by Linda Olson | Oct 23, 2026 | Amputee, Courageous Stories, Linda Olson, Parkinson's, Travel
August 1979, Ulm, Germany Our destination was the Ulm Minster—at 530 feet, the tallest church in the world. 768 steps begged to be climbed for expansive views of Bavaria, the Danube Valley, the Alps and the Zugspitze—the highest mountain in Germany. I was 29 years...
by Linda Olson | Sep 16, 2024 | Linda Olson, San Diego Accessible Travel
A few weeks ago my granddaughter, Sierra, graciously accompanied me to La Jolla so we could take pictures in the gigantic, outdoor art exhibit called the Murals of La Jolla. After snagging my favorite handicapped parking spot on Girard Avenue, we got my wheelchair out...
by Linda Olson | Mar 6, 2020 | Linda Olson, San Diego Accessible Travel
AQUARIUM The Birch Aquarium is one of my favorite San Diego tourist spots. I like to think of it as the Goldilocks of Aquariums. Some are too big. Some are too small. Birch is just right. It hugs the side of a hill in La Jolla with magnificent views of the Scripps...
by Linda Olson | Feb 8, 2020 | Linda Olson, San Diego Accessible Travel
All eyes are on a man at the top of the grassy field. Next to him is a large pile of nylon and ropes. Leaning over, he shakes the ropes, jiggles them into an orderly-looking collection, yanks the handful of lines and lo and behold, the pile of nylon starts to...
by Linda Olson | Jan 20, 2020 | Amputee, Exercise, Linda Olson, Parkinson's
No, that’s not a typo. I’m not trying to giggle my way into the New Year. I really want to jiggle. This all came about because of a three-week vacation to Ireland a couple of years ago. Midway through the trip, I realized that my Parkinson’s symptoms of painful...
by Linda Olson | Aug 27, 2019 | Linda Olson
I am addicted to bookstores. A place where I can sit and feast my eyes on a jungle of books. The bookstore adventure begins with splashes of color, then shapes—skinny, fat, tall or short. Books lying down or standing at attention. They jealously await my caress....
by Linda Olson | Jul 30, 2019 | Amputee, Linda Olson, Parkinson's, Speaker
The square, black and yellow boxes hide in a corner of our dining room. Relics of the pre-digital era, they contain Kodak slide carousels, those circular containers with 80 or 140 slots for 35 mm slides which are mounted upside down and backwards for projection...
by Linda Olson | Jul 3, 2019 | Amputee, Parkinson's, Travel
Everyone knows about the Japanese train system, particularly the Shinkansen “Bullet Trains.” Seeing it is vastly different than reading about it. I was unprepared the first time a bullet train rocketed past us as we waited on the train platform. The rush of air...
by Linda Olson | Jun 7, 2019 | Linda Olson, Parkinson's, Travel
I’m just about the luckiest person around. When I get tired, I just pull my fake legs off and bribe my granddaughter, Sierra, to carry them. Her mom is more than happy to relinquish the job. The only problem is that Dave takes me seriously, deciding the top...
by Linda Olson | Mar 12, 2019 | Linda Olson
I’m going to be the Mother of the Groom later this year. So, since it has been raining all month in San Diego, wedding dress shopping seemed like a good “Get Out and Go” activity for me. A little family history is in order here. When Dave and I got married, there were...
