Having a backup TravelScoot

My TravelScoot is 2 1/2 years old and I use it almost every day -- for work, shopping, and everything in between.  I even ride it into the gym four times a week to workout in the pool.  With experience, I've become a more skilled user.  I (almost always) am a good judge of what spaces I can get through and how I need to maneuver to get there, and in 2 1/2 years my husband (the "scooter wrangler") and I have dealt with routine maintenance issues and learned a great deal about how the TravelScoot works.  Knowing how much my mobility is limited without my TravelScoot we'd been talking for several months about buying a second one to have as a backup.  A broken weld a few weeks ago put my scoot temporarily out of commission.  Melissa loaned me her scoot for several days and we took that opportunity to order a backup.  We also boxed my original scoot and mailed it to Tony for repairs.  It came back to me in tip-top shape and he'd even replaced my broken original bell.  (I love that little red bell and it was my fault the original one bit the dust.)  Now I have peace of mind that if I need it, I have a backup scooter ready to go immediately.

TravelScoot maintenance: Cleaning the fabric triangle

The TravelScoot comes with a fabric caddy that attaches with Velcro between the main frame. A few weeks ago something I was carrying leaked and I ended up with a huge stain on mine. I really didn't know if I could get it out or not. It turned out to be super easy to make it look like new again. We detached the fabric triangle from the scoot and I put it in the kitchen sink. I used a scrubbing sponge and some Dawn dishwashing liquid and it took the stain out immediately. When I was finished rinsing it I dried it with a towel and it was soon dry enough to put back on the scoot.

A hard case for the TravelScoot

Dona asked if there was a bag for the TravelScoot with wheels attached to it.  She wants to use it so she can check her scoot with her luggage at the airport.  Luckily Glen has already solved this problem for us.  Glen says he uses an SKB-4814W Golf case, which costs about $150.  

I searched Amazon and found the picture above.  To see if for yourself, click here.

Checking Your TravelScoot at the Airport

A question from Dona

I recently traveled with my scooter. I sent it with the luggage in the bag provided when it was delivered. I was wondering if there is a bag for it with wheels attached. It would be so much easier to take it if it had been a wheeled bag. Do you know of one of these?? Otherwise it was great to check it thru to my destination.

I sent Dona an email suggesting a golf bag with wheels. Does anyone have a suggestion or experience with this? If so, you can post it in the comments or email it to me, elizabeth@ifisher.com.

Daniel in London

This is Daniel, from London.  What a beautiful place for a TravelScoot adventure!

Rhonda's Tiger Adventure

This is Rhonda, having a Tiger adventure at the Houston Aquarium

Questions from a New TravelScoot Owner

Hi Elizabeth,

Well, I’ve had my Travelscoot for a couple of weeks…. It hasn’t changed my life yet… but I’m working on it! How long did it take you to get good at folding and unfolding? I’m still struggling but it’s slowly getting better. I haven’t wanted to go out in the heat and humidity but my first trip was an indoor shopping mall that I had not been to before. That was fun! I just zipped up and down the whole thing.

But I wasn’t shopping. I was just checking out the mall. How the heck do you go shopping with it? My next trip was to a crowded store with narrow aisles. Today was my third trip. The store wasn’t crowded but more narrow aisles. Both times I carried one of those small baskets in one hand but that’s tiring and it keeps getting gin the way. Any suggestions? I paged through the blog posts but didn’t see anything like that.

Thanks for any tips you may have. Will you be going to the convention this year? I plan on it. Should be a lot easier with the scooter. Last time I went, I hurt all weekend just from walking the halls.

JeanMarie




Hi JeanMarie,

Congratulations on getting your TravelScoot! I wish we lived in the same city so I could show you how I shop with mine. But first questions first... It took me a few weeks to be really good at folding and unfolding it. I did that with mine for about a year, and then I switched vehicles with my husband and now I just load my fully assembled into the back of our van. Since I use mine every day it makes it a lot easier.

I remember the first time I went to the mall by myself and I enjoyed zipping up and down the whole thing too. If there are people around I do slow down to their speed, but when no one is near I speed it up.

How the heck do I shop with it? It depends on what kind of store I'm in, but most often I use a tote bag that I hang on the handlebars. I highly recommend that you go to http://think-king.com/ and buy the mighty buggy hook and the cup holder. The cup holder works great for carrying a drink around, OR you can put glasses, camera, and anything else you can think of. I put the hook at the very top of the front steering column, right under the handlebars. I hook my car keys on it, or you can hook a shopping bag on it too. They also have a new product called a jumbo swirly hook. I haven't tried that one yet.

You can also put items in the fabric triangle. Sometimes I use a bicycle basket I attach to the front of my scoot, but that keeps me from being able to pull up to things as close as I'd like to.

Anyway, the tote bag I use is the size of the reusable bags you can get at Target or Walmart for around 99 cents. It works really well for me. I also manage to pull a cart around the grocery store if I need to do big grocery shopping. That's not as easy, but I often will leave the cart at the end of the aisle and just zip down the aisle to get what I need. When I get to the checkout I stand up to unload the buggy. This isn't shopping, but I also used to pull my mother around in her wheelchair at her nursing home. I'd get right up beside her and put my left hand on her right arm rest and off we'd go. It was a lot of fun.

To really make the TravelScoot work for me I had to take on a problem-solving attitude. Two years later and I can say that when I'm using my scoot it feels like an extension of my body. I can turn it tight, I can go anywhere with it that my hips fit. We've folded it up and put it under a chair in a bar (to get it out of the way), and I've had three fully assembled ones in the back of my van.

Enjoy your scooting!

Elizabeth