At just a few months old I travelled on a plane for the first time; but not for the reason you are probably thinking of.
I was flying to a hospital – let me fill you in a bit…
My parents were told that I wasn’t going to be born alive – or if I was born alive then I would only survive a few hours, due to a condition that I was born with called ‘Dwarfism.’ But here I am, many trips around the sun later, with a huge passion for travel.
Throughout my life I have flown overseas for holidays with my family and friends but also back and forth to hospitals. I’ve lost count of how many flights I’ve been actually been on. I’m not sure where I get my urge to travel from but I haven’t let my physical differences stop me from doing so.
Apart from the obvious thing about having Dwarfism – which is short stature – we can have additional health problems to do with our spine, neck and legs. I have quite a severe type of Dwarfism which means I am unable to walk long distances on my own; therefore I travel with my wheelchair.
I started up a travel and lifestyle blog in 2016 because I noticed that there wasn’t many travel bloggers who travel with a physical difference or with a wheelchair, which is where my idea of starting a blog came from. I wanted to provide tips and advice for both able bodied travellers and people who have physical differences – the people who need that extra bit of information about destinations such as wheelchair accessibility. People tend to think that because you require a wheelchair, you can’t do certain things. This can be true in some situations but I want people to know that it is possible to travel with a wheelchair and with a difference!
All it takes is a bit of extra planning and when I travel I always have someone with me for assistance. Once I sort out the important things, for example: making sure that the accommodation is wheelchair friendly, researching accessible activities and attractions to see and do and double checking with the airline that I’m flying with about my wheelchair then there isn’t much else stopping me from travelling.
For someone who hasn’t travelled due to either an injury, illness or disability, it can seem quite overwhelming – but once you plan out one trip, you’ll find it easier and easier each time. Most places are getting more and more accessible, especially for people in wheelchairs, which is awesome.
When I get a chance to travel, it’s always fun! Visiting different places around the world and embracing other cultures has definitely been eye opening. It is amazing to be able to see and experience how other people live and go about their daily lives and what matters to them and what doesn’t. Everyone who travels is bound to learn something – whether it’s to do with the place that they are visiting or, more importantly, about themselves.
