TravelScoot Workshop at NAAFA Convention

The focus of my workshop at the 2009 NAAFA Convention was on movement for supersize bodies. In the first part of the workshop we talked about exercise, both in group classes and with personal trainers. In the second part we talked about using scooters as mobility aids to expand our worlds.

Melissa Waldron, who is certified to teach group fitness by the American Council on Exercise (the same folks who certify the skinny instructors), and who is also a supersize woman, led us in a yoga demonstration. Melicia Lemoine talked about her experiences with a personal trainer. Melissa emphasized that it's possible to modify many classes, especially water aerobics, to work for people of all sizes.

I started off the scooter part of the workshop with a confession...

Before we get into the nuts and bolts of the TravelScoot, and I hope you're all
ready to try one out!, I have a confession to make. When I was
younger (but still the size I am now) and I saw supersize women using
scooters at the convention, I swore to my friends that I would NEVER do
that. That I would never give in to using a scooter. Have any
of you felt the same way? Maybe you still feel that way today and you're
here to hear the other side.

I began using a scooter to shop at the grocery store a few years ago.
I have arthritis in my knees and it's painful for me to stand for long
periods of time. I was scared to death that someone I knew would
see me and I'd just die of embarassment. Well, someone did see me.
She told me later that when she saw me she wanted to run and hide.
She was one of the friends I'd made my "no scooter" pact with. But
she didn't want to run and hide because *I* was on a scooter, but
because SHE was.

I went on to tell them about buying my first scooter, a Rascal 235, off eBay, and the problems we had transporting it. I was searching the internet for regulations about taking that scooter on a plane when a Google search led me to Hardy Huber's TravelScoot website.

Rhonda and Lynn Ellen shared their experiences and answered questions from the audience. Hardy Huber, the TravelScoot inventor, gave us a demonstration on preparing a scoot to be stored on an airplane.

I wish I had wonderful things to tell you about what Rhonda, Lynn Ellen and Hardy said, but the only reason I remember what I said was because I had my notes written out in advance. I can tell you that we closed the workshop with mass chaos as we took everyone out in the hall and let them ride our TravelScoots. I saw a lot of smiling faces zooming down that hallway. The response was just overwhelmingly positive.