Aurelie going global on wheels

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Adventures on wheels in: FRANCE, NEW ZEALAND, JAPAN, MARTINIQUE, ITALY and more

Aurelie going global on wheels

Meet Aurélie, travel blogger from France, sharing her adventures in both English and French at her beautiful blog Iwheeltravel.

Her photos are beautiful and her stories are encouraging and inspiring. We are a fan!

Over the years Aurélie has visited many countries, making her blog a valuable and high quality source of travel information for many others who want to go global on wheels too.

Sitskiing in New Zealand

I tried sit ski and I liked it!
For a very long time I though that I would never be able to ski.

Sometimes my friends left for winter break and I even didn’t question myself about going with them or not. I was so wrong! We can have a disability and ski!

Aurelie - I wheel travel - sit ski — Aurelie – I wheel travel – sit ski

I tried it for the first time in New Zealand on a volcano!
Indeed Whakapapa ski resort in Mount Ruapehu offers adaptive lessons for disabled people, including people with a visual impairment.

First I have to set up myself in the sit ski

The sit ski is a seat which rests on suspensions. Under those, there is one or two skis. When I am sitting on it I need someone to make it stable, to hold it. The shell is very tight around the thighs and waist. My body is really well maintained.

I can ski!

Now I can ski alone!

My instructor stays behind me but she doesn’t guide or hold me anymore. The last thing I need to learn is to get on a ski lift by myself and to practise on harder slopes.

“I wanted to travel for a long time so when I received my first wages I started to save up and, with Franck my partner, we decided to go on vacation to Japan for three weeks. It was obvious that if I wanted to really enjoy this journey, without suffering from pain and tiredness, I had no other choice than to bring a wheelchair. So I went to buy one.

“Surprisingly I was not overwhelmed by sadness, embarrassment or shame.
I felt free!”
Aurelie

I found my independence again

This feeling of freedom has been multiplied by ten during our Japanese trip. I became aware of all the things I could do. When I opened myself to the world, I rediscovered myself. I was able to do a lot more than I used to do before. My handicap was not an obstacle.

It was I who was setting limits
Aurélie – I wheel travel

This journey was an important moment of my life. I understood and felt many things. I was really enjoying life. happy and unfazed. I accepted even a bit more my handicap and discovered my passion to travel and explore, to wanderlust.”

Aurelie going global on wheels – Travel adventures in Asia, Europe, Oceania and the Caribbean

At her beautiful website you can learn about traveling in Martinique and Guadeloupe in the Caribbean, many adventures in France, but also in Bali, or the Cook Islands in Micronesia.