If you’ve ever browsed through any of my social media accounts, you know that the local live music scene here in Orlando is my social life blood. I started playing the piano when I was seven years old, and tearfully, I had to give it up when I became unable to play with my right hand and use the foot pedals. However, I’ve been singing since I was 19, and I continue to do that today. I’ve been an ardent fan of live music in almost every genre for most of my life. I’m so lucky to have friends in so many local bands here, and that they regularly invite me to sing a few songs with them at numerous ..read more

Prior to the start of the pandemic, I was offered the amazing opportunity to sail on the then-brand new Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady. It was just supposed to be a 2-night preview cruise, but because of the cancellations and rescheduling due to Covid, I was granted a full 4-night cruise in a wheelchair accessible balcony cabin. I was very apprehensive about the wheelchair accessibility of the ship and my state room because I couldn’t find any information online. My experience turned out to be the best on any cruise ship in my life! Scarlet Lady has 30 accessible cabins divided between inte ..read more

If you know anything about Richard Branson, you know he’s all about the unusual and extraordinary! When he decided to start a new cruise line a few years ago under the Virgin banner, he definitely applied these principles. The original launch of the first Virgin Voyages ship, the Scarlet Lady, was supposed to happen in April 2020, but we all know what was going on at that time. Fortunately, after a year and a half of considerable patience and anticipation, I was able to finally take a 4-night cruise on this unbelievable ship. Out of the two dozen cruises I’ve been on, this has far and away bee ..read more

Bimini Beach Club is the exclusive Virgin Voyages Bahamas retreat, located on the tiny island of Bimini. The Scarlet Lady cruise ship makes port calls here during every cruise out of Miami, and it is one of the rare Caribbean private resorts where the cruise ship can actually dock. This means that passengers who use wheelchairs or other mobility aids can just roll off the ship and not have to worry about using a tender boat to reach the dock. That being said, the Bimini Beach Club is just one of several resort areas on the island of Bimini, and it is not within rolling distance of the dock. T ..read more

Florida is famous for many things, including it’s glorious sunshine and beautiful beaches. But truly, there’s no other place in the US like the Florida Keys. I grew up deep-sea fishing and snorkeling here with my family, eating fresh fish and locally-baked Key Lime pie while watching some of the most beautiful sunsets in the world. Key West is the biggest of all the islands in this scenic chain, and fortunately, it’s also very wheelchair accessible. Here are some of the great wheelchair accessible things you can see and do in Key West. 1. Mallory Square. If you want to be in the middle of ever ..read more

Air travel has always been the stuff of nightmares for wheelchair users. If we’re not worrying about our wheelchairs getting damaged or lost, we’re freaking out over possibly getting dropped or hurt during aisle transfers. Unfortunately, now thanks to American Airlines, we can add being denied boarding to the list. On October 21, popular accessible travel writer John Morris of WheelchairTravel.org went to his local airport in Gainesville, Florida and checked in for a flight on an American Airlines CRJ-700 regional jet to Roswell, New Mexico. These are small single-aisle jet aircraft with a two ..read more

Netflix is on a tear in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and I just can’t get enough of new shows to binge watch during my downtime—especially since world travel isn’t exactly a thing right now. I’m a huge space geek, so I was intrigued when I recently saw that one of the top new shows on the streaming platform was about a mission to Mars, called Away. I’m also a fan of Hilary Swank and Josh Charles, who play the two main characters, so I started the binge.  What I saw in the first few episodes totally blew my mind—but not for the reason you might think. You see, one of the m ..read more

I was born and raised in Florida, I was stationed here twice while I was on active duty in the Air Force, and five years ago I again became a resident. But despite having lived more than half my life here, I still can’t get over the summer heat! The situation is even worse for me because I have multiple sclerosis (MS), a disease that makes me very sensitive to heat. Sitting in a black wheelchair under the sun is definitely no picnic either, especially when any part of your chair is make of vinyl or leather. And let’s not even talk about the sweating and fabric cushions! Fortunately, there ..read more

Okay, admittedly at first glance some of these tools and gadgets you’re about to see may look like torture devices, but I guarantee you, they are not. Over the last several years, I have been losing strength and dexterity in my hands, and standing up to reach something is increasingly difficult. I have accumulated several different tools and gadgets to help me live and travel independently as a wheelchair user (I use/own all of the tools below), and I would like to share these with you in case you could find them useful as well! (CLICK ON EACH IMAGE FOR MORE DETAILS) 1. The grabber.  Okay ..read more

[Disclaimer: I am STRONGLY recommending against ANY travel in the coming months due to the coronavirus outbreak. STAY HOME! These are germ-fighting techniques I’ve refined as a wheelchair traveler with an autoimmune disorder that could help others while trying to avoid coronavirus or other illnesses.] I make no secret of the fact that I’m a germaphobe. To be more specific, I have something called emetophobia, or a panic-inducing fear of throwing up. I know it may sound weird, but it’s actually quite common. As a result, I’m almost paranoid about germs related to norovirus, the germ that cau ..read more