What accessible travel means to us: Three Canadians share their stories | Canada Voices

I have a degenerative eye condition. The place my vision loss causes the most problems is at the airport. Reading signs and navigating new spaces can be a challenge at the best of times. Adding language barriers and a time limit compounds that stress. At points in my life, concerns about flying made me question whether I should travel at all. To manage that fear, I would spend hours researching terminal layouts and looking up the destination’s accessibility accommodations.

While accessibility needs are often lumped together in one big category, successful accommodations – and a successful trip – vary a lot based on the person.

Many airports offer a sunflower lanyard that discreetly signals hidden disabilities to airport staff, letting them know you may need some extra help. A few destinations have travel rehearsal programs, allowing guests to familiarize themselves with an airport and practice getting to the gate ahead of their actual trip.

For me, the biggest game-changer while travelling is an app called Be My Eyes. The app lets me take a picture of a sign or location, then uses artificial intelligence to describe that picture. I can ask the app follow-up questions about the photo. If I have a picture of a gate assignment board, Be My Eyes can tell me which gate my flight is leaving from. The app helps me travel more confidently. But what works for me might not be right for other people.

I spoke with several people with access needs about the habits, tools and perspectives that help make the most of their time away.

Tori Hunter, travel blogger

Hunter started blogging about travel around the beginning of the pandemic, documenting her experiences as a power wheelchair user on vacation. While she didn’t have high expectations, readers reached out almost immediately, seeking information for their own trips.

“I’d get little questions all the time. ‘You went to [the] Dominican, like, what accessible taxi company did you use? What was it like getting on the plane with a power wheelchair and how did you do it?’” she said. “I realized how much power there was in sharing your story and sharing information with others. A lot of this stuff isn’t something that you can just easily Google.”

Hunter covers specifics other blogs might miss. If a destination has an accessible taxi service, how many vehicles do they have? While visiting Nashville, she discovered companies had wheelchair-accessible vehicles, but was told most require at least two weeks’ notice to book. Are the streets wheelchair-friendly? She notes that while cobblestone paths might make a location more walkable, they’re often unusable with a wheelchair.

The blog’s success has led to Hunter partnering with tourism boards, documenting her experiences from an accessibility perspective. Sometimes her writing – especially posts about smaller locations such as the central Huron region in Ontario – is the only accessible account of that area on the internet.

“There’s so much time that goes into planning to make sure that it’s a successful trip. I can’t really have a spontaneous trip or even dinner,” she said. “But sharing those experiences, good and bad, might make it easier for the next person to visit that destination.”

For Hunter, whether or not a place feels truly accessible goes beyond just physical accommodations. It’s also how you’re treated.

“Are people willing to make it work for you? Are they helpful? I don’t want to feel like a burden for asking these questions or needing a little bit of extra time,” she said. Reflecting on a recent visit to Málaga, Spain, she noted that the locals made the trip special. “Everyone there was so friendly. They wanted folks like me to be there.”

A favourite trip: “Exploring British Columbia. B.C. is so beautiful and has so many amazing accessible experiences to connect with nature.”

What you can’t travel without: “My phone for taking pictures, my wheelchair charger for making sure I’m able to get out and explore every day, and my portable shower chair so that I’m able to comfortably shower wherever I’m staying.”

Best travel tip: “Research your transportation options before booking and committing to a trip. Not all destinations have reliable accessible transportation, especially if you’re in a power wheelchair, so it’s important to look into your options beforehand so you’re not stuck.”

Lynn Jensen, author of Best Kept Secrets for Travelers With Sight Loss

Jensen wrote Best Kept Secrets for Travelers With Sight Loss because she wanted readers to know that living with low vision or blindness doesn’t mean you need to stop doing the things you love, travel included. The book is full of practical tips for navigating new spaces, building on Jensen’s time as a certified vision rehabilitation therapist and her lived experience as a blind person.

Want a tactile reminder of which hotel room is yours? Put an elastic band around the door handle. Want to visit an art museum? Ask if there’s a headset with audio description of the exhibits. Jensen also explains how to approach visually-impaired travelling if you’re new to the experience.

“I urge my clients to start small, maybe even book a hotel in your own town and explore the city as a tourist, so you can identify the things that you need to learn or improve on,” Jensen said. “That can be independent living skills, maybe orientation and mobility skills, or even mastering a new app.”

Jensen went blind unexpectedly at the age of 27. There was a period of mourning and adjustment while adapting to her condition, something she noticed acutely while travelling. But without the sight to inform her experience, Jensen began to focus on the different aspects of her journeys beyond the visual.

“I want people to know that there’s more to travel than just the sights. It’s meeting new people. Experiencing new cultures. The sounds, the smells, and the good,” she said.

A highlight of travelling for the author are touch tours, which allow blind and low-vision folks to hold physical artifacts at a museum to gain a better understanding of textures, shapes and structural details. It’s a unique experience for the visually impaired, mostly off-limits to the general public.

“In Denmark, I was at a castle where they allowed me to handle 18th-century artifacts … the first time that I was allowed to do that, I was new to blindness. I actually had tears in my eyes, it was so amazing.”

A favourite trip: “Melaque, Mexico in 2008. The highlight: tandem kayaking in Bahía de Navidad with my adventure-loving second guide dog, Howie!”

What you can’t live without: “I can’t leave home without my guide dog and a small assortment of elastic bands.”

Best travel tip: “For people with low vision: Carry a folded sheet of black construction paper in your fanny pack or wallet. If you’re dining at a restaurant with white plates and white table linens, slip the black paper under your plate to increase contrast.”

D.j. Demers, comedian

D.J. Demers is one of Canada’s funniest stand-up comedians, known for his appearances on America’s Got Talent and his CBC sitcom One More Time. Demers uses hearing aids and performs gigs across North America and beyond. Travel comes with the job.

“I just kind of accept the fact that I’m going to miss a lot … I’m just always kind of naively optimistic that it will all work out,” he said. At airports, the comedian doesn’t hear the announcements over the PA system, but relies on phone notifications about his flight. When interacting with airport staff or customer service, Demers often uses his phone’s caption app, letting him read what folks are saying in case he doesn’t hear it. Because he has been wearing hearing aids since age four, learning and adapting to new technology has become second nature. But those kinds of adaptations aren’t things most people would even consider unless they knew someone with hearing loss.

“People who don’t have hearing loss don’t think about the things they might be missing at an airport. You pretty much see a sign with a person in a wheelchair, and that’s what you think of when you think of accessibility,” Demers said. It’s a nice reminder that accessibility doesn’t always look how we think it does. For instance, for a lot of people with a disability, travelling with a companion can be a lot of help. For Demers, solo travel is actually easier.

“I have a bunch of systems set up for how I can make my travel day the most comfortable for myself. When you bring other people into play, like my wife and children, and I can’t hear them in the middle of a busy airport or on an airplane, that is much more challenging,” he said. “I don’t mind frustrating a stranger with my deafness as much as I mind frustrating my wife.”

A favourite trip: “Asia with my wife in 2018. We had fun exploring, and I performed comedy in Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh, and Hanoi.”

What you can’t travel without: “A travel bidet.”

Best travel tip: “Buy a travel bidet.”