Parks, trails, and public spaces are often unwelcoming at best and dangerous at worst for travelers with disabilities. Now, two adventurers, each with their own disabilities, are taking on a 100-mile trek through Europe to help change that.
Christy Vanek (blind/low vision) and Luce Martin (deaf disabled) are seasoned hikers, world travelers, and partners in both life and adventure. They’ve tackled everything from the rugged bush trails of Liberia to the Dragon’s Back of the Hong Kong Trail and the unmarked Idaho wilderness. A cross-disability team, they know firsthand how traditional wayfinding leaves people behind.
The Problem: Why Accessible Outdoor Recreation Still Falls Short
When destinations talk about accessible outdoor experiences, the conversation often begins and ends at the scenic overlook.
“I don’t want to be at the end of the parking lot; I want to be immersed in nature,” says Luce, a part-time wheelchair user. Luce has seen enough visitor centers and craves the same experience as any other hiker: the chance to venture beyond the crowds and into the wild. ”While accessible overlooks are valuable and serve a purpose, I believe true equity means giving everyone the chance to hike far enough to feel truly lost in the landscape and each of us should be able to make that decision for ourselves. But we need information to do so.”
Christy faces a different set of challenges. Trail markers, maps, stairs, curbs, and low-contrast signage can all become barriers to independent navigation. The standard trail markers found on many trails, aged brown signs with faded lettering, often aren’t visible to Christy. As a result, she frequently has to rely on Luce to interpret wayfinding information, “I want to be able to fully participate in decisions about where to go next.”
The Adventurous Start to a Solution
Naturally, it all started at the TravelAbility Summit. “I was there on a panel,” Christy shares. “I made an off-the-cuff comment about my experience with blindness and hiking and the challenges of wayfinding on trails.”
After the session, she was met by a line of people with follow up questions. “They didn’t want to talk about the panel topic: they wanted to talk about trail access and wayfinding.” The response revealed the gap in understanding, the interest in bridging that gap, and Christy’s ability to create real change.
Not long after, Luce became a part of Christy’s life. While on a hike together she shared about the lack of access on the trail and her desire to explore accessibility and create resources for change and improve the hiking experience for the blind and low vision community. Luce was on board immediately, “You know, there’s this really cool hike called the Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB) that goes around the base of Mont Blanc and through Switzerland, France and Italy. It’s only a hundred plus miles and it’s a historic route. It’s one of the 300 or so official Gran Randonée trails in Europe and is super well known.”
Why This Hike Matters for Everyone On or Off the Trail
People with disabilities don’t just experience barriers on the trail. Challenges persist throughout the entire travel experience—from booking trips to navigating airports and transit hubs—highlighting a critical need for accessible information and infrastructure across every stage of a journey so we can book our travel with confidence.
As Christy and Luce hike together and connect with other disabled hikers for their input they’re finding solutions that mean improvement not only across destination types – trails, parks, and general public spaces, but also across walks of life. Luce points out that “a Topographic map at six feet high behind scratched plexiglass doesn’t help anyone.” Conversely, a clearly marked trail helps everyone. A hike with length and incline specified helps visitors across ages and abilities. High contrast signage and clearly marked amenity locations don’t just help the disability community, but also the aging population and families who might wish an accessible, level appropriate adventure, whether it is in the woods or a community park.
Christy highlights, “We’re suggesting improvements to trail marking systems, wayfinding, digital resources, and tactile options. We’re interested in seeing destinations give people more complete and usable information so they can make independent and informed decisions while on the trail, or elsewhere, about safety and comfort.”
The same principle applies to parks, trails, visitor centers, and destination wayfinding. Improving accessibility improves the quality of the experience for everyone.
How You Can be a Part of Progress and Grow through the Journey
Christy and Luce are training this summer and will hit the trail in September. The full trek is slated for 14 days. They will test multiple assistive technologies along the way, and they’ve booked with an outfitter to coordinate the multiple reservations needed and the logistics of transporting their gear from place to place.
Christy and Luce may be literal trail blazers, but this is not a solo project.
“We’re meeting with other disabled hikers for a broader discussion,” Christy shares. The goal is to gather input early, test ideas, and ensure that proposed solutions reflect a variety of disability experiences.
They’re funding their own journey to ensure that the information gleaned is available freely to all. In order to do that, they’re raising support and sharing information through a GoFundMe page. You can also follow their journey on Instagram @whichwaywhat.
One of the project’s major outcomes will be a set of accessibility guidelines and standards for outdoor spaces.
At the upcoming TravelAbility Summit session, Unseen Summits: Inclusive Wayfinding Lessons from the Tour du Mont Blanc, attendees will hear firsthand what the pair learned while testing technology, trail systems, signage, and infrastructure across one of the world’s most famous hiking routes. They will share their blueprint for inclusive wayfinding and building a bridge to traveler autonomy—not to make the wilderness less wild, but to give travelers with disabilities the information they need to have a stronger voice in their own journey. An inclusive welcome begins long before a visitor arrives. You will walk away with actionable insights on how to transform your destination’s physical and digital landscapes—from remote nature trails to historic cityscapes—into spaces where every traveler can experience the full, independent joy of discovery.
Their journey begins this September, but the conversation about accessible wayfinding starts now. Join them at the TravelAbility Summit to learn how destinations can create outdoor experiences that welcome more travelers without making the wilderness any less wild.
SUBSCRIBE TODAY!
You must be logged in to post a comment.