Guest Editor’s Note

Was there ever a time in your life when you shared your desire to travel with others, only for them to discourage you from pursuing it–even with the best intentions and your safety at heart? There will always be naysayers and gatekeepers with their opinions, but there is an increasing number of people with disabilities who choose to treat those opinions as motivation and inspiration to see the world on our terms. As a neurodivergent traveler, I happen to be one of them.

TravelAbility founder and CEO Jake Steinman headlines the issue with his conversation about how small improvements in cities can make a huge difference for travelers with special needs. It got me thinking about not only what’s possible but how something of this scope could be accomplished. Even as an experienced travel writer who has covered 70 countries, I can still think of a few accommodations that could maximize my enjoyment, improve the way I prepare for a trip, and minimize unwelcome surprises that occasionally emerge.

Opening up cities and destinations around the world to more people has inspired some to make removing physical barriers to travel their life’s work. “Madeira Acessivel By Wheelchair” founder Tiago Camacho has leveled the playing field to empower his clients to explore the famously rugged Portuguese island. El Houssaine Ichen introduces his clients to the highlights of Marrakech as a guide providing access and insight into his hometown. It gives me hope others will be moved to do the same for neurodivergent travelers. Perhaps tourism organizations can create online and app-based guides with navigation; recommendations for calmer, safer alternative sites and routes to the more crowded places, and contact numbers for specialized assistance. This means anybody representing a destination can be an ambassador dedicated to making all travelers, including those with special needs and concerns, feel genuinely welcome.

You will also meet adventurers who are not waiting to get permission to travel, and live fearlessly rather than accept others’ perceptions of limitations. Jan Bonville shares how her passion for Tahiti expanded through the ways Tahiti Tourisme has opened out the ocean and its natural wonders to people of all abilities and their families. Jackie Schiemann discusses how her dog, Tyrus, has not only made hiking trails safer but became a meaningful companion.  

A “city without limits” is less about being a city without barriers and more about embracing travelers who won’t let barriers define them. While some may see Steinman’s vision as a work in progress, it reflects the fact that “accessible journeys” is more than a buzz word or niche travel category. His ideas and Accessible Journeys’ writers are part of a greater transformative shift in the travel paradigm, away from limitations and towards enrichment, opportunities, and perspectives on the world that arise from allowing everybody to participate. With my new column, “The Neurodiverse Jetsetter,” I look forward to being a part of that shift.

Elyse Glickman