Family trips are always exciting for kids: Waking up before dawn to make it to the airport in time, grabbing new books and magazines to read at the airport, snacking on snacks on the plane. As a family of four, parents were hustling even before security. But in our case, no matter how chaotic it was, most of the stress and worry was focused on our oldest son.
My sister has Down Syndrome. Her charm, confidence and charisma would make her believe she could overcome any obstacle, but there are several things that hold her back. Traveling is difficult and exhausting for her, both mentally and physically. She has poor muscle tone, loose ligaments, vision and hearing problems, and has difficulty walking far or standing for long periods of time. She is very trusting, easily influenced and easily distracted, so she requires the support of a full-time carer.
So, as you can imagine, it’s a challenge to walk around the airport, lug heavy bags and wait in lines. Plus, in the 90s airports, there was minimal to no access for people with disabilities. My parents tag-teamed, with my mom soothing and distracting us while my dad raced around the terminal, running from desk to desk looking for someone to make our process a little easier. On the other side of the plane, it’s another matter to make sure hotels, villas, restaurants, transport etc are aware of any special access or support my mom might need. We need assurances that disabled toilets, changing rooms and assistance are available at every stopover point. And when my parents skipped a line, requested a seat or asked for special accommodation, some people would stare, give a pitying look without offering any help, or worst of all, get angry.
Overall, the process is not an easy one. The lack of understanding from many about what is essential for people with different disabilities to travel, the lack of detailed information available to disabled travellers, and the lack of empathy from many creates anxiety and makes travelling a physical and mental marathon for many disabled travellers.
According to a 2021 gov.uk survey, 22% of the total UK population has a disability, which equates to 14.6 million people in the UK alone. It is not too far-fetched to guess that a large proportion of these people would like the opportunity and freedom to travel. If we assume that most of these people would like to travel with their family and friends, the number of people affected by a lack of accessibility in airports, planes, hotels, restaurants, etc. will skyrocket.
Accessible travel are two words that don’t need to be combined. Experiencing culture, art, and food from around the world shouldn’t be limited to only able-bodied people. Travel should be inclusive from the start, so that everyone can enjoy it. Below, we ask some of our favorite travelers what accessible travel means to them and why now is the time to change the way the world looks at disability and travel.