My Story

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My name is Janette Lawler and I'm quadriplegic. Sounds like something you might hear at the beginning of a 12-step program, doesn't it? Well, I am an addict, but not the type that needs therapy. I'm addicted to travel. When I was 13 years old, I won an all-expense paid trip to Hawaii. Six months later, I won another trip to Disneyland. Another six months went by, and I was off to Cozumel and the Yucatán Peninsula. There is no doubt that I got the travel bug at an early age, and I've had ever since.

After college, I started working in the hotel and restaurant industry at an entry-level position in management. A few months later, I was the Cashier Manager at the Hyatt Regency in Denver (now called the Grand Hyatt Denver.) I then moved to Chicago to work as an Installer/Trainer of food and beverage systems for Hyatt Hotels Corporation. While driving back to celebrate the holidays with my family in Colorado in 1992, I was in a rollover accident that left me paralyzed from the neck down.

I went through months of rehabilitation, including extensive physical and occupational therapy. It took me some time to come to grips with the fact that I was probably going to be a wheelchair user for the rest of my life, but after a bit I decided to return to school. First, I earned a Masters degree in Social Science, specializing in Disability Studies. Then I went on to get my law degree. I passed the bar in 2006 and have been practicing ever since. But I'm still in addict. I still love to travel, and I do so often. In 2010, I ushered in the new year at all-inclusive resort in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. A month later I enjoyed a long weekend in Las Vegas. I spent two weeks in San Diego and Oceanside, California, then spent another in San Francisco. I stayed on the Western slope in beautiful Grand Junction, Colorado to see my nephew's graduation. I spent the weekend in Vail at a fabulous fundraiser in August. In late October, I went to a legal conference in Washington, D.C., then flew down to relax for a week on the beaches of Key West, Florida.

While any one of these destinations would be suitable for me to do an in-depth review of my adventures, I'm going to leave it at this point as a brief introduction to my life. I will begin blogging about the trips I've taken this year (including New Orleans, San Antonio, and Oahu) shortly. Be patient with me, though, I'm new to the blogging world. I encourage your comments, suggestions, or other constructive criticism. Travel on!

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