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TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR THE CAMPING WHEELCHAIR TRAVELLER

The first time, when I went travelling and camping with my Citroën Jumper I was ill prepared, just got homeless. The van was accomodated with a bed and there was enough space for the elevator and the wheelchair. It all happened too fast, selling the appartment, buying the van, confrontation with loss of homebase and subsequentelly the decision to flee the cold, all this in three months time.
All the luggage was in boxes and I had the greatest difficulties in opening and closing the backdoors from the van (which made my arms and shoulders ache).



After several dangerous, disagreable and painful experiences on a camping  SOUTH of SPAIN I fled to a hotel and wrote the following “10 COMMANDMENTS” down.
1-Look for a camping with flat ground so that you don’t bump and jump like a drunken monkey everytime you take out your wheelchair.
2-Do the needed research into the sanitary facilities for wheelchairs, so that you don’t get close to a heart attack before wringing yourself hurriedly into a tiny wooden shed with a hole in the ground (no french toilets, thus)
3-Look for a friendly face in your direct environment, you need him/her to connect you to electricity - a plug close to the ground and a rusted lock to get access - the camp assistents are always having a siësta.
4-Get a decent stock of food, the campings’ supermarket with dry bread and outdated butter is closed everytime you get hungry and the fatty spanish food from the campings’ snack bar undigestable. The village with no parking space for vans and an inaccessible supermarket brings no solution either.
5-Every time you move your van make sure to have all your luggage well fixed, you don’t want your wheelchair and coffeepot to lead their own lives in the back of your van whilst driving in the mountains.
6-Always separate all the electricity cables, or go nuts when you have to get through miles of cables before knowing which one you need to plug in the heater at nightfall when everything gets chilly and wet fast.
7-Attach your electric fire against the sailing, so that your blanket does not cover it and starts burning.
8-Take the battery charger of your wheelchair every where you go, if you risk yourself too far from the camping you can always reload the batteries in the pub - at the risk of getting home in circles.
9-Keep your distance from imposing helping hands, they are bored and try to fill their lives by helping the crippled. Before you know it they take over your life, steel your privacy and touch you where you don’t want it.
10-Get to a hotel before you end up in a hospital.



now all is heavenly automatic