{"id":10892,"date":"2024-07-05T08:32:53","date_gmt":"2024-07-05T15:32:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brainstreams.ca\/?p=10879"},"modified":"2025-07-03T22:04:20","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T05:04:20","slug":"summer-migrations-by-debra-erickson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/messageinabottle.ca\/bcbia\/summer-migrations-by-debra-erickson\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer Migrations by Debra Erickson"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"suitcase<\/a>Last week anxious travelers watched as West<\/span>Jet <\/span>mechanics ne<\/span>gotiated on a tentative deal. I<\/span>t resulted in 1,078 flights being canceled and <\/span>over<\/span>\u00a0100,000<\/span> frustrated customers stranded in cities across Canada<\/span>. <\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Have you ever experienced airport anxiety? We all know it\u2019s part of the travel experience t<\/span>o have flights canceled or changed but not everyone understands the challenge it presents for those <\/span>dealing with Traumatic Brain Injury, physical limitations, hearing or sight impair<\/span>ment and the list goes on!<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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We are at the height of travel season. Planning to visit family and friends is exciting and terrifying all at the same time. <\/span>Careful planning will certainly make for a more enjoyable vacation. <\/span>We can organize our personal belongings but we can\u2019t organize what experience awaits us at the airport, train or bus station.<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Reflecting back on my own experience of travel post injury, I <\/span>w<\/span>as not as prepared as I should be. I had packed my medications and a letter from my doctor<\/span> in my suitcase. Imagine my shock and surprise when I walked through the metal detector and it went off like a fire alarm! <\/span>Of course<\/span> it would \u2013 I had a metal plat<\/span>e in my leg. I should have had that medical information in my carry on but no, it was in my suitcase.<\/span> The stress and embarrassment caused me to lose focus<\/span>, my speech was not good anyways and I could hardly put two words together. My travel co<\/span>mpanions came to my rescue. <\/span>Thankfully, since that time, there have been <\/span>a number of<\/span> valuable tools introduced to assist us in our travels.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Air Canada was the first air carrier to introduce th<\/span>e Hidden Disabilities<\/span> Sunflower<\/span>. This is a globally recognized<\/span> p<\/span>rogram<\/span> that employs the use of a d<\/span>iscreet <\/span>sunflower symbol to identify customers with non-visible <\/span>disabilities<\/span>.<\/span> By choosing to wear the Sunflower Lanyard Air Canada customers can indicate to airline staff <\/span>that they may require additional assistance<\/span>, <\/span>have specific needs<\/span> or simply require <\/span>more time while travelling<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>The lanyard is available at check-in counters at <\/span>Hidden Disability Sunflower airports in Canada and on board all flights operated by Air Canada.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A new addition to travel aids is <\/span>The <\/span>MagnusCards<\/span>. This app is a modern twist <\/span>presenting collectible Card Decks with visual,<\/span> audio and text step-by-step in<\/span>structions for home and community living. Each Card Deck is co-created with <\/span>Inclusion Partners including transit, airports and more<\/span>! TTC <\/span>MagnusCards<\/span> are available in the Travel category of <\/span>MagnusCards<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Ebus offers The Attendant program. If you are needing to travel with the assistance<\/span> of<\/span> another person this is also a helpful option.<\/span> Once you have confirmed your travel schedule, you can access The Attendant form online. Be sure to fill it in ahead of time.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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W<\/span>e\u2019ve made great strides forward <\/span>in being able to travel with independence and inclusion.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>I\u2019ve mentioned only a fe<\/span>w helpful resources<\/span> in this article but there are certainly many more. <\/span>Wherever you\u2019re headed this summer, pack your bags with confidence<\/span> and enjoy connecting with family and friends.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n


LINKS<\/strong>:<\/span><\/div>\n
https:\/\/www.hdsunflower.com<\/a>
https:\/\/www.magnusmode.com<\/a>
https:\/\/www.myebus.ca<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week anxious travelers watched as WestJet mechanics negotiated on a tentative deal. It resulted in 1,078 flights being canceled and over\u00a0100,000 frustrated customers stranded in cities across Canada. \u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":12364,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1072,37],"tags":[1298,1299,1300,1301,1302,1303,1304,1305,1306,1307,1308,1309,1310],"class_list":["post-10892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog-1","category-survivors-stories","tag-aircanada","tag-airport","tag-harbour-air","tag-pacific-coastal-air","tag-packing","tag-suitcase","tag-summer-travel","tag-travel-1","tag-vacation","tag-vancouver-airport","tag-westjet","tag-yvr","tag-yyj"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/messageinabottle.ca\/bcbia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/messageinabottle.ca\/bcbia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/messageinabottle.ca\/bcbia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/messageinabottle.ca\/bcbia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/messageinabottle.ca\/bcbia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/messageinabottle.ca\/bcbia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/messageinabottle.ca\/bcbia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/messageinabottle.ca\/bcbia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/messageinabottle.ca\/bcbia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/messageinabottle.ca\/bcbia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}