We have battled with MS to maintain our life together as normal as possible.  That includes the need to occasionally get away from home and relax in a vacation spot.  As our children became adults, married, and started their careers and families, traveling took on a new and more important need. We strongly desired to frequently visit our children, and other relatives for that matter.  Like many families, we became more geographically dispersed, forcing the need for more travel.

As Cheryl’s disability became slowly worse, the challenges of travel became so apparent.  At times the challeges were simply debilitating as we tried to negotiate the barriers we encountered.  No matter how carefully we planned an excursion, there was always something that created an obstacle to mobility that we had not anticipated.  Many times the obstacles were inadvertent on the part of hotels, airlines, and other participants in the travel industry.  Many times the obstacles were purposeful and we were mislead when we inquired during the planning phase.  The result was the creation of anxiety in both of us as we planned a trip with expectation of some unknown obstacle that was awaiting us at our destination.

Many entities in the travel industry were quick to find a solution for our obstacles.  Unfortunately, many of them stood behind their vague policies and demonstrated little concern for customer satisfaction for those of us with mobility challenges.

There was also a tendency to give up and not even try to travel.  No matter how strong a team may be, when dealing with MS it is very easy to lose hope, expect the worst, and simply not try to live a normal existence.  Fortunately, we love life too much to throw in the towel.  So we have been fighting the good fight and will continue to do so as long as we physically can.