A Hawaiian adventure: Exploring paradise with an eFOLDi scooter

Deidre and Todd from Bellingham, in Washington State, USA, are keen travelers and love nothing more than getting out and about, in the fresh air, to experience all that the world has to offer. Deidre suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), which makes it very difficult to walk for more than 5 or 10 minutes. She also suffers from POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome) which can cause the heart rate to increase much faster than normal, when standing up, from a sitting or a lying position and results in a significant drop in blood pressure. Despite her condition, Deidre continues to enjoy a rich, and active lifestyle, with the help of her Explorer scooter, accompanying her husband, Todd, on various walks and trails, or trips overseas. Both can often be found traveling to far-flung places, including more recently, to the amazingly beautiful islands of Hawaii.

Deidre, by her own admission, has always been a very active person, and often enjoyed the unique thrills and adventure of skiing, mountain biking and kayaking, all physically demanding pursuits. She has never lost that craving to explore or push herself, and still revels in getting out into the wilds, testing out new trails. Whether that is close to where she lives in Bellingham, walking with her dog or on various travel excursions, like on her recent 10-day holiday to Hawaii. There, Deidre and Todd, got to experience the truly stunning landscapes of the Hawaiian Islands, including the numerous trails and amazing waterfalls along the way. Having the Explorer scooter at the airport made getting to the plane extremely easy. "I just drive my scooter down the jet-way ramp to the door of the airplane, fold up the Explorer, and find my seat. The Airline staff then take the scooter, along with other items like child carrier strollers, and stow them in the baggage hold of the plane," said Deidre.

"Having a scooter like the Explorer is awesome, because it has made such a difference in terms of the things it that has allowed me to do now," said Deidre. During their visit to the Big Island of Hawaii in the spring of 2023, Todd and Deidre were fortunate enough to explore the Kilauea Volcano Caldera rim trail, a 5-mile round trip. This "hike" included them making their way across dirt and gravel trails, which the Explorer scooter successfully managed to navigate quite easily.

"It’s been an exhilarating experience, and we’ve had a lot of fun with my scooter. It’s proven to be a real head turner. Whenever we are out and about, we get some lovely, positive comments back from the various people we meet, who all think my scooter is really very cool. In Hawaii, we ran into Physical Therapists, Orthopedic Surgeons, and Park Rangers that were very impressed with the Explorer’s capabilities and will recommend it to their patients and visitors. Kids love it too, it’s just a like a big go-kart really," Deidre noted.

Later this year, Deidre and Todd are making plans to travel to Vancouver, British Columbia Canada to visit the Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival. Todd commented, "This is a very popular event, and it promises some world-class Shakespeare productions and some amazing opportunities to get behind-the-scenes. We are both really looking forward to making the trip for this event, and it has been made possible because of the unique advantages of the Explorer scooter. Being so portable and travel-friendly, it enables my wife and I the freedom to go pretty-much where we want, whenever we want. Without any real hassle or inconvenience."