Have wheels, will travel

"Anything an able-bodied person can do, so can a disabled one," says tour operator Daniel Steinberg.

By GLORIA DEUTSCH
wheelchair travel 521 (photo credit: Courtesy)
wheelchair travel 521
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Nurit Cox loves to travel. But as walking became increasingly difficult due to progressive health problems, she thought she would have to abandon her dreams of traveling to exotic places.
Then she heard about Daniel Steinberg and her whole world changed. She joined his group tours, geared to travels with the disabled, and so far has been to South America, Ireland, China and Japan.
“In Rio de Janeiro we looked up at the famous statue of Jesus [Corcodova] and thought we would only be able to see it from afar,” she says, “but then suddenly one of the local escorts, a very tall and strong man, picked me up in my wheelchair and placed me on the escalator holding me safely until we reached the foot of the statue. It was unbelievable.”
Steinberg is a Jerusalem tour operator who, 20 years ago, had the idea of organizing travel for people in wheelchairs. He now has the whole journey organized down to the last detail. In the beginning he solved problems as they arose, using that unique Israeli mixture of initiative, invention and improvisation. Armed with this, he has traveled to many countries with groups of people who are almost always confined to a wheelchair.
“Anything an able-bodied person can do, so can a disabled one,” is his creed.
His wife, Judy, is an occupational therapist who made aliya from Canada in 1977 and worked at Alyn Pediatric and Adolescent Rehabilitation Center.
When a group from England approached Alyn to help in organizing a trip to the Holy Land, Steinberg was asked to do the job. The group, PHAB (Physically Handicapped and Able-Bodied) wanted to come with its members and, among other things, plant trees in the Jerusalem Forest.
“You have to remember this was 1982 and there was far less awareness of disabled needs,” says Steinberg. “Accessibility was practically unheard of and I had to start from scratch. I went to the Jewish National Fund and persuaded it to build a ramp for the purpose of planting trees in the Jerusalem Hills.”
Since that first tour he has been solving the predicaments of disabled travel whenever necessary. He acquired a bus from England, special clamps for the wheelchairs and was all ready to start incoming travel. Many groups came from Britain and also France. But the First Lebanon War killed tourism and he quickly switched to tours abroad, which he has been doing ever since.
“It was completely different,” he says. “You suddenly had to rely on others preparing things at the destination.”
The first trip was to Ireland and the travelers were taken care of by PHAB. Since then there have been many trips to many different countries. And more and more exotic destinations keep being added.
THE MAIN problem he encounters is transportation in airplanes, buses and trains.
“Getting our people into the airplanes, having them be able to maneuver inside the aircraft and being able to sightsee and tour are all problems that need creative answers,” says Steinberg. “Of course the hotels have to be disabled-friendly too, with roll-in showers, wide doors and accessible toilets. Not every place is suitable for every person, and I judge by the degree of disability of the potential traveler and the level of accessibility at destination. You can’t compare, let’s say, Scandinavia to China in terms of awareness.”
Sometimes he has had travelers who say they are totally independent, then find they can’t cope when they arrive. In that case a local escort has to be found and as a result, no disabled person can go on one of his tours without an escort behind the wheelchair.
He has sometimes encountered problems with airlines refusing to accept more than three wheelchairs, which is illegal as it is discriminatory. This happened with Olympic Airlines on a trip to Greece. Steinberg pointed out that they would soon be hosting the Paralympics and would have to cope with far more than three wheelchairs. He won the argument.
On another occasion he was checking to see if the special narrow wheelchair used for paraplegics to go to the toilet was in place and the El Al attendant said there was no need for it as they would issue special bags. Horrified at this suggestion, Steinberg demanded they open the already closed doors and bring the special wheelchair. Only after much argument was he able to get the wheelchair brought on.
Nowadays most airlines are understanding and cooperative. The other passengers are told in advance of the added complication, so they are not caught unawares if they see a passenger being carried to his seat. And Steinberg’s charges are always the first to board and the last to get off.
ONCE AT the destination nothing is impossible.
“We went to the Great Wall of China – you can’t go to China and not go on the wall. And once you’re there, of course you have to climb at least part of it,” says Steinberg. “We had local people help to carry them up the steps. Since then a ramp has been built, but it is very steep.”
They have seen the Iguassu Falls in Brazil, sledged in Lapland and visited the Jewish cemetery in Prague, where he had arranged for them to go in through the exit. They’ve done New Zealand, China, Iceland, Scandinavia, Vietnam, Alaska, the Rockies, Japan, Australia and more.
“Many times I don’t initiate the tours,” explains Steinberg. “They come to me and ask if I can organize a trip to the Rockies or Russia or Australia. I look into the feasibility of the project and usually, after a lot of research and hard work, find a way to do it.”
The hotels used also have to be suitable for disabled travelers, which means that they are usually very luxurious and this kind of travel does not come cheap. But for the participants who once thought that they would never again be able to see the world, it is well worth it.
Nurit Cox is now looking forward to her next trip, to Thailand.
“Daniel is such a great organizer,” she says. “He has so much experience and he does everything quickly and with humor. He’s very special.”
Itzik Stein, who has been confined to a wheelchair since being wounded while serving in the army 27 years ago, has been on many journeys with Steinberg.
“It’s possible to travel alone and I can fly to London or Iceland – but to do the kind of sightseeing he arranges is out of the question. He solves all the problems.”
Stein is very much looking forward to his next trip with Steinberg, a first for both of them – to Russia in May. “I really feel that what he does is holy work,” he says.