When you visit with Ed and Colleen Pearson, you’ll immediately feel at home. The conversation drifts easily to many topics, including their favorite one: traveling full time by RV. Like many young couples from the 60s, they started out by balancing trips with their careers and home life. Polio had become a part of both of their lives, but it was not something they dwelled upon. They wanted to travel, really travel.

"From the beginning, we were campers. We started with sleeping bags on the ground and progressed to a tent with cots, then to sleeping in a big van. After three years of marriage and saving as much money as we could, we quit our jobs and traveled around the U.S. for a year, including a three-month trip in Mexico. We saw our first motorhome in Grand Teton National Park that year and hoped we’d be able to travel that way someday," Colleen recounts.

These days, they RV fulltime with their 26’ Play-Mor travel trailer, which is outfitted with a wheelchair lift. A van with a lift completes the package, so they can optimize day trips in comfort. Using their van during the day also makes accessible parking much easier, while their travel trailer remains set-up at a campground or resort for relaxation and entertaining later in the evening.

"We’ve had our van/travel trailer combination for about three years now, and it works really well for us. And, we really don’t have too many problems with both wheel chairs, except that ever so often one of us has to move to let the other one get to the closet or bathroom," Colleen adds.

Now that Ed has retired from his editorial work with the aerospace industry and the State of California, and Colleen from healthcare administration, they are finding a new creative outlet for their RVing endeavors: the Handicapped Travel Club (HTC). Their involvement began in the '90s and rapidly progressed to serving as officers and attending rallies. With over 250 members, the Pearsons quickly found the valuable resources they needed, along with new friends and travel experiences.

Ed currently is serving as the club’s president, with Colleen at his side. Improving accessibility within the industry has become a passion. On any given day, you’re likely to find them traveling about the country, answering questions, giving a guest lecture or being interviewed by the press. Just this past November, they were interviewed for an RV industry update by the Wall Street Journal.

The annual rally has also been an educational tool for the group. "We’ve found that when we have a rally at a park, the park owners really learn a lot about disabled RVers and get involved," Colleen adds. "The managers at our rally in Indio a couple of years ago planned media coverage and bought prizes for the wheel chair slalom game."

One rally activity that really helps the able-bodied to better understand some of the mobility challenges is called the "blind push." An able-bodied person is blindfolded and given instructions by a club member in a wheel chair on how to negotiate through a maze. In the end, both gain more appreciation and understanding.

"HTCers naturally have a wide range of equipment to help them RV…from ramps, to lifts on the side of their rig, to super arms, to full scale wheel chair lifts and ceiling tracks on the inside to move people around the rig," Ed comments.

To build even more resources, efforts are now underway by HTC to develop a list of parks and campgrounds that have features the members have highlighted as accessible or convenient for most individuals. The list is featured at their website (www.handicappedtravelclub.com) and is also included with their membership materials.

For Ed and Colleen, HTC has opened many opportunities to learn and to be of service to fellow RVers. They hope, as I do, that after meeting some of the members that you’ll agree with the club’s motto "to get out and live!"