By Madeline Delp
Taking on big adventures is one of the best ways to force yourself to understand the world, and yourself, a little differently. Every challenge you take on reinforces a belief in yourself that you are strong, you can adapt to difficult circumstances, and you have what it takes to be bold and courageous.
Benefits of Adaptive Adventures
- Opportunity to see the world from a different perspective and to disconnect from painful experiences and situations in life.
- Way to bond with friends and family in a situation where you don’t feel left out of the activity.
- Chance to strengthen your body in fun and unique conditions.
- Major confidence from knowing you have completed a great adventure.
Each of these activities will put the body under a little more stress than usual, so it is completely normal for bladder accidents to occur at a higher rate. Luckily Attends has you covered! They are a huge supporter of adapted sports and love to help you make your adventure dreams come true. Here you will find a curated list of products that have extra coverage and an anti-slip grip to help increase your independence and lessen your worry about leakage during your incredible experiences:
Now let’s launch into the three categories of adaptive activities I have prepared for you: adventures on the water, adventures on land, and adventures in the air!
On the Water
“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” ~Andre Gide
Kayaking
There are several adventure goals on this list that will give you that delightful feeling of adrenaline and thrill, but I want to start you off with kayaking – an activity that will tap into your sense of wonder. I have long used kayaking as a way to explore an area when I travel because it gives me a unique perspective that I couldn’t normally get on land. This has come in the form of seeing sea lions having a cuddle party in a sea cave while I paddled through the California Channel Islands; witnessing a mama bear and her cub run through a forest while I kayaked a vast Alaskan lake; or being serenaded by dozens of gondolas passing by while I floated down the Venice canals.
Kayaking is one of my favorite go-to activities because of its relative ease of adaptability for people with disabilities. As long as you can manage the low transfer into the kayak or have someone who can assist you, the rest of the adaptations are pretty minimal. This is also an excellent way to work out your upper body and core, all while experiencing the beauty of nature!
Possible Adaptations:
- Waterproof cushion to relieve pressure on tailbone
- Ties to secure legs
- Two-person kayak for paddling assistance
Diving
Our next water adventure, diving, is another excellent way of exploring the various places you go by giving you a drastically different underwater scenery to appreciate. Whenever I go diving, I enter an almost meditative state, enjoying the level of freedom and independence the water gives as it allows me to move in any direction I want to go (a real treat for those of us who have limited mobility!)
If your swimming ability is a little weaker, there are many snorkeling and wildlife viewing options you can do with floatation devices. If you feel up to a deeper dive as you get stronger, you can move up to one of the scuba diving programs geared toward assisting and training people with disabilities. They will familiarize you with the adaptive scuba equipment, like webbed fins and propulsion devices, that can help expand the range of underwater distances you can cover.
One of my favorite expeditions I recently took on was a shark cage diving adventure in Hawaii. I highly recommend this activity for anyone who is feeling extra adventurous in their travels – just remember to bring a tie to secure your legs so they don’t float up through the openings of the cage like mine did!
Possible Adaptations:
- Floatation devices (snorkeling)
- Tie to contain legs (snorkeling)
- Webbed gloves (scuba diving)
- Propulsion devices (scuba diving)
- Adaptive diving gear (scuba diving)
