Hi, I’m Maureen
I do love travelling. Sometimes I think it’s an addiction and I have to do it…But I also want to do it and need to do it; as it’s part of keeping my body moving.
In 2006 my world changed when I had to retire early from work because of multiple sclerosis (MS).
I’d a successful career in the health industry and there was a lot more I wanted to achieve but had to leave.
Because I wasn’t working, I had time. Managing a chronic illness takes time but I also had spare time. With that I could do more of the things that I loved, such as travelling. I also discovered that I enjoyed writing about these experiences.
Travels with my scooter have often ended up with so many funny stories from things that happened, I’ve ended up with more interesting and funny times than when I travelled without it.
I cannot travel alone as I did before on my first trip overseas in 1976. I need Sue now, who is my best friend and helper these days. She travels with me everywhere and we are a great team. I’ve written this collection of travel tales of my adventures over the last forty years.
Some are from when I was in my twenties and others more recently with my scooter. All of them are filled with my passion for living life and enjoying the wonderful experiences of a world I am lucky to have seen and look forward to seeing more of.
My Favourite Places...
Tasmania
New Zealand
Osaka, Japan
Copenhagen
Greenland
Venice
Singapore and Ko Samui, Thailand
Abu Dhabi – Dubai – Dusseldorf (and Venice – Istanbul/London – Brussels – Berlin)
London
Shetland Island
Hawaii
Hudson Bay, Canada
Southern Africa – South Africa and Namibia
Hitachinaka, Hitachi Seaside Park, Japan
Vancouver, Canada and Singapore
Interlaken, Switzerland
Sicily
Port Melbourne
"The year 2020 has been a tough year for all of us, especially those who harbour a never-ending wanderlust. Yet, the lockdown gave us a perfect opportunity to pause our frantic lives and look back fondly at happy and cherished memories. In Walking and Wheeling Tales,
Maureen T Corrigan chronicles seventeen such stories, sharing snippets and anecdotes from her travels worldwide. From the giant polar bears roaming in the snow-laden Churchill to the towering giraffes and majestic lions of the African grassland, Corrigan has seen it all. Her adventures have taken her everywhere - from Japanese trains to a Venetian cruise, from mystic Greenland to exuberant Hawaii. As a patient of progressive multiple sclerosis, a mobility scooter has been her constant companion. Even in these pandemic times, she has kept her dream of traveling aflame. I was amazed at the richness of Maureen T Corrigan’s globetrotting experiences. Equally commendable is her indomitable spirit that never let MS take complete control over her life. She had accepted her condition and overcome it with two powerful weapons - her beloved scooter and a dream to travel. I believe the scooter was a central character in her book, as it gave rise to several interesting situations. In a simplistic yet elegant style, Corrigan recounted many such hilarious incidents and how these often turned their trips in unexpected directions. Studded with coloured photographs, Walking and Wheeling Tales gives a detailed account of diverse cultures and lifestyles they encountered in different countries. A perfect read during lockdown times, this book will take you to distant places when you are stuck at home..."
Reviewed by Shrabastee Chakraborty
“…It is a testament to the joys and surprises that
await someone who takes the plunge and just hits the road. Maureen Corrigan is an adventurer in the truest meaning of the word. She started her pursuit of travel after being diagnosed with MS. She is herself a physician, which may explain in part why she didn't just curl up in a ball and focus on things she couldn't do when she found out she had MS, but instead focused on doing the things she had always dreamed of doing. That’s taking lemons and opening a lemonade stand. My hat off to her and I find myself thinking that this is a person I would love to meet…”
Ray Simmons, Readers' Favorite US
