelled a great deal and feel very blessed to have done so, and mostly without incident. However, life changed greatly three years ago when my husband was diagnosed with a serious medical condition. We still wanted to travel, but the simple task of getting from one gate to the next very quickly became an insurmountable task…or so we thought.

On this trip, our amazing travel agent at Flight Centre added a request on my hubby’s ticket…’wheelchair required’. It was a game changer. At each airport, a trained and ever so gracious ‘assistant’ was waiting to take him from point A to point B with both speed and efficiency. Who knew there were so many back halls and corridors available to those with the necessary security clearance. The added bonus? We got to bypass all the lineups for security and passport control…it was amazing! 

Have you ever tried to keep up with a wheelchair pushed by a licensed wheelchair operator while lugging two four-wheeled suitcases? (I’m sure they must take some kind of wheelchair driving course to move that fast) It’s not for the faint of heart, believe me. I achieved a week’s worth of exercise just trying to keep up. When time allowed, and it generally did, they would leave my husband (and me as the tag along) in one of the airport lounges available through my credit card, then magically show up just in time to get us to the next gate ready for pre-boarding.

In all seriousness, these amazing humans deserve more than they are probably paid and have earned our undying admiration for life. In leadership we talk about ‘servant leadership’, what we witnessed was such a lovely example of customer service servanthood. 

Travel will never be as effortless for us as it was in the past, but having access to such assistance made all the difference in the world. There are many more amazing places in this world we want to visit — these airport angels are now an important element in making this possible.

Trip Saavy | Wheelchair and Guided Assistance | Arranging special assistance UK | Canadian Affair | Travelling with disabilities

                                                                                                    

‘Thank you’ Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Pexels.com