Disability no obstacle for this wheelchair wanderer

A Cape Town-born woman has shown that her disability is no barrier to backpacking solo through Europe in a wheelchair.

Paraplegic Caitlin Lisle, 29, was inspired to travel through Europe and southern Africa with her backpack and wheelchair when she saw her friends posting pictures on social media of their travels.

Lisle, a veterinarian who moved with her family to Australia from Cape Town at the age of six, has been wheelchair bound for 11 years after a horse-riding accident.

"It's something I always wanted to do, alone," she said.

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"I wanted to see whether a person in a wheelchair could successfully backpack on their own.

"I thought I would never be able to achieve this dream because of my disability."

One day she woke up and thought: "Dammit!" She quit her job, bought a ticket and set out to see Europe.

She left behind her husband, Matt Lisle, who was "just a phone call away", to make sure she could do it alone.

Lisle is hardly helpless. She was a member of the Australian wheelchair basketball team and is part of a rowing club.

She began her journey in October from London and travelled to about 20 European countries. She even skied in Austria.

Afterwards she flew to South Africa where she was met by her husband. They toured the Garden Route and spent time with her extended family in Cape Town before heading to Zimbabwe and Botswana in mid-January.

Lisle said her husband supported her and understood why she needed to travel alone.

"He was always a phone call away and we talked daily," she said.

"Many people suggested joining a tour especially designed for people with disabilities. However, I decided I wanted to travel as normally as possible, I wanted to have that backpacking solo experience. I wanted to stay in hostels, travel using only public transport and be able to carry everything on my back. I booked and planned the first two weeks of my journey and left the rest up to chance.

"It was all self-funded although I kept it very cheap by staying in hostels and eating cheaply," she said.

She said the trains were most challenging, because organising access on and off the train was difficult. Often the trains and platforms had no ramps for wheelchairs.

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"I would have to get random strangers to help me off the train. Some of the trains didn't have a wheelchair carriage, so I had to just sit in the hallway, or dismantle my chair and put it in the luggage racks above or onto the seat next to me.

"The other major challenge was carrying my pack around on my back. While carrying it, my centre of balance was a bit out, which is very important in a wheelchair," she said.

Lisle said her most heart-warming moments were with people who helped her.

"Staff and fellow travellers were always willing to help," she said.

"I met a girl in Munich who travelled with me to Berlin. I made a friend on a pub crawl in Krakow who the next day helped carry my chair up stairs, and I met an old neighbour in Munich who organised a ski trip. I also met some great people on the Baz Bus in South Africa and did the whole Garden Route together."

Lisle has written about her travels on her blog, Wheelchair Wanderings. She said other people, in situations similar to hers, should keep an open mind and be flexible when travelling.

For now, she is back in Sydney working with animals - until her next adventure.