Today I begin my 55th year on this planet. It will be a landmark year next birthday--that magical one where discounts and offers put me in a new marketing category. I have one more year of being middle-aged. Somehow, magically, one year from today, I will be transformed into an "early senior" as I've heard it described. Aging, as you can guess is on my mind today.

The last 4 years of my life have been transformative. I swear my biological clock said, you're 50 and now you break down. I take more medicines and supplements than I care to admit. I monitor my health in ways I never imagined. There are times when the hormones in my body render it alien to me. I keep thinking about how when you go through puberty the powers that be kindly offered classes and films to explain what to expect from a changing body. No such manuals and warnings have been easily available on the other end of the hormonal growth cycle. One of those "dropped threads" that it would be nice if it were more a part of our culture.

I've also been thinking a lot about size acceptance this week. Not that too many weeks go by that I don't think about that. After all, I live in a fat body and it is hard to escape that fact in day-to-day interactions. But this week I'm working on several projects that have brought ideas to the forefront. I've participated in some lively discussions. I've been editing a book that addresses some fundamental sociological questions on the topic. I've been planning a project for PDANation.

This week (July 26) marked the 21st anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and I've read several things online about questions of accessibility. I always think about such questions around this time because of the anniversary. Last summer I was working on an article about this time, so it was way more prominent in my mind than this year.

The thing is that aging, size acceptance and disabilities have a lot in common. These categories are not front and center in our culture. They often go against the grain of the young, thin and able-bodied goals presented to us for consumption through anti-aging, weight-loss and fitness advertising that fills our daily lives.

These categories have something else in common: in a world designed with a particular kind of human being in mind, just moving around in space becomes problematic. Social geographers have noted that space is designed from cultural contexts. Certain assumptions are made before the design is even thought about and when the design of something is commissioned, some of the parameters are already set by culture and may not even be marked specifically. Assumptions are just made. People just know.

This is why Universal Design is so important. It questions these assumptions and pushes for more inclusive design. It goes to the heart of the matter and does so without dividing people up into categories. It makes the world work for everyone.

So this is my birthday wish: It is my hope that as the designers, engineers and architects of the world seek to create new things, they will be inclusive. This means that they will talk to a wide variety of people about what they need to make their lives work. It means that a wide variety of people will have a chance to be designers, engineers and architects of our spaces. It also means that the principals of universal design will become commonplace in our thinking, our building codes and our lives. That is my hope.

I really hope this is the start of something good. The airlines have been given too much power and have resisted the simplest ideas to make them comfortable for all people. I'm happy to see some understanding that the issue for people of size is part of the greater issue of people having rights when they fly.

I'm excited about kicking off a new blog at the Psychology Today website. The blog is called "I Take Up Space" and is about the consequences of fatism. The site has millions of visitors each month, so I'm hopeful that it will become an outlet for discussing Fat Studies as an emerging field and promoting sociological perspectives on these issues as well.

I write about the failure of New Year's Resolutions and the Moral Panic of the War on Obesity in my first effort.

(Please forgive my cross-posting if you read me in more than one place.)

I spoke at Smith College's Fat and the Academy (FATA) last week in Northampton, Mass. Getting from Phoenix Arizona to New England on a budget can be fun. On the way out, I went through Detroit (flying into Hartford). On the way back, I went through Cinncinati and then through Minneapolis. From the moment I left the hotel to the moment I arrived at my condo door, I had been traveling for 18 hours. A new record for me (previous was a 16 hour day going from Victoria, BC to Charlottetown, PEI via Air Canada).

This was exhausting. The good people at Smith were the first to buy me two seats on each flight and this was my first experience at how that plays out. Frankly, neither NWA nor Delta made the experience any easier. It seems that even when you are willing to buy the two seats, the help has to make a comment or two to let you know of their disapproval. I had a couple of encounters along the way. "Who is with you?" was asked a couple of times. One person even said "oh" and gasped briefly upon realizing her mistaken question.

I have to tell you that the attitude suprised me. I have resisted buying a second seat to date because I feel like the problem resides in the design of airplanes and not in me. But I can see the other side of the argument. There are a number of reasons why someone might want more room on a plane (my favorite is the buy who buys a seat for his guitar). I don't mind really paying extra for extra room. So I thought it would be interesting to see what it would be like to finally comply to the wishes of the airlines.

Okay, what I experienced doesn't really surprise me, but it does give me another reason to resist doing it in the future. Basically, I felt "marked" by having the two seats. I had to keep track of two boarding passes, explain the two tickets to a series of people who seemed unfamiliar with the concept (it can't be that unusual an occurence, can't it?) and basically I spent a very long couple of days feeling most humiliated along the way.

In addition, my two standing complaints about the two-seat solution remain:

1. I don't take up two seats. I take up a little more than a seat and 1/4. Paying double because the airlines can't be bothered to design diversity into their cabins seems like a penalty to me. I know that the complaint from thinner people is that they paid for a whole seat and my taking up that 1/4 means they are penalized. And they are right. And if airline seats were only in one size and could only be made in one size, then I would say that the "seat" unit would be all that we have to deal with. But a seat can be any size an engineer designs it to be. If the airlines wanted to accommodate a diverse market base, it would just be a matter of design. We're aren't trying to change the laws of physics here.

2. Sitting across two seats is an extremely painful event in most planes. There is a great big metal joint that hits one's hip and usually another piece of metal that hits one's shoulder blade. The bucket seat means that one is sitting cockeyed with one side raised. It is a chiropractor's nightmare. And luck you, you get to be strapped to this torture chair for hours at a time because the aisles are so thin that getting up and stretching is equally invasive on your neighbors. So basically buying two seats means that you are paying to be tortured. As I wrote last month, I know that this could be changed. Frontier has seats that eliminate all the problems with this scenario.

I have an idea in mind for an adjustable bench seat that allows for a sliding arm so that people could buy all of the bench, 1/2 of the bench or 1/3 of bench. the problem with this idea isn't its implementation. The problem is that airlines sell seats in convoluted ways that would make such configurations (and fair pricing of them) difficult. So not only would the physical environment have to be redesigned, but so would the marketing and billing systems. A major overhaul for the existing airlines.

But an upstart has a great opportunity here to take the big guys out. Southwest Airlines (imagining me hissing as I say their name) is making the big bucks on uniform service. They get the lions share of the market because they are cheap and people who can conform for the price. But there is a limit to this strategy. At some point you run out of people who can fit into the narrow (literally and figuratively) world that Southwest is creating. So other ways to expand the market will have to be addressed.

In the meantime, it would be nice if, when you do what "they" want and buy a second seat that "they" could be nice about it. I know, I know, the stigma is real. But stigma is bad business in the end. And the airlines are pretty much pissing everyone off nowadays, so letting their prejudices get in the way seems a bit, well, dumb.


So any airline executive and/or rich entrepreneur out there -- here is your opportunity. Accommodate diversity and you will find a loyal market!

I try to stay on an industry level when I talk about different travel issues though I do from time to time run into a level of service that is either so good or so bad that it merits mentioning a specific company.

I have flown Frontier Airlines three times now and each time has been the best experience I've had flying.

So, here is a top 5 list of what I enjoyed most about my experiences with Frontier:

5. The short films they show on the free channel, Wild Blue Yonder. It really is like attending a film festival.

4. The fact that I got a "comp" to watch Direct TV on one flight. Flight attendants hand out free cards to several passengers each flight as a way to give you a taste for the $5 per flight service. I love comps even when they have nothing to do with poker.

3. Denver Airport. Frontier is based in Denver and almost every flight goes through Denver. In Denver, the wheelchair service is provided by Frontier employees who refuse to accept tips and who spend time chatting with you instead of rushing you to the gate.

2. Friendly staff at all levels. Speaking of nice employees, I have yet to run into a Frontier employee who wasn't curteous and accommodating. In fact, I spent more time reassuring them that I was okay and didn't need anything than I did worrying about receiving something I needed. This includes the issue of what to do about the seat next to me. I didn't pay directly for any of these flights (they were booked and paid for by people who were flying me out to speak). So I didn't have a choice about booking an extra seat. That meant I was in danger of missing a flight because of seating problems (I can't get the arm down.) Only one leg of one flight was full. To get me on the plane, an employee of the airline who happened to be flying sat next to me and allowed me to put the arm up. She was one of the most enjoyable companions I've flown with and we had a great conversation. In all other cases, if the flight was not full at the time when seats are released (about 20 minutes before flight, the seat next to me was reserved without complaint and without demanding payment). One supervisor at Denver said flat out -- "we will accommodate if we can and a prepaid passenger who needs accommodation takes precident over standbys."

1. Wonderful seats. Finally, and a bit ironically, Frontier is probably the only airline I've been on where paying for the 2nd seat made the most sense. The arms fold up into the seats completely and the seats are even with each other (no buckets). This means that when the arm is up the seats feel more like a bench than separate seats. So if I were to for the second seat, I would comfortably be able to use both seats. One of the major complaints I have about the whole "two seat" issue is that sitting across two seats is frequently uncomfortable and creates a lot of pain -- an arm in the shoulder blade for 2 or 3 hours can really make a flight miserable, especially because fibromyalgia can be triggered.

Are they universally accessible? Not really. There are some things they could do to make it easier for people of all sizes, postures and mobility to have easier access.

But we're talking airlines here and in that world, Frontier is lightyears ahead of the pack.

Big Fat Blog posted about the need for donations of plus-sized clothing.

I also received this via a sociology list serve:

==================

I spoke with a woman named Rosetta at Community Action in Alabama today. They are assisting hundreds of people displaced by Hurricane Katrina. One of the things that is in very short supply is clothing for larger sized people. If you can spare any clothing above a size 16 for women, or above an XL for men, I would encourage you to send it to the address at the bottom of the email.

Rosetta has expressed that they also have a shortage of toiletry items (toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, tampons and sanitary napkins). They can also use diapers in all sizes.

Please circulate this request widely.

The address to ship to is:
Community Action (Phone # 251-626-2646)
26440 North Pollard Rd.
Daphne, Alabama 36526

(thanks to Plus Stuff for the heads up on this site)

Check out Wes Boyd's Kayak Place -- he has a great section for larger kayakers:

Kayaking for Big Guys (And Gals)

Happy paddling!

This is from Kell Brigan via e-mail to The Ample Traveler©

While I think of it, this is me passing on a tip to info on a survey the Transportation Security Admin folk are taking.

Airline Travel Survey

Some people with disabilities and medical conditions have complained about airport security measures, especially if they have to go through intensive screening because of mobility impairment, service animals (such as seeing eye dogs), implanted metal devices, medication supplies (such as needles for injecting insulin), and medical equipment.

As a result, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has developed a survey form for travelers with disabilities to provide feedback on their experiences. TSA says it will use the information to develop improvements in airport screening procedures.

You can find an online version of survey at www.tsa.gov. (Click on "Travelers & Consumers" and then "Persons with Disabilities & Medical Conditions".)

If you prefer a hard copy please contact NORD and we will mail the survey form to you. When you complete the paper version, just fold it and mail it postage-free to the TSA. TSA will be conducting the survey through August 23.

I'd like to add that I think this is a growing problem and I'm glad to see someone at least giving lip service to addressing this. I hope they will follow through.

Tish's step father had a nightmare when going through security at the San Francisco airport. I was unable to find the link, but I remember that they took away his walker and he fell down. What a horrible experience. Security wouldn't even let Tish through to get to them. I've heard other such nighmarish stories over the past three years as well.

Please take the time to let them hear our voices. If you've been through airport security since 2002, you can offer feedback. The survey took me about 5 minutes to complete.

I don't have a lot of confidence that this will change much in procedure, but for a 5 minute investment, I think it is worth the effort.

Thanks Kell!

Lots of things happening in sunny (sort of) Phoenix East Valley. Blog entries will be back in a week or two.

In the meantime, check out this "grand" site and a list of comments on airlines compiled a bit ago, but still relevant. Along with some other great travel topics:

What airlines treat big people well?

How can I make traveling on an airplane more comfortable?

Airline tips for large passengers.

What themeparks are comfortable for larger bodies?

The New York Times published an article in their business travel section this week describing the experiences of a woman who is suing Southwest Airlines for race, gender and size discrimination:

Ms. Thompson, who is 5-feet-8-inches and weighs about 280 pounds, was asked to purchase the seat next to her. When she refused to do that - after all, she reasoned, the seat belt buckled just fine and the arm-rest slid down without a problem - she was asked to get off the flight.

"It was the most humiliating thing," said Ms. Thompson, who is 47 and is suing the airline for discrimination based on weight, race and gender. "I fly twice a week and often on Southwest, and I've never had a problem before. But this day some manager was out to get me."

NOTE: you have to register with NYT in order to see the full article. If you don't want to do that, drop us an e-mail and I will send you a copy of the article.

Big Fat Blog is having a discussion about the article, which is not wholly satisfying, but is a step in the right direction.

We talk about airline travel this month at The Ample Traveler©'s regular column, Accommodations.

Big Fat Blog is having their annual funding drive.

If you are not familiar with this site, it is one of the best places to find out the latest news regarding discrimination against fat people both legally and culturally. Paul tracks news stories, research, books, and editorials regarding fat acceptance, fat prejudice and the latest on the consequences of the war on obesity. He does all of this in his spare time.

His fund drive helps defray the expenses of maintaining an adless website and domain name. Check out the website and let Paul (and all of us fat folk who benefit from his work) know that you support him. Even a dollar will help.

Paul says it best:

I realize that it's a lot to ask visitors to a (free!) website to contribute whatever they can, but that's exactly what I'm asking. In return, this encourages me to keep BFB going. Money isn't my primary goal with the site (obviously,) but it keeps ads off the site.

BTW, I too know that it is tough to ask for money and it is tough to give money, but supporting these grassroots efforts such as Big Fat Blog and The Ample Traveler are the stuff that movements are made of. The opposition is well funded. It is a multi-billion dollar industry with huge advertising budgets and lots at stake if fat people were to become acceptable. So please consider giving something to show support when these opportunities arise. It is a lonely fight at times and your support helps ease that burden in more ways than financially.

Before the blog has been two iterations of an Ample Ramblings forum that had a few postings. We are saving them here for posterity.

========================================================
Seat belt extenders on airlines
posted by Susan on 11/17/04

I did some traveling in October, visiting in and around Cleveland. i had no accommodation problems anywhere and it was terrific. The only "event" worthy of comment was on the American Airlines flights--all four of them. As I got on the plane, I asked the attendent for a seat belt extender. Each time the attendent nodded compliance but in a secretive manner, as if we were sharing a shameful secret. Each time, an extender was brought to me very quickly and handed to me in the most surrepticious manner she or he could devise, in order, apparently, to save me the humiliating embarrassment of being publically "outed" as a fat person. Each time I laughed, thanked the attendent, and then asked, loudly, if anyone else needed an extender.

I wish this new forum had a spell check because my spelling is terrible. I'm glad you're back. Susan Koppelman

========================================================
Apache Junction, AZ
posted by Carl on 12/01/04

We have moved to a campground in Apache Junction, Arizona. We are about twenty miles east of Phoenix. The campground is called Budget RV but has its charms despite the low-cost name. The perks include a cheery clubhouse and free DSL. We expect to be here for a month.

The weather has been unusually cold for this part of the world, with a freeze predicted for overnight. We are keeping warm by using an electric fan-forced heater (the RV has a furnace, but the electric unit is more cost-effective). We also had the foresight to have our fall wardrobes and a supply of cozy blankets on hand, so we are weathering the weather nicely.

Before the blog has been two iterations of an Ample Ramblings forum that had a few postings. We are saving them here for posterity.

========================================================

Tell The Ample Traveler(c) where to go

The Ample Traveler(c) wants to know what destinations you would like to learn more about.

So tell us where to go!


On 09/16/04 Carl wrote:

Campgrounds with cheap hookups.


On 09/27/04 Susan_Koppelman wrote:

Come to Tucson!
Susan and Dennis

On 10/01/04 Carl wrote:

Um, OK. ;)

On October 4, we visited Susan and Dennis near Tucson and enjoyed their lovely backyard for two weeks in the shadow of Mount Limmon.


========================================================

Where was your best vacation?

The Ample Traveler(c) wants to know...

Where was your best vacation?

Share the juicy details. What made it a great place to be? How much planning did it take to make it great? Were there accessibility issues you had to overcome? Are you going to go back?


On 09/16/04 at Carl wrote:

Not sure if this was my all-time Number One, but I went to the Yukon with this certain special young woman ;) in 2003. I think it will be my most memorable vacation in any case.

========================================================

What is your dream vacation?

Close your eyes. Where are going? How are you getting there? What makes it a great place to be?

Come on, cher, share.


On 09/16/04 Carl wrote:

I blew my chance to be the first man on the moon (although being only three years old at the time somewhat excused my failure), but there are other celestial bodies out there.

I dream big.


========================================================

Cat on a Hot Tin Motor Home

On 09/16/04 Carl wrote:

It's never too early to start talking about one's housepets.

My adopted "daughter" turned eight years old this month. Her name is Anawim, which means "the forgotten ones." (She was abandoned by her mother and raised by me and my wife.) She traveled with us extensively even before we moved into a motor home full-time, and the move has been only a slight adjustment for her. She is used to the bed being her "home base" and has a history of defending it versus all comers (with legendary trysts with hotel staff resulting), which has allowed her some modicum of continuity in her new environment: she can still retire to the bedroom in the back of the RV and sulk if things aren't working out her way.

She has found some hiding places in the front part of the vehicle as well, which enable her to listen in on our conversations for hours and then make a sudden dash for the back (or to bite us on the ankle in one of her famous and only marginally effective sneak attacks) when she deems it appropriate.

Anawim does not use a litter box. We have walked her on a leash for several years. She has a congenital problem with her hind legs that makes it difficult for her to be as tidy as we would like her to be at key moments. Moving into the motor home did not involve much of a change in her routine in this respect. If anything, the outdoors is closer and easier to get to than it was when we lived in apartments.

On the other hand, her occasional accidents tend to show up in less convenient and more surprising places.

What kinds of pets do travelers take with them when they travel, and what have you heard about the results?


On 09/20/04 nchristensen wrote:

I had a cat that I brought everywhere with me. Invariably, bringing her on planes was a trauma because she would yowl all through the flight. I would get dirty looks and pointed comments. In addition, she would always catch a cold from the flight.

Sigh.



On 09/21/04 Carl wrote:

Different animals handle travel differently, and the same animal will handle it differently from trip to trip. Anawim is pretty sturdy about being relocated for the most part, but she has days where she resists the process all the way. I have the feeling that she tries to be brave but does not always succeed. :)


On 10/04/04 Carl wrote:

Another cute domesticated animal travel story:

We spent last weekend at a campground in New Mexico, and the resident cat was named Grumpy. This name was apparently motivated by the misnomer-as-joke factor, because he was friendly in the extreme. He adopted us the moment we entered the park and almost didn't let us out of his sight for two days. He would follow us around and petition to be petted whenever he saw us. He tried to follow us into our motor home more than once (which we couldn't permit because Anawim obviously has to be a priority). He was very comfortable in the three camp chairs that he believed we had set out just for him (perhaps not that erroneous a belief).

He weighed about fifteen pounds and enjoyed play-fighting with our outstretched arms and hands on several occasions, leaving a number of well-intentioned superficial wounds on us. Grumpy was big enough and agile enough to take care of himself, having killed rattlesnakes singlehandedly (according to reports from the park staff), so the overall effect of his presence was the "gentle giant" impression left (cultivated?) by large but good-natured domestic cats.


It broke our hearts to leave him, but because of his residence there and for other, unrelated reasons, we haven't ruled out the possibility of returning to the campground in question at some point. We hope he will still be there if we do so, because he was a delight.


========================================================

Where is The Ample Traveler?

Look for quick posts here regarding where we are as we travel around the country.


Sep 22 to 29 The Badlands South Dakota (09/24/04)

The Badlands were difficult to spot when we came into Interior, SD on Wednesday. It was raining, sometimes as much as 1/2 per hour.

We spent Thursday in the RV watching the waters rise.

About 3pm the clouds parted and the winds began to blow. By night fall, the stars were out and we were hearing coyotes howling at the quarter moon.

This morning we traveled to Rapid City to come up to broadcast depth and to check out the sunshine. The drive over on "Scenic 44" was awesome (in the truest meaning of that term).

It is a beautiful day in western South Dakota.


On 09/24/04 Carl wrote:

I'd like to add that we ate at the A & M Cafe in Interior two nights ago. We ordered, upon recommendation, the Indian tacos, and they were abundant and delicious. TAT fans may be hearing more about our Badlands experiences later, hint hint. :)


On 10/04/04 Carl wrote:

We did New Mexico over the weekend and are currently in Arizona. This may surprise some of our readers, but both states seem to get quite hot in the daytime in October and quite chilly at night, especially in what locals call the "desert" regions.


On 10/04/04 Pattie wrote:

To elaborate on Carl's post. It has been an incredible week of traveling. We left the Badlands last Wednesday morning and made it to Truth or Consequences/Elephant Butte New Mexico in three days. We found a wonderful little campground called Cozy Cove along Elephant Butte Lake. It was so beautiful and so friendly we decided to stay and extra day and enjoy a leisurely pace.

We did do a bit of a car tour, but mostly stayed around the campground where we got to know the staff, wrestled with the resident snake-killer attack cat and played board games in the "Clubhouse" while we did our laundry. It was a fun day.

On Sunday, we discovered the joys of driving in the desert. The RV had "vapor lock" problems. Basically, the gas in the tank gets so hot that it boils, creating air bubbles that keep gas from where it should go. This basically causes the RV engine to stall. We had to stop several times to let the gas cool.

We finished our journey to Tucson, AZ where we are visiting with Susan and Dennis who have graciously allowed us to hook-up in their backyard. After being mostly away from civilization for a little over two weeks, we are enjoying Tucson's cafes and free wireless connections.

We are putting together the next issue of The Ample Traveler and continuing to promote the website. This morning we recorded an interview with Veronica Cook-Euell on her radio show Size Matters. We will keep you updated on when the show will be aired.

Tucson is hot and dry. Surprised? Us neither. But it is spectacularly beautiful. We look forward to exploring the surrounding area and letting you know what's accessible.

On 10/08/04 Carl wrote:

To elaborate on Pattie's post: Tucson is EXCEEDINGLY hot and dry. The humidity right now is 7% (according to the hygrometer in my van which does not have air conditioning), and the temperature is 91 F. And it's October.