WHO: Barbara Hantz, 52, of Harvard, and Betsy Laitinen, 43, of West Roxbury
WHERE: Oahu, Hawaii
WHEN: Two weeks in April and May
WHY: ''I'd been to Hawaii before, in 1999, and I wanted to go back. Barbara had never been," Laitinen said. Hantz acknowledged, ''She started enticing me."
DEVISING PLAN A: Hantz said that because Laitinen uses a wheelchair and a ventilator for breathing, and had to travel with a personal care assistant, ''we had to do a lot of logistics and planning. . . . We decided to work with a local group in Honolulu called Access Aloha," which was knowledgeable about access issues. ''Ahead of time, I shipped three boxes of extra supplies, extra wheelchair cushions, and extra pumps, tubing, and vent and breathing supplies," Laitinen said.
REVISING PLAN A: ''I spoke to special services for American Airlines several times about what I'd need during the layover [in Los Angeles] and in Honolulu," Laitinen said. ''I thought we'd covered everything. But when we got to the airport the day of the trip, they knew nothing about my situation. It was like we were starting from scratch."
CHECKING IN: The good news is that there were no glitches with the wheelchair van ordered by Access Aloha. ''It was there waiting for us," Hantz said. After about 12 hours of air travel, a layover, and a six-hour time difference, they were able to check into their room at Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort on Waikiki Beach. ''The room was really perfect," said Laitinen, who also said she was able to easily move around the grounds (and on a cement walkway along the water) and the restaurants.
PARTY OF SIX: Three of Laitinen's friends joined them at the hotel: her friend from Hawaii, a college friend from Rhode Island, and another friend who lives in Los Angeles. On their first full day of touring, ''we decided to venture out and go a little further inland to Byodo-In Temple, a Buddhist temple." They had to drive through mountains to get to the temple, with Hantz behind the wheel. ''We were going through a tunnel when all of a sudden the brakes weren't working. We called the van rental right away and we swapped it out the next day. But at the temple we gave Buddha lots of incense."
SEEING THE SIGHTS: ''One day, Betsy's friend guided us on a circle island tour," Hantz said. ''First we drove by the Dole Plantation. We didn't realize that only one pineapple grows on one tree, and that it's low-lying. Then we went to Haleiwa, one of the big surfing capitals of Oahu." The women stopped for a swim, and though Laitinen wasn't able to join them, ''a couple people poured some on my feet so I got to feel it," she said. ''One night we all did a dinner tour on a catamaran," Hantz said. ''We cruised around Waikiki at sunset, with Polynesian dancers. The views were spectacular."
AIRLINE EFFICIENCY: ''On the way back, in Dallas, the special services people showed up," Hantz said. ''They took Betsy's wheelchair batteries and boxed them. The supervisor said she'd call ahead to Logan and coordinate everything. We got to Logan, and no one had gotten the message. Betsy had to wait on the plane for an hour before someone finally put the battery on."
WORTH THE EFFORT: ''The airports were the only downside," Laitinen said. ''They can make things so much easier if they do what they say. But I think you can do anything you set your mind to -- with a lot of planning and friendship -- and achieve the dream. A lot of people worked hard, my doctor, my nurse, my respiratory therapist, Barbara, they all worked very hard to make it possible. . . . I'd go again in a minute."
To see other reader vacation snapshots, visit www.boston.com/wheretheywent. Send your story suggestions to ddaniel@globe.com.
