On Thursday the 6th April, I felt really nervous and anxious trying to remember if I had had packed everything I needed but I always worry on my first day of travelling like every one else. I have travelled so many times before but I still worry. My crazy support team which was my PA Tanya and CSW Sam came to my house for 11am.
Tanya and I had small back packs for the trip but then I saw Sam had a huge pink suitcase.
I think she thought she was going away for a month but it was only for 10 days ha ha!
We got into the car ready to go!
What beautiful weather it was on that day I felt so much better in the car and I was so excited for the trip to India. We drove from Halifax to Heathrow London airport and it took just over 4 hours but it was a nice drive and we were so excited. We arrived at Heathrow airport in London but had to drive round twice because of the Park and Ride service and the terminal was so busy. Finally a man came to pick up my car. Tanya and Sam unloaded the car and we made our way across the roads at the airport. I was so excited and lost my mind a little bit because when I saw the sign for Virgin Airways I drove off and forgot Tanya and Sam! Ooops! When it came to checking in everything was fine except for some staff not knowing about the details for my wheelchair. They asked a lot of questions about the weight and size of each of them even though I know the information was sent and had been forwarded to the right departments. A tip for the future for travellers is to have a copy of these details with you in case they cannot find the correct email.
Getting on to the airplane I was a bit frustrated as we should have been boarding before other travellers. I usually drive my wheelchair to the plane then I am assisted by my staff to my seat. The other person then dismantles the wheelchair panel, mount, Dynavox and also carries on the hand luggage. Sadly we were not given priority boarding and staff did little to help as people pushed past especially while Tanya was on the floor trying to dismantle the chair. I was ok being seated as Sam told one of the Virgin staff to walk in front and clear the area while we walked.
When we were settled I then relaxed and watched a film called Lion and had a sleep.
Finally we arrived in Delhi and had a change in time but wow it was really hot when we arrived! We were met Saurabh Pokhriyal who was our accompanying person from Travel World Experiences and Anvinder Singh who drove the accessible van. I did not know when I first met them how much they would make our travelling easier. Anvinder always had bottles of cold water, fizzy drinks, chocolate and snacks in the car, a picnic every day! He had a lovely smile and I know at the start it must have been difficult to understand he did not need to push my chair and how we had a particular way of making sure I was fastened in to the van as we had more experience. He always made sure he could do everything he could to make it easier for us.The van was so new and I was the first person to make their way into the van however I had to be really careful with the ramp because I have this really bad habit of closing my eyes if it’s something new and I do occasionally go off the ramp! I was very tired and had to be reminded to concentrate driving my chair which is hard when you are hot, tired and the sun is shining.
We arrived at the beautiful Taj Palace hotel but I was so tired and all I really wanted was my bed. We met the lovely Lilly Kurian , she is the Senior Manager TWX in Delhi and she welcomed us and gave us our itinerary, a phone to use or to be contacted on and explained if we needed anything we could let her or Saurabh know. We were so tired! I had a sleep on the plane but Sam and Tanya did not as the toilets were in front of both of them and people went all night! So we went to sleep at the hotel thinking about the next day……………
Nadia Clarke 