Welcome to Access Wanderlust!

Steph watching the sunrise in Devonport, Tasmania. 2022.

Travel to me means so many things. It’s the excitement of the unknown. It’s an escape from the monotony of daily life. It’s a way to learn and better understand different cultures as well as your own backyard. It’s something that allows me to be present and feel grounded.

As a wheelchair user though, travelling, particularly when it involves getting on a plane, can also be a daunting, anxiety inducing experience. Unfortunately this is true for many people with disabilities and is often what first comes to mind when the idea of travelling comes up. Going to new places, even ones in your local area can pose so many questions. Will there be an accessible bathroom? Will there be somewhere accessible I can be dropped off or park my car? Will I even be able to get in the front door?

Some people think these questions or uncertainties would stop me from going out and experiencing life and sadly, these questions do sometimes stop people from partaking in the world around them. The way I see it though, if I stop going out this allows the world around us to continue its history of being inaccessible.

The only way we start to see change in our society is when people and situations force us to see things from a different perspective, to re-think our ways of doing things. If wheelchair users like myself stopped going out, there’d be less reason to install lifts, build ramps, or automate doors - things that everyone benefit from. This is the fundamental idea behind Universal Design, which I’ll explore more in another post.

Thankfully, since catching the travel bug back in 2010 the world has become a markedly more accessible place and progress does continue! Although slowly… In this time, I myself have also changed and learnt so much as a traveller. This to me is the key to accessible travel. Like in so many situations, knowledge is power! From my first 6-week trip travelling around the USA in 2010 to driving down to Yamba, NSW just a month ago; the more I travel, the more confident a traveller I become. I understand now what to look for in a hotel room, how best to prepare my wheelchair for air travel, and what works best when packing my suitcase - though I still seem to travel with a large amount of toiletries. I’ll never understand how people travel with a single tiny little cosmetic bag…

All of these learnings have come from lived experience but I’m grateful for opportunities to learn from someone else who has a shared experience, who knows what accessible travel is. When you see others doing the things you want to be doing, working to push past barriers that seem insurmountable, it opens your mind to new possibilities. At least, that’s what it does for me.

I’m now at a point where I want to share my own learnings and travel experiences with others with the hopes of empowering them to embark on their own journeys of wanderlust. I’ve been wanting to create an accessible travel resource for a number of years now but I’ve always put it off due to distractions from work or feeling like I wasn’t ready to share my voice with the world. Now though, I’m finally ready to share my adventures and advise with you through ACCESS WANDERLUST!

Logo for Access Wanderlust (Copyright: Stephanie Dower, Dower Productions)

The very first travel tip I’ll share for those wanting to embark on their own travel adventures, is to simply just go! Book that first night away, visit that place you’ve always wanted to go; wherever you want to go, just make a plan. We can get stuck in our wanderlust, always dreaming of places far away but never actually putting plans into action that will get us there. I should know, I’m often guilty of doing this myself. For years I’ve been dreaming of visiting the UK and Ireland but I’ve always put it off for one reason or another. Its so far away from where I live in Australia, or its so expensive, or I’m too busy with work commitments, etc, etc. Now though, I’m taking my own advice and putting plans into action that will actually get me there. I’m setting a time frame, a savings goal, and holding myself accountable by telling people about my plans to go - including all of you!

While this trip is still a little ways off - gotta become a savings queen for this one! - I’ll be writing blogs and creating video content to share travel tips, hopefully interviewing other travellers with disabilities, and sharing stories that highlight how accessible the world actually is now and how it could be even better in the hopefully not too distant future! While there’s still much progress to be made, let’s not wait for things to be perfect, let’s start exploring the world now. Together, let’s Access Wanderlust!