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Poland under the microscope: Tri-City

Poland, Tri-City, Gdańsk, Sopot, Gdynia, electric wheelchair, accessible travel, accessible traveling

If we put Poland under the microscope, we would certainly see a diverse country filled with interesting places and Tri-City is one of them. Tri-City – in other words, a group of closely-tied cities – is composed of Gdańsk, Gdynia, and Sopot. These are cities located in the northern Poland, just by the Bay of Gdańsk and throughout the years I’ve been a frequent visitor there. Sometimes I visit because due to business matters, sometimes because of my personal desires. Either way, I’ve become familiar with Tri-City and I keep coming back for years. High prices and crowded streets should be enough to keep me away, but there’s something charming about the place that I can’t ignore.  Considering a visit? Great! Below I’ll be talking more about places to visit, things to do and general accessibility of Tri-City!

 

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Adventure of a lifetime: South Africa – Part II

South Africa, RSA, travel in a wheelchair, accessible traveling, safari

Adventure of a lifetime and South Africa go together very well, just like peas and carrots, or me and my Blumil elctric wheelchair :). The story of my South African escapade told in part I   has barely covered half of what I would like to tell you about this wonderful country. Cape Town, as breathtaking and fascinating as it is, is just a part of the beautiful mosaic of RSA. Garden Route, filled with many wonders in just under 300 thousand kilometers, is the focus of part II. You must know that my trip was divided into two parts: one week of intense road exploration and one week of relaxing in Cape Town. This post’s covering the road trip, and what a road trip it was!  Below you can find out all about South Africa’s must-dos, must-sees, and accessibility!

 

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Adventure of a lifetime – South Africa: Part I

Adventure of a lifetime- South Africa, accessible travelling, travel with a wheelchair

Adventure of a lifetime – that’s how I would call my trip to South Africa. I hope to experience many more beautiful moments and explore various new places thanks to my Blumil electric wheelchair, but I know wherever I go, South Africa will remain engraved in my heart. I always talk about my love for Barcelona, and I  call it my favourite place, but there’s a simple reason behind: South Africa’s just too far away to become my go-to travel destination. Still, if I were to choose my favourite place on the Earth, South Africa would be on the top of the list. It’s the most diverse country I’ve seen: I found everything I was looking for there. I spend two weeks there and these were, hands down, one of the best weeks of my life. RSA has so much to offer that two weeks seemed like two days – diversity and abundance of life around us was astonishing. Since I have so much to tell, it’s the first part of my South Africa story – one post wouldn’t be enough to describe all wonders I saw there. What to do, what to see and how accessible South Africa really is – all about it below!

 

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Inspiring wheelchair users

Inspiring wheelchair users

Somebody once said great things take time and time will pass anyway and these are words I have been living by as long as I can remember. I’ve learned to be patient and give my best, no matter how difficult is the path ahead of me. I believe hard work and time are the best things one can give to any project. Blumil electric wheelchair is a fruit of years of patience, perseverance, effort, and sacrifices. Creating the prototype? 5 years. Actually producing Blumil electric wheelchairs? Another two years. 7 years in total makes the number of 84 months of going on despite obstacles and problems. Was it challenging? Yes. Was it tiring? At times. Was it worth it? Absolutely. After all, now Blumil’s no longer a vision to make true – it’s the reality.

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In a touristic paradise – Thailand (on a manual and electric wheelchair)

Thailand, Thailand, Thailand… every time I see the rating of travel destinations, Thailand’s somewhere in top 10. Overrated? Underrated? That was a question I asked myself back in 2010 when I decided to visit it. What did I find? A touristic paradise – and I mean what I say. Stunning landscapes, lively metropolises, sandy beaches? Thailand has it all! From the moment I set my eyes on the diverse mosaic of Thai world, I knew I would fall in love with the place.  Friendly people cropped up in every corner, and the word “accessible” was more than an empty promise, so manual and electric wheelchair users can enjoy it as much as I did.  What are the flavors of Thailand? What can you discover there and what does accessibility mean in the Thai hotel industry dictionary? More about it below!

 

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What are the main types of wheelchairs?

main types of wheelchairs

What are the main types of wheelchairs?  That’s a question many people ask, and answers are often not so obvious. The market’s filled with many options and it’s easy to get lost in an incredible variety of everything it has to offer. Many years ago, when I bought my first wheelchair, the number of possible choices I could make was quite limited. Luckily, things have changed and the range of offers keeps growing each month. Blumil embodies all-terrain, off-road electric wheelchairs, but it’s not the only type of wheelchairs on the market. How many options does the wheelchair industry have in store for us? Find out below!

 

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Living the resort life in Tunisia

Accessible travelling, Tunisia, resorts

Living the resort life in Tunisia is full of the sunshine, long beach days and cocktails by the pool. There’s no flavor of the adventure and no trace of the emancipation for something exciting to come. There’s something entirely different on the menu: relax. Nobody’s rushing, nobody’s drinking their tea in haste: all that matters is here and now. Sounds pretty amazing, right? I’ve never been a big fan of the resort life, but I’ve always been in love with the sunshine, so I decided to chase the sun in Tunisia. It was October of 2005 and resort holidays in Tunisia were rather cheap, since the vacation season ended – the timing seemed to work in my favor.  What did I do in Tunisia? How accessible it actually was? More about it below!

 

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Where to eat in Warsaw? Top 9 places to visit

Mirror, mirror on the wall – what’s the best place of them all? Where to eat in Warsaw? Poland’s capital city might not be the largest European metropolis, but it’s vibrant and abundant in restaurants and cafés, and quite a lot are accessible. Anywhere you go, there’s a food heaven waiting for you. Since I’ve been living in Warsaw for years, I’ve eaten in many places. Cooking is definitely one of the things I truly enjoy, but from time to time it’s good to change something. As they say: variety’s a spice of life. There are lots of wonderful dining places in Warsaw, but the degree of their accessibility varies. Since I have Blumil, my all-terrain wheelchair, accessing less accessible places is not a problem, but I decided not to mention them here. Accessibility’s never out of style. Below you can read about my top 8 places to visit if you want to eat out in Warsaw!

 

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Planning an accessible trip

Planning an accessible trip is not half as complicated as it seems. All it requires is a little bit of traveling knowledge and good organizational skills, and practice makes perfect. I’ve been often asked how to successfully craft a plan of an accessible trip and as much as details would differ depending on a given location, there is one formula which, I believe, never fails: arm yourself with information. The more you know, the safer you are. If you research your options, it’s also easier to come up with a backup plan if something goes wrong. The knowledge’s your secret weapon, so don’t leave yourself unarmed. That’s my number one advice, but I have more secrets to share, and they will be slightly more practical. Below I’ll share with you a large share of my travel tips – accessible traveling’s within your reach!

 

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Tourism without barriers

Tourism without barriers is not just an idea we hold on to until the better tomorrow comes.  It’s more than a dream flickering in front of our eyes when we let our minds wander. It’s the vision we can bring into life if we work together. One voice may be only a whisper in the crowd, but the crowd of whisperers will be heard, and perhaps listened to.  Watching beautiful Polish mountains and cities full of history, I was filled with a sense of regret. Why? Most of these lovely places are impossible to access on a regular wheelchair. Even electric wheelchairs cannot be transported easily, due to their significant weight. Since I have become a proud owner of my Blumil, I have been able to experience freedom when I travel, but not everybody’s that lucky.

 

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