Our Have Wheelchair Will Travel Facebook community is thriving, and with that comes a lot of questions about how we travel. I always like to be as transparent as possible and I’m happy to answer these questions, but I don’t want my replies getting lost in the comments section. So, here’s a mini-FAQ with questions and answers in one place.
Why doesn’t Braeden travel everywhere with me?
There is no short answer to this as there are many factors at play.
Firstly, Braeden’s needs mean that neither Hubby nor I can travel solo with him. It takes two people to manage Braeden’s needs when we travel.
Needing two people to travel with Braeden means that Hubby has to take leave from work for any travel we do. The (Australian) standard four weeks of leave per year doesn’t go far when one of those weeks is taken up by the Christmas and New Year shut down. Sometimes, trips need to be taken at a certain time and he just can’t get the leave. Hubby’s job pays the bills and like most families, we have a tonne of bills landing in our inbox every week, so his work comes first.
When it comes to international travel, Braeden can’t do long haul trips for a short period of time. He just finds flying too difficult these days, so a 10 day trip to the US with a jam-packed itinerary would not be possible. It wouldn’t be fair on him and it would defeat the purpose of providing wonderful, accessible travel experiences for the whole family.
Also, caring for my mum full-time means that we can’t be away for long periods. Someone needs to fill my shoes in my absence and I only have one family member that can do that. So, for now, long trips as a family are off the table.
Why do I write reviews when Braeden isn’t with me?
As a family that travels regularly with a wheelchair, and with twenty years of experience in travel and accessibility advocacy, my access radar is always switched on – wherever I am, and whether Braeden is with me or not. I know what to look for, and I know how important it is to make accessibility information (measurements, photos, videos, and so on) available for anyone with specific needs planning to travel.
To put it another way: why would I skip an opportunity to gather and share information that’s valuable to our community, just because Braeden isn’t by my side at the time?
Even when I travel with Braeden, I’m aware that everyone’s access needs are different. What works for Braeden might not work for someone else, and vice versa. I figure information is power, so I gather as much as I can to share, whether we’re travelling as a family or I’m doing it solo.
There are upsides to travelling solo, too. Braeden finds touring hotel rooms with hotel managers boring, so when I do it by myself, I have more time to provide feedback directly to the operators and highlight opportunities for change. This makes it more accessible for the guests who come after me.
Sometimes we also take a trip to have a break from caring responsibilities. It might be that I do a mother-daughter trip with Amelia to give her some one-on-one time, or it might be that Hubby and I do a trip, just the two of us. Travelling with Braeden is fun and rewarding but it’s also full-on, and everyone deserves a holiday – including us.
What is it like to get a “free” trip?
A fellow travel writer recently mentioned to me that there is no such thing as a “free” press trip. When a destination is paying for you to travel to their region, they are looking for a return on their investment – and justifiably so. Press itineraries are jam-packed to squeeze every bit of value they can out of every moment, and I am responsible for ensuring they get what they pay for.
Am I lucky to do what I do? You bet. I absolutely love travelling and I feel that I have a greater purpose if I can bring about change as I do so.
My community is my priority so before I travel to a destination, I want to know that the content will be of interest to our readers. This means there is quite a bit of back and forth via email to get an itinerary right.
There is an expectation from our hosts that we will write and post about our experience, which means we need to be reasonably confident that the accessibility is good before we agree to go. If we don’t think somewhere is accessible or suitable to at least a portion of our readership, we won’t write about it.
Written reviews and social media posts are all the better with great photos and images so that is something we work hard on when we travel. When we get back from the trip, I start putting together reviews, social media posts and sharing as much as I can with you all.
I love what I do and the travel we can do as a family. Circumstances at the moment make it difficult for us to travel on all trips together. I hope down the track we can do more of it but in the meantime I’ll continue both the travel we do with Braeden and the travel I do solo in the hope that it assists our community to know more about accessibility.
We touched on this topic once before in a blog which you might also find interesting – What it’s really like travelling with Braeden and writing about it
If you’d like to know more about our family, you can catch up here.
Curious about me, Julie, you can read all about me here.
