TravelAbility Insider

The Intersection of Travel and Disability

Travel

Wheel the World Raises $2MM to Provide Unlimited Experiences

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Wheelchair user in front of Machu Picchu ruins.

Friends Alvaro Silberstein, who uses a wheelchair following a car accident as a teenager, and Camilo Navarro came up with the idea for the Wheel the World travel booking site following a 2016 trip to Torres del Paine National Park in Chile. Silberstein said with the help of Navarro and other friends, he became the first person to complete the Patagonia trek by wheelchair. Three years later, about 1,300 people have booked trips through the Berkeley, California-based company’s website, which offers over 400 listings to more than 50 destinations. 

Recently, they announced $2 million in a seed round led by Chile Global Ventures and Dadneo, with the support of Plug N Play Ventures and YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki.

Our Take: When Camilo presented at TravelAbility San Francisco in 2019, he had 5 employees and an OTA concept around adventure travel for wheelchair users.  Since then they’ve expanded to offering bespoke tours in most major urban areas using a proprietary hotel mapping system that includes over 200 points.

See their first commercial:

To read more about Wheel the World, check out this article in TechCrunch.

Drop Everything! 23 Women Travel Influencers to Help You Drive Off-Season Travel

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Woman seated in her wheelchair in front of a mural of wings painted on a brick wall.

The popular women’s travel blog, She’s Wanderful, recently published a list of 23 female accessible travel influencers to follow right now, and it includes some of our favorites from all around the world!

First on the list is Stacey Marlene, the founder of Deafinitely Wanderlust, a blog that will challenge your perspective about Deaf travelers. Stacey has traveled the world, inspiring others with hearing loss to follow in her footsteps.

Emma Muldoon, founder of the UK’s leading accessible travel and lifestyle blog, Simply Emma, makes an appearance on the list as well. Emma has Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy, and shows her readers how to manage traveling (and attending music concerts) with a disability.

Accessible travel influencers like Stacey and Emma can play an important role in helping your destination or business reach new customers with disabilities – people who are interested in and ready to travel!

To read more about the top female accessible travel influencers, check out the full list at She’s Wanderful.

10 Wheelchair Accessible Places You Can Go When You’re Fully Vaccinated

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Nashville city skyline.

With America’s vaccination rates increasing, many disabled people are beginning to plan summer travel.

WheelchairTravel.org founder and TravelAbility Advisory Board member John Morris recently wrote an article highlighting 10 U.S. cities that are worth visiting once you’ve been vaccinated. Among the cities featured in his list are Nashville and Salt Lake City.

To see where John recommends you travel this summer, read the article on the Wheelchair Travel website.

Airbnb Offering Accessible Outdoor Experiences for Wheelchair Users

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Adaptive surfing and person on beach wheelchair.

In celebration of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Airbnb partnered with No Barriers, a non-profit organization that connects disabled people with opportunities to engage with nature.

As part of this collaboration, Airbnb has highlighted accessible experiences and places to stay that have accessibility features available for disabled guests.

Suzanne Edwards, Airbnb’s head of accessibility standards, said that “we continue working to grow the number of stays and Experiences for guests with accessibility needs.” A wheelchair user herself, Suzanne said that she’s “been inspired by Hosts’ stylish rural homes with accessibility features.”

The accessible experiences available through Airbnb include a beginner’s horseback ride designed for neurodiverse guests and an adaptive canoe excursion.

To learn more, read the full article in Travel + Leisure.

Most Accessible Cities in the World: Can You Guess Which American City Made the List?

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Denver, Colorado skyline.

No city can claim to be fully accessible, but some are leading the pack in creating a welcoming environment for disabled travelers.

Accessible travel expert Martin Heng recently identified 5 of the world’s most accessible cities in an article for The Points Guy. The cities he identified span multiple continents and include one city in the United States — Denver, Colorado!

To read more about the cities Heng has identified as examples for their accessibility, read his article at The Points Guy.