Dreamed I saw a building with a thousand floors,
A thousand windows and a thousand doors;
Not one of them was ours, my dear, not one of them was ours.
- W.H. Auden

One of the joys of RVing is smooth mobility around the countryside and freedom to plan your own vacation schedules. Although RVs may not be able to squeeze into the most convenient parking spaces or possess the easiest tires to change when they suddenly become flat, the comforts of home and the affordability of constant vacationing make the RVing lifestyle popular.

And as many of you RVers know, RVs, because of their expansive size, cannot maneuver easily in some situations. And extra precautions must be taken when traveling down highways, especially in mountainous terrain, or when inclement weather strikes. However, imagine that these rare trip occurrences and travel discomforts followed you to every campground, every museum and every highway. Such are the discomforts faced daily by individuals confined to wheelchairs. And even greater are the strifes of physically challenged individuals who RV.

More than 40 million disabled people live in the United States. Except for a small percentage, many of those individuals do not travel as much as they'd like to because of special arrangements and adjustments that need to be made prior to leaving home. In 1990, legislators passed the American Disabilities Act (ADA), calling for the implementation of national regulations in accommodating individuals with disabilities in various instances. Prior to this milestone bill, individual states were responsible for creating, maintaining and enforcing their own arrangements and provisions for individuals with disabilities. Thus, state legislation, actual physical facilities and methods of accessing information varied widely.

Meaning, in the most simplistic terms, one campground in one state may consider a wheelchair ramp to the main entrance to be sufficient in accommodating the handicapped. At another campground in a bordering state, in addition to a ramp, it may have handicapped-accessible restrooms, showers, paved pathways and special camp activities for disabled individuals.

The ADA's passage inspired many other nations throughout the world to also examine their own access for accommodations, services and information for the disabled. As a result, national and international travel has become easier for handicapped individuals. Yet, this bill was not passed without international conflict and concern.

In the early 1980s, the world recognized the inconsistency of handicapped provisions and coined 1981 the International Year of Disabled People. Still, what the nations' leaders also saw was that so much more needed to be done. As a result, 1983-1992 became the United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons.

As positive of a step this was, conflicting regulations still exist four years after that decade has ended. Not only do disabled individuals have to fight the inconveniences brought about with the RV itself, but campgrounds and other tourist attractions can be a problem for a disabled individual.

RVing can actually become a preferred method of travel for disabled individuals because the RV can be custom designed to accommodate a wheelchair - including aisle width, shower accessibility and dashboard control systems for maneuvering the vehicle with hands and not legs. Yet, at some point, RVers will need to head to a campground. Each year that passes witnesses a new breed of campgrounds sporting handicap sensitive accommodations to make the disabled RVer as comfortable as possible. Entrance/exit ramps are installed, sinks, toilets and showers are designed and installed for easier access, and campground activities are beginning to offer more varieties of events for those who are disabled. Most private and public RV campgrounds have one to two sites reserved for handicapped travelers.

Finding these campgrounds can become a problem. Two organizations, the Handicapped Travel Club and the Travelin' Talk Network, have devoted their efforts to specifically assist disabled RVers, whether its finding disabled-sensitive campgrounds or planning meetings with other disabled individuals.

The Handicapped Travel Club was founded in August 1973 by five disabled couples from Texas and California. They got together not only to have fun traveling in a group, but to support each other while RVing. Through their adventures, they found this experience so rewarding that they formed a club, hoping to encourage other disabled individuals to do the same.

Now approaching the club's 23rd year, and with hundreds of members sporting HTC's decal of a wheelchair-bound individual pulling a travel trailer, this club has provided camaraderie, assistance and emotional support for disabled individuals all across the nation and Canada.

Even non-disabled members can join for the initial fee of $5; however, at least one member of the RVing family must be handicapped. Members also receive a newsletter that gets sent to HTC individuals from 40 states and four Canadian provinces.

HTC also organizes an annual RV rally, and hosts various regional rallies.

The Travelin' Talk Network is an international information network providing assistance to travelers with disabilities, as its newsletter states.

"In a nutshell, the network is as simple as it sounds in our brochure - a network of people willing to answer the telephone and share their knowledge with travelers with disabilities visiting or passing through," founder and president and 1991-92 Disabled American of the Year, Rick Crowder, wrote in a recent letter to me. The club offers "no commitments and quite a unique family of friends who appreciate the value of helping others in whatever ways they can!"

One invaluable service that Travelin' Talk provides is its 550-page membership directory listing more than 800 members and sections of resources for the disabled traveler.

The network originally began with Crowder, a paralyzed Air Force veteran, who became a columnist on the disabled population in various publications. Since that time, this handicapped outreach program now includes a membership of individuals in more than 50 states, five Canadian provinces and 20 nations.

"If I can't answer your questions, I know the experts who can," Crowder said. In reflecting on W.H. Auden's words, handicapped RVing no longer has to be about not finding your own doors and windows for travel.

Next month we will explore physical accommodations that can be made to an RV for handicapped travel.

Mick Pflug is the assistant editor of Camperways.

RVing for disabled individuals is no longer restrictive, as campgrounds, tourism attractions, and even RVs themselves, have become accommodating to handicapped travelers.

WINNEBAGO INDUSTRIES

Resources for the Disabled RVer—Handicap Travel Clubs:

Achievers International (chapter of Family Motor Coach Association, FMCA), 8291 Clough Pike, Cincinnati, OH; 800/543-3622 or 513/474-3622; fax: 513/474-2332; e-mail: chapters@fmca.com

Handicapped Travel Club, Rt. 1, Box 233, Centralia MO 65240; 314/682-3898. Send SASE for membership requirements.

Travelin' Talk Network, P.O. Box 3534, Clarksville TN 37043-3534; 615/552-6670. Send SASE for membership requirements, information about the member directory and a free copy of the quarterly newsletter. The 550-page membership directory lists more than 800 members and types of resources and services for the disabled traveler. The directory costs $35.

General Information Sources:

Access to the World: A Travel Guide for the Handicapped, Louise Weiss. Henry Holt and Company, Inc., New York, NY, 1986.

RV - Travel Leisurely Year Round, Rolanda Dumais Masse. Hippocrene Books, New York, NY, 1991.

Travel for the Disabled, Helen Hecker, RN, Twin Peaks Press, Portland, Oregon, 1985.