Travel

The European Union’s current efforts to standardize tourism products and services will have international implications. It is proper and desirable that the authorities in the tourism sector adopt international standards so travellers can feel comfortable. Similarly, tourism and cultural establishments and attractions are expected to comply with standards respecting accessibility for people with disabilities.  
May 2011

The Vietnamese orphanage run by Buddhist nuns didn’t have a volunteer program, but they appreciated our offer to help and welcomed us openly. We spent our first morning playing games and singing songs with the children. Then, we were served a special lunch of vegetarian delicacies. After helping to wash dishes (over 200 children live at the orphanage) in huge aluminum basins filled with cold well water, we were shown to a room with beds so that we could take a nap like everyone else in the orphanage. This was not what we expected.   
August 2010

It is our last night at Sinchicuy Lodge in northern Peru. It is early November, near the end of the dry season. The setting sun turns the haze from forbidden charcoal cooking fires into a ruddy pink. Sitting in my wheelchair in our flat-bottomed boat, gliding past submerged logs and debris, I feel like the Amazon queen.   
By Lynn Atkinson
May 2010

Traveling the Holy Land with a disability  
By Aaron Broverman
October 2009

A Visit to a Croatian Wellness Retreat  
By Andrew Fisher
February 2009

Sipping a cold rum cocktail in the company of new friends at the rooftop restaurant at the Ambos Mundos Hotel in the historic part of Havana is about as good as life gets! Although I had travelled to 24 countries around the world, I had never visited any of the Caribbean islands. When I discovered Traveleyes, a U.K.-based travel company that organizes tours for persons who are blind or have low vision, I decided I could do two things at the same time: check out Traveleyes, and see Cuba as it currently is, before any significant changes take place.   
By John Rae
November 2008

If we can do Hawaii and New Mexico, we reasoned that New Zealand couldn’t be much different...can it? Travelling to and exploring the beautiful landscape of this South Pacific island has been a far-off dream for both of us. We never considered doing a cycling tour until friends of ours, Steve and Malini Hall, suggested we take on this adventure together. We were up for the challenge.   
November 2008

In the 15-plus years that I've been covering accessible travel, I’ve seen a lot of changes. In fact, I still remember the reaction of my travel writer colleagues when I boldly announced that I was leaving mainstream publishing to write about accessible travel. Most people thought I was having some type of premature mid-life crisis. Information was difficult to find back then, as accessibility wasn’t as prevalent as it is today. But I was doing what I wanted to do, so I was happy.   
By Candy B. Harrington
August 2008

On a continent checkered with beautiful old cities, Venice stands out as one of the most memorable destinations in Europe. Here you have a city that consists of a hundred islands in a lagoon connected by some 400 bridges and laced with over 2,000 alleys. The streets are made of water — all transportation, public and private, is by watercraft.  
By Dave Krook
September 2007

My husband and I live in Glasgow, Scotland. For many years, we have motored about the United Kingdom and France in our VW camper van, but have always promised ourselves that, when we had the time, we would take a longer journey and drive down to Spain for the winter. Finally, we decided to stop talking about it and get on with it. So it was that one chilly January morning, we left our home on the south side of Glasgow and headed off for a two-month break in warmer climes.  
By Vicki McKenna
April 2007

Try to imagine marking a birthday or anniversary at a restaurant where the dining area is in total darkness and your meal is served by a waiter who is blind. If this seems improbable, you'll be surprised to hear that thousands of diners have already had the experience and greatly enjoyed it.   
April 2007

The allure of Greek history and ancient ruins have always put Greece near the top of my list of "must-visit" destinations, but it has only recently become a real possibility for me and many other wheelchair travellers. While the Hellenic Republic has had a long-standing reputation for being inaccessible to travellers with disabilities, the 2004 Olympic & Paralympic Games in Athens brought a long-overdue awareness of disability issues. Not only are the main tourist sites now much more accessible to wheelchair users, but there is even a resort that caters to the needs of guests with physical disabilities.  
By James Glasbergen
November 2006

Hong Kong is synonymous with top-notch cuisine, incredible shopping, bright lights and lots and lots of money. It’s one of the places we’ve wanted to visit together for a long time. We’re sisters, and one of us—Kyra—has used a wheelchair ever since a car accident several years ago left her with an L1 complete spinal cord injury. That’s a fancy way of saying that she uses a wheelchair to get around—and get around she does, all over the world. We’re both avid travellers, and with much determination, patience and ingenuity, we have taken every possible opportunity to enjoy the wonders of the global village.   
By Maura Ross and Kyra McMahon
August 2006

  
By Avril Rinn
August 2006

  
August 2006

  
By Dawn Makinson
May 2005

  
May 2005

  
January 2005

  
By Lisa Bendall
January 2005

  
By Carter Hammett
January 2005