Guest post: Why disabled people don’t travel
sidmarcos
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This guest post is by Sid Marcos, founder of accessible travel company Outlandish.
Choosing terms to self-identify is a complex issue for many. But my identifier is simple. I am a traveller. Well, I am a disabled traveller.
The two words seem unlikely bedfellows. The world is difficult enough to navigate in a wheelchair when you are in a familiar environment - why would I elect a lifestyle so averse to my inclusion? Partly because I never tire of seeing new cultures and peoples, mostly because I love the challenge.
I used to think it was strange that I never met other disabled people travelling as I was. In the thousands of hostels I’ve spent nights in, groups I’ve journeyed together with and planes I’ve taken to get there - every time I’ve been the odd-man-out. Other, non-disabled, travellers are usually altogether perplexed by my presence. It’s become embarrassingly apparent to me that for the most part, disabled people do not travel. But why not?
The US Center for Housing and Urban Development (HUD) estimates that only 3% of all structures in the world are wheelchair accessible. My personal experience says it’s much less than that.
What’s the big deal anyway?
Some places I’ve been, I swear there has never been a disabled person in the whole of the country. Last week I was invited to an entrepreneurship competition in Azerbaijan, an infrastructurally well-developed, rich country. Yet from the capital of Baku to the western city of Ganja, I did not see one street adapted for wheelchair users. There was not a single curb cut anywhere, pedestrian crossings were marked by step entrances, and ramps inside buildings were entirely too steep to be independently utilised.
I’ve been travelling almost nonstop since I turned 18. Now I’m getting older (an aching 24) and what I once considered an unencumbered journey to discover the world, I now feel a biting bitterness with every inaccessible shop, every bus I have to be carried onto, every half-assed “accessible” accommodation. The fact is, most people don’t want to deal with the terrible unpredictability of it all.
And what about medical supplies - where do you get those while you’re abroad? In my experience, you don’t. Because our everyday items are strictly categorised as “medical paraphernalia”, our products are sectioned off to be sold in some medical supply shop 60 kilometres out of town. This alone is my greatest pet peeve.
Opening the door to accessible travel
An appropriate slogan for disabled travellers would be “damned if you do, damned if you don’t”. If you do travel, the true reality of a world built for the able bodied will be glaringly apparent. If you don’t, certainly there will be no advocating for the changes needed for all the places we’ve been denied access to.
This, for me, is the truly complex issue. I don’t know what the answer is to address this social ill but I do believe that greater exposure is a major part of the solution. We need disabled leaders in every industry, and innovation in every sector.
For my part, I am using my resources and the knowledge I have gathered to contribute to the community. I started a 1:1 travel organisation in 2013 called Outlandish Travel. Every trip is 100% wheelchair accessible, and for every trip purchased, we give away a free trip to a disabled person. Our latest project is to encourage independent disabled travellers by creating socially sustainable travel guides on Kickstarter.
I personally believe that the most effective way to promote accessibility throughout the world is to become a relentless traveller. To learn, to share and to vocalise your experience for the benefit of the community.
Where is the most inaccessible place you’ve ever been? Let us know in the comments below.
Replies
Congratulation on your adventure. I am pretty shore you are real traveller. I am a bit of jealous now as I dreamed about traveling when I was child as my all family from my mum side lived in the same city, not to mention almost in the same borough.
Mine 2as only slightly damaged after a long anticipated small trip to Spain after years of not daring to go..... Luckily it was 'just' the arm rest foam but it scared me!
Also, for NHS chairs, the NHS takes the cost of repairing and replacing these chairs eaten up and so at put by planes so that's affecting us all as NHS users too.
"I'm trying to live like a random poem I read that ended 'to bloom where we are planted"
Shudder....
"I'm trying to live like a random poem I read that ended 'to bloom where we are planted"
If you are scared you might have a medical crisis then no amount of adaptation will help. I get very nervous if I travel away from the hospital that I've been dependent on for 10 years.
I have not had a holiday for about 15 years. I would never consider a foreign holiday. Getting medical insurance is also very difficult and expensive for those with complex medical needs.
I don't even go into town in case I get stuck due to exhaustion or some other health failure.
I know it is scary going out and about, but I hope you can learn coping strategies of leaving the house.
Senior online community officer
Senior online community officer
If we do go away we always stay in the same brand of hotel and in Britain as we know what we're getting. So at least what else is going on we know we can access NHS, same hotel room and bathroom, takeaway app if restaurants are hard.. But mainly.... I LOVE TV! I can have a tiny taste in the comfort of my lounge.
"I'm trying to live like a random poem I read that ended 'to bloom where we are planted"
I think there is a real market for cold and snowy holidays. Skiing and snowboarding trips, trips to Iceland, Sweden, Finland etc. I have lots of pals who holiday in cold and chilly climates. One friend does winter hols in Germany for the cold weather.
Some people like hot weather and sunny holidays, others like it cold or snowy. It is all personal preference @Fundamentalist and just because it is something you don't like doesn't mean it is wrong or a slight against you.
Senior online community officer
Have you come across http://disabledramblers.co.uk/ ? They did a guest post for Scope a while ago. Seems like you both have similar aims to make the countryside accessible to everyone!
Could you wear a sun hat and carry a fan? What can YOU do to improve your own life?
So many of us have extra needs and though society should try and accommodate, it is also is our own responsibility to try and find coping strategies and learn how we can deal with the issues we face.
Some people do think hot countries are paradise, I understand that you don't but it doesnt make it untrue for everyone who does.
You are entitled to your own opinion, but try and see things from other perspectives and maybe it will make you feel happier?
Senior online community officer
If all buildings had a reflective coating and were cooler, would you then go out? I ask because you have said before that you have a list of hundreds of things that are unacceptable to you and that the noise of others talking and laughing is difficult for you.
I just wonder what difference this coating would make if there were still hundreds of other things that would still stop you wanting to go out?
I do sympathise with your situation @Fundamentalist - I just also think that we have to think about what we can do to make changes for ourselves alongside asking society to make places accessible.
Senior online community officer