Travel is one of life’s most exciting adventures, one that always promises something incredible at the end of the road. It’s what we save up for, what we spend hours planning with our friends and family, and what we make bucket lists about. But when mobility becomes a challenge, it takes great determination to tick places off lists.

Travel influencer Parvinder Chawla did just that. For decades now, she has been zooming across the world in her wheelchair, often by herself. Chawla, who likes to be called Pammu, plans meticulously for weeks before heading off to different corners of the world.

“This is all by the grace of Guruji,” she says. “You take the first step, and He helps you with the rest. What is also important is to accept that there are so many things I can’t do, so I do what I can.”

Pammu, who developed rheumatoid arthritis at a very young age, started her journey at Vaishno Devi, where she went with her friends and a maid because she was on a manual wheelchair at the time. It wasn’t easy as infrastructure was poor. “I could walk a little, climb some stairs, and people helped me a lot,” she says. In areas where one could only walk, and even horses weren’t allowed, Pammu was carried in makeshift cloth dolis by kind strangers. She was also able to do the helicopter ride here.

“If you have money, there is no problem because so many options open up to you and life becomes easy,” she says. “But I don’t have that luxury, so over time, I have learned to travel on a budget.”

Pammu’s eyes really opened though when she started travelling outside India. When she went to the US to meet some friends, she was amazed at how accessible everything was, and how easy it was for her to move around. “I’d get free tickets to everything, they do this to incentivize going out for the differently abled,” says Pammu. But everything wasn’t always a breeze. There was a time when Pammu would be refused by travel portals because she wanted to travel alone and they wouldn’t include her if she didn’t have an assistant. “It used to make me so angry!” she says. Eventually, one company agreed to take her, and she travelled to Mauritius alone. “I enjoyed myself so much,” she says happily.

As Pammu recounts her escapades, she oscillates often between memories and lessons. In Kashmir, for example, people helped her sit on snow and it “blew her mind”. In Hong Kong, where she went with a friend who was unable to use public transport because of age, Pammu learned that travelling alone is the only way for her to make the most of her budget as she can’t afford taxis. And in Dubai, she grew in confidence thanks to apps that were created specifically for people with limited mobility to navigate the city, and a free passage pass that allowed her to go anywhere, anytime.
So, what advice does Pammu have for people with limited mobility?

“Be fearless and live your passion,” she says. “Maybe you think you can’t do it, but you must push yourself. Nobody can do it for you. It’s tough, but brooding doesn’t help. I’ve learned there’s a lot of love in the world. People will always help, you just have to ask.”  

Follow Parvinder on Instagram   @wheelchairandeye  and see the world through the eyes of a wheelchair user