LOS CABOS, Mexico — Maneuvering through George Bush Airport in Houston was easy enough for Jeff Meyers in his Permobil powered wheelchair, his wife at his side and a frontline United employee to get him on the plane.
Meyers, a quadriplegic since 2008 following a diving accident, encountered the first obstacle upon arrival at Los Cabos Airport.
Meyers and his wife, Colleen, a home-based leisure agent with AAA Travel in Houston, had triple-checked the most minute details of their Los Cabos trip, from securing a ground-floor-accessible swim-up room at Secrets Puerto Los Cabos to stowing a lightweight fold-up wheelchair and an air pump for the tires as a backup in case problems developed with his powered wheelchair.
Colleen Meyers of AAA Travel in Houston and her husband, Jeff. Photo Credit: Gay Nagle Myers
“Hurricane Odile in September had damaged every accessible van in the area,” Meyers said. “There was no van that had an electric lift that could get me in my wheelchair into it. I can’t walk at all. In the end, a seat was taken out of a van and my chair, with me in it, was lifted into the van."
The couple was in Los Cabos to attend Pleasant Holidays’ Elite Experience event for its top producers, a weekend filled with activities. The couple attended several functions, explored the resort and relaxed as vacationers do.
Over breakfast at the Market Cafe at Secrets one morning, Meyers complimented the resort for its low-incline ramps, numerous elevators and access to the pools.
“Our room is large, and so is the bathroom, but the location of the toilet is difficult,” he said. “It’s tucked behind a wall, and it’s difficult to maneuver my wheelchair in the cramped area.”
Still, he said, the trip gave him confidence to do more traveling.
A construction materials engineer before his accident, Meyers now wants to do something in the medical or services field.
Based on the Los Cabos trip and others that he and his family have taken prior to and since his accident, “I’d like to advise resorts on their accessible facilities,” he said. “I’d love to find something where I can help people.”
The family took a Carnival Triumph cruise out of Galveston, and he said the ship was accommodating and accessible, but maneuvering around Cozumel at a port stop was not easy.
He gave a thumbs-up to most airports but admitted nervousness when he had to check his powered wheelchair as he boarded a flight.
“It is too big to go into the cabin,” he said. “I’m usually transferred into an airline seat. This wheelchair is my lifeline. If it gets damaged or lost, I’m lost. I had to learn how to be safe so I can stay alive. There are many challenges in daily life and in traveling, especially with ground transport and in communicating my specific needs with the resort and the ground operators.”
He found searching accessibility online for airlines, hotels, resorts and ground transportation to be frustrating.
“I’d like to see more details and more specifics,” Meyers said.