Disabled Travelers’ News Round Up: August 2011 Edition
Posted August 5th, 2011 in access guides, general news and helpful information
Sunset over Quezon City, Philippines
Photo by: Gigi Simbre (Stock Exchange)
Welcome home to the Disabled Travelers blog!
Don’t know about you, but I myself have been on a few adventures lately, as you can read in my recent posts covering Chicago.
Now that I’m home here in sunny Central Florida, I think it’s a good time to catch up on all the latest and let you know what’s out there on the news wire.
Disabled travelers and their travel companions will want to join me as we trawl through August.
It’s the last month of the “really hot” season in Florida, so here’s some really hot information!
Travel partner sought for epic road trip: Here’s a wheelchair-bound rambler out on what he calls his “ultimate adventure,” a two-month road trip from his hometown of Kitchener, Ontario to Los Angeles, California. On the way, he’ll be stopping at the “kitschiest, most memorable roadside attractions around,” according to The Record. And the good news? Disabled Travelers readers are welcome to join him!
Greg Moore, the wanderer in question, has already gotten 30 responses to his post looking for just the right road trip partner. That person will get $25 a day in addition to the enjoyment of Greg’s company. A wheelchair user since youth, Greg needs a travel companion who can lift him and help him out in “non-wheelchair intended situations,” as he puts it. These include kayaking, a helicopter tour, and buffalo wrangling!
The Report article has only been up for a few days. Here’s hoping we hear more from Moore as the trip develops. Maybe he and his traveling partner(s) will start a blog! In any case, you can visit the link above to get the skinny. Anyone interested in joining Greg’s journey can contact him directly at this email address: [email protected]
In the hustle and bustle of my own recent excursion, you can forgive me for missing PeterGreenberg.com’s outstanding new post: Accessible France: Travel Tips for Wheelchair Users which has been around on the web since July. Correspondent Emma Verrill has been exploring France in her wheelchair for nine months now and has a terrific perspective on the challenges and joys of Paris and the countryside. A terrific post to read at the same time as this one is Le Tramway and Beyond: Transportation in Paris.
There are lots of places out there looking to attract disabled travelers to have a visit. New among that growing crowd is the Philippines, which according to the UK Independent, will be working hard on a new effort by extending discounts to visitors from abroad that disabled Filipinos already enjoy. That amounts to a 20% discount on amenities like disabled hotels, transport, “amusement centers,” and medical care, among other things.
From another exotic locale, Malaysia, the National News Agency just posted Promoting Accessible Tourism for the Disabled, a story on the country’s disability rights advocacy groups and their work promoting barrier-free access and equality of opportunity. For an even closer look, the Beautiful Gate Foundation provides information on accessibility initiatives on their website, available completely in English.
That’s the end of the road for today’s Disabled Travelers blog! See you next week!
Si
