For those of you who have special needs kids, I know it is easy to get discouraged when you travel with child (ren) who could easily make things challenging, or bring your mind to many what if situations… but … life in general is unpredictable, it can be messy, and difficult, but we shouldn’t stop living just because of the what ifs we cant predict. Create contingency plans, do your homework and expect that there will be bumps along your route. Remember that travel comes with so many unexpected baggages … look for the silver lining of each memories you create. Either good, bad or indifferent, it is a learning experience.
We travel because we want to give Matthew as many opportunities to live a typical life … seeing new places, meeting new friends and experience how each travel may bring learning opportunities not just for us but for those that we meet along the way.
For those of you who have read this far, I dont know how your faith is in higher being, but while my faith in God has always been my grounding force, sometimes, I always ask … God, why does my faith have to be tested that often? Life with Matthew is never easy but when it becomes unbearable, God always shows His presence in many ways that I often times think … “how can I not acknowledged God when He is everywhere? His provisions always meet us where we think miracles dont exist. I have so many countless testimony of His faithfulness and goodness in our journey with Matthew.
First part of our excursion is in Ireland. It is one of my husband’s bucket place to visit. During our connecting flight to NY, we got diverted to DC due to weather. While awaiting for what is to come of the flight, we took chances of connecting a DC flight to Dublin. This is where I can share God’s goodness because, there was a flight in DC leaving in an hour and we took the chance with no luggage to account for on this flight. We made itineraries and reservations in the country and it was very important that we were not to missed any scheduled plans as it would be costly to have to redo them. Once we arrived in Ireland, we found out that our flight that got diverted in DC never made it back to NY, which it would’ve meant missing our Dublin flight. See, how God knew?
We got to Dublin with only our essentials in tow. We rented a car and did all our planned itineraries and met our luggages couple of days later. Matthew was a trooper, and did the best he could with his new experience. It was hit and mess, our stress level was elevated but we figured, we have a chance of a lifetime to do this travel, and for as long as we are together, and God is with us, we will control what we can control and leave the rest to the higher being to meet us halfway … and halfway He did!
Things we learned traveling overseas:
1) Do not be afraid to ask for help, there are more kind people than rude people.
2) To prepare, always ask for wheelchair ♿️ whether your special needs child can walk or not. The wheelchair has helped us regulate Matthew’s surroundings.
3) Our most challenging experience is going in and out of the airport, when traveling overseas, make sure to request assistance even before booking your flight, and request that airlines have the support you need during boarding or during transit.
