Travel, from a New Perspective with a New Purpose.

I started planning this last trip after my second surgery to replace my knees and repair my legs. Which made my point of view and focus different from every other vacation. My priorities are different now. I needed to have a motel room on the ground level and I discovered along the way that the Handicap Accessible Rooms are actually the best for me. It was a mentally challenging process for me. To accept that I am now a "handicapped" person and that I actually should have a Handicap Room. The emotions I felt were the hardest to get through. I'm a strong, independent, healthy woman... I just haven't recovered fully from surgery... right? I always get back up after being knocked down! I am a "beast"! I don't need a handicap room, or a wheelchair, or a walker, or any kind of special treatment... this is just temporary! Or not.
And little Awbri gets so car sick I planned to stop every hour or so. I looked for dog-friendly places to stop and get out of the car. I didn't think about me and that I would need to stop every hour or so. And Richard has his back and neck issues so he needs to stop often. I found that nice Rest Areas are an important part of a road trip. We found which states have excellent Rest Areas and which Highways have them every couple of hours. We also found which Highways don't have any places to stop. So I learned a lot on this trip about traveling as a person with disabilities and I am going to make my blog a tool for others. I have a hard time using the term disabled or handicapped.  Maybe mobility-challenged.
I have had to come to a place of acceptance. My RA has reached the level of "severe" or "end-stage" which means my joints have been damaged to the point that I can't just rest, take a course or 2 of steroids, eat all the anti-inflammatory foods, do all the right exercises, use heat and ice, get my emotional self completely calm and balanced, and I will be fully recovered. Now, my body is beyond self-repair and recovery. It is out of my control. I've been knocked down too many times to get back up and get back to normal. I can't get back up all the way. And normal is long gone.
I was so used to living with pain that I became too tolerant and didn't even acknowledge pain. But pain is the symptom of degeneration. From now on I have to acknowledge the pain and take care of it. I have to accept the immobility and deal with it.
And if I can make it better for someone else that is my purpose in life.
So... I will look forward from a new perspective. My focus is to find ways to get around the blocks that keep us from living the life we want within our limitations. Realistically but positively. If a place we want to visit is not mobility-challenged friendly I will let everyone know. I will find the resources that are helpful. I will gather the information and share it. I will be the test-dummy. And I will shine a light on the path for the mobility-challenged.