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Trekking Through the 2004 Adventures in Travel Expo

© Scott Paul Rains

Attending the 2004 Adventures in Travel Expo in San Mateo, California was almost like heading out on vacation. That was partly because almost every region of the world was represented. It also had to do with the adventure involved in bringing you this story.

First there was "the landing." Fortunately, the long taxiing ritual only took place in the parking lot near the San Mateo Fairgrounds. The car was safely stashed away and I joined the crowds.

Then there was a point at which my luggage was lost (and eventually recovered by an observant tour operator.)

And, of course, there were far too many tourist sites to visit once I got to my destination inside the event pavilion!

My hope was that I would be able to report something like, "Adventure Tour Operators Provide Unlimited Opportunities for Travelers With Disabilities." The story is subtler than that. This is still the era of pioneers where bold, informed travelers with disabilities and those creating adventure opportunities are still fashioning new possibilities together.

The Expo layout was organized regionally. I entered through the Hawaiian section.

Here the aloha experts created an inviting space splashed with brightly colored images of the islands and scented with the occasional plumeria blossom and lei. There is no shortage of travel packages to Hawaii so I moved on down the aisle into the rest of the Pacific Island section -- Pohnpei, Palau, Tonga, Vanatu, Yap, Guam, Chuuk, and the Marshall Islands.

My first stop was at a booth where a young woman wore a white chef's cap.

"Food tours? " I asked. "No, the Cook Islands," she replied.

We chatted a moment about Captain Cook's untiring explorations in the region. I recalled that two weeks earlier I was on a scuba tour. The folks at Dive! Tutukaka did an excellent job of accommodating me on short notice. The dive was around group of rugged islands that Captain Cook reportedly named the Poor Knights Islands. They sit about 23 kilometers off the northeast coast of New Zealand. This island cluster nature preserve blooms bright red each spring - the color of the jam on Captain Cook's Poor Knight's Pudding (known to us as "French Toast.") while the sea below offers a labyrinth of eco-niches and a year-round visual feast for scuba divers. I made a mental note to look for a cruise that retraced some of captain Cook's travels - hopefully with a more imaginative kitchen crew than he had!