Staying Entertained While Traveling – A Guide for the Disabled

Not all disabilities are apparent to others, but for each person living with a disability, the experience is totally personal and unexplainable to the able-bodied. What this means is that you might not be able to tell that someone is visually impaired just by looking at them, but for the actual person with the disability, even they are going to have different experiences depending on where they are and who they are with. 

Taking the same route home every day helps the disabled to become comfortable and familiar with the area. By contrast, traveling comes with its own level of excitement and challenges. Whether you travel all the time or only on rare occasion, you need to learn how the disabled are traveling in style in 2019.

Taking What You Need to Stay Entertained 

By car, plane, bus, or train, people travel near and far, for business and for pleasure. As long as you won’t be operating a vehicle yourself, you will have a lot of time on your hands for fun and entertainment. Naturally, gaming fans need only a laptop, power source, and a stable internet connection. Portable charging stations as well as portable modems are suggested if you are going to be on a train or in a car. 

When it comes to flying, you have to consider what you can fit in your carry-on luggage. If you have any sort of equipment that you will have to take during your travels to accommodate your disability, then you will also have to account for the amount of room all of your belongings will take up. Your Wi-Fi connection might also be more stable if you are traveling by airplane, but also note that you won’t have internet access for the entire flight. Some bus companies also offer a Wi-Fi service and many have electrical outlets onboard, so this might be the preferred method of travel if you are intending on playing games.  

Making Travel Arrangements and Requesting Accommodations 

Whether you are going to have to go through security checkpoints at the airport, require special services for the hard of hearing, or need to bring a service dog onboard the train you will be traveling on, it is always best to make accommodations in advance. As a disabled person, you are federally protected and you cannot be discriminated against. The fact of the matter is that traveling can be a hassle. During the winter holidays, airports are packed and flights are regularly cancelled because of poor weather conditions. During the summer, you may not be able to find a car rental agency for miles with any availability. If you want the majority of your travel time to be dedicated to Second Life, then you should have all travel arrangements, special requests, and accommodations made several weeks beforehand. 

Preparing a Fallback Plan

You might have everything planned out and believe that you will be able to spend hours enjoying Second Life, but the fact remains that travel is a fickle beast. This is why a patient advocate can be the key to staying entertained while you travel. Patient advocates help to work the kinks out of any situation, including on flights and during international travels. You might also want to look at other forms of travel as a backup.

When you know that you are going to have lots of time available to really get into your Second Life character, you want to be disturbed as little as possible. This might be one of the biggest reasons why people seem to keep to themselves while they are on long flights or car trips. And for the disabled, a few extra plans might need to be made, but staying entertained during travel is also a great possibility.