ndis
TRAVEL
GOALS
Stacey Christie (pictured) was one of the first people to join the National Disability Insurance
Scheme (NDIS) in 2016.
T
he 25-year-old, who has her suitcase, which made travelling “Wheelchair users get priority
muscular dystrophy and uses independently almost impossible. access at most attractions. I even got
an electric wheelchair, loves
The NDIS funded a custom-made
travelling so decided to include suitcase holder that fits onto the back and the Louvre – I felt like a VIP!”
travelling independently as one of of Stacey’s electric wheelchair. Her she said.
her NDIS goals. trip to Europe was made possible
Being able to transport her
Before joining the NDIS, Stacey with this simple but invaluable suitcase on the back of her wheelchair
had saved up and planned a solo trip modification to her wheelchair. made it easy for Stacey to travel
around Europe, but couldn’t carry
Stacey started her trip in London
before taking the train to the
Netherlands, Belgium, France and
get to hotels from the train station.
“So many people stopped me
throughout my travels to comment
trip, she found it difficult to find on how great the suitcase holder was.
information about accessibility. I guess it’s not every day you see a
wheelchair user zooming through
wheelchair assistance at a train Venice solo with a suitcase attached
station and use Google Translate on the back,” she said.
to understand French accessibility
Stacey is a staff member of The
information. But the effort was worth Tipping Foundation, a Victorian
it,” she said. service provider which recently
She was surprised by how
accessible Europe was.
ndis
throughout Europe solo by train and
Italy. When she was planning the
“I had to ring Belgium to organise
14
to skip the queue at the Eiffel Tower
merged with House with No Steps.
www.tipping.org.au
linkonline.com.au