This summer I went to America with my parents and sister. It had been my dream destination for a very long time. Any long journey is difficult for my sister and me, and we would probably have to lie down to be comfortable on any flight. In June I found the QE2 website on my computer and there was a transatlantic crossing on the dates that friends were already coming to look after our farm. I emailed Philip Scott of the travel firm Can Be Done, whom we had met at the Mobility Roadshow and much to our surprise he fixed us a last minute return voyage to New York on the QE2! Suddenly, we began our dream.

The 7 day voyage to New York was amazing – we all felt so well looked after and the ship was spacious with ramps and lifts to most areas. In our restaurant on board we had our own waitress who helped my sister and I with our food which was a nice break for our parents. Every day there were lots of activities, as well as the library and shops to enjoy. We saw dolphins and whales from the deck.

I will never forget our arrival in New York. We got up at 5.30 am to see twinkling lights – our first sight of land for 6 whole days! Slowly the buildings got bigger as we sailed up the Hudson River. The Statue of Liberty was very majestic; it felt amazing to actually be looking at the real thing. We crossed to the opposite side of the deck, where the Twin Towers stood high above all the other skyscrapers. As we got nearer the dock we could hear the roaring of the traffic in the busy streets. Our minibus took us on a rather bumpy journey from the dock to the hotel where we were staying once we had disembarked. Unfortunately the lift of the bus came out onto the road side, so we had a scary few moments where we had to drive in our electric wheelchairs the wrong way up 7 th Avenue to get onto the pavement!

Once inside the hotel, we were immediately made to feel welcome as the manager came to say hello and see if he could help us. He got our room changed as he and the helpful receptionist could tell our chairs were too wide for the rooms we'd booked. We all shot up in the lift to the 41 st floor where we entered the most enormous sitting room, which had a kitchen, and 2 huge bedrooms leading off it. This was the perfect base for our 3 days in New York. All the shops and museums we went to were really good for wheelchairs, having a special flat entrance if there were steps and friendly assistants who always held doors open. In Central Park, people were really friendly and stopped to talk to us. We went up the Empire State Building where we were sent to the front of every queue. At the top there were lower viewing points where children and wheelchair users could look across the city. We took a normal bus to Penn Station to collect our train tickets for the next day. This was amazing for me as I am never able to go on a bus here because it's not even an option. At the bus stop we watched open-mouthed as the stairs transformed into a hydraulic lift, which we then got on before being clamped into a space made by flipping two seats up.

The next day we went on an overnight train to Cleveland, Ohio, where we were staying for the next 10 days. Our journey on the train was a huge adventure, despite the fact that we were quite cramped and it was a very wobbly train. We were met at the station in Cleveland the next morning by our friends, who had hired us the most fantastic vehicle! It was a Dodge Caravan (similar to Chrysler Voyager) with the front passenger and 2 back seats removed, leaving plenty of room for my sister and me to drive in up the side ramp which lowered at the press of a button. We travelled around the local area with no bother or stress for any of us. Every restaurant we visited welcomed us in our big electric wheelchairs with no problems and the staff did everything to make us comfortable.

I think that the main reason our holiday was so successful was because for those 3 ½ weeks on the ship and in America we didn't feel we had wheelchairs or were disabled, as everybody we met was so helpful and everything went so smoothly. We just felt totally normal! For that reason, I felt terribly sad sailing out of New York, and just hope I can go there again.

Lizzie Baily lizzie@wellspringwestsussex.org.uk