September 11 seems like an auspicious day to fly - lightning in the same place twice and all that. Although, it would be nice to celebrate Ethiopian New Year somewhere a bit more spacious than an airplane! (I hope the injira that Qantas serves on he flight tonight won't taste like it's been on Walkabout.)
Preparations have been smooth. Qantas has called twice -- on their own intitiative -- to be certain their Special Services office has aisle chairs, seating assignments, and connection assistance arranged. (Thank you, Heather!)
The travel time from San Jose to Sydney is 14 hours. (If you have access to Bill Bryson's book "In a Sunburned Country," you might want to read his hilarious musings on crossing the international date line!)
I took a look at Rasha's petition again before I left to see if we had won the Electoral College -- or at least simple majority in this closely watched contest for aerial equality.
Apparently not. Those last 12 hours of the flight are going to pass pretty slowly waiting for the accessible bathroom on the ground! (Hey, go sign it and save me from kidney failure on the flight back to the States!)
The theme of NICAN is "Valuing the Traveler with a Disability."
The very fact that an organization like NICAN exists only in Australia and is holding its fifth conference on disability and travel ought to alert the rest of the English-speaking world that they are operating from a seriously deficient paradigm.
What might leverage a shift in paradigm? The familiar themes of the Rolling Rains Report: