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The Intersection of Travel and Disability

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A 100-Mile Test of Inclusive Wayfinding

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Hiking partners Christy Vanek and Luce Martin pose inside a sunlit cave, with light beams cutting through the darkness around them.

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.

Reserve your seat

The Best & Worst Accessible Travel Stories of 2025 & What We Learned

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In this session at last year’s TravelAbility Summit, disabled travelers and caregivers shared real life dreams and nightmares from their journeys. Learn from more stories like these at this fall’s TravelAbility Summit in Tampa, Florida, November 9-11. This is where destinations, venues, and travel brands come together to advance accessibility in a practical, business-smart way. Over two days of case studies, workshops, and peer learning, industry leaders share proven strategies that improve the travel experience for people with disabilities—and, by extension, for families, multigenerational groups, and travelers with temporary or situational limitations. Meet the advisors, suppliers, and destination teams leading the way, and leave with a roadmap you can put to work immediately.

Register Today

Kristy summed it up nicely: Accessibility = exceptional hospitality. 

Kristy Durso

Session Overview

Five panelists seated on stage at the TravelAbility Summit holding microphones, including Kristy Durso, Jennifer Allen, Amy Tarpein, Jessica Jordan Ping, and Anthony Ferraro, with the TravelAbility branded step-and-repeat banner visible in the background.

Speakers 

  • Kristy Durso – Founder, Incredible Memories Travel / Ambassador, TravelAbility
  • Jennifer Allen – Founder, Wonders Within Reach / Insider Editor, TravelAbility
  • Amy Tarpein – CEO, Elijah’s Baby Bucket List 
  • Jessica Jordan Ping – Content creator & access consultant, The Rolling Explorer
  • Anthony Ferraro – Blind content creator, speaker & athlete, ASFVISION LLC 

The Worst Experiences 

  • Airports + transportation failures 
    • Broken elevators, no accessible taxis, inaccessible bathrooms being used as changing rooms, slow or rude mobility assistance, forced wheelchairs, condescending staff (“Why are you traveling alone?”).
  • “We know your limits better than you.” 
    • Jessica was denied a gondola ride because the staff decided she couldn’t make it down, despite letting everyone else board. 
  • “Accessible…except it isn’t” 
    • An attraction at the bottom of two flights of stairs. 
    • “Accessible rooms” on upper floors when the elevators were broken. 
    • Families are stuck when transit elevators don’t work. 
  • Emotional impact 
    • Guests feel humiliated, unsafe, or forced to beg for basic help. 
    • The takeaway: Lack of dignity is often worse than the physical barrier. 

The Best Experiences

  • Agency + joy 
    • Anthony, who is blind, safely got to drive a caron a salt flat — the kind of freedom he’d always wanted. 
  • Cruise excursions that listened 
    • Royal Caribbean coordinated with vendors so Jessica could kayak safely without damaging her prosthetic. 
  • Staff who try 
    • A mountain coaster team in Pigeon Forge figured out how to include Elijah. His joy was contagious, and by the end of the day the staff felt like family. 
  • A “normal” family trip 
    • Fully accessible Adirondack campground: ramped cabin, accessible fire pit, accessible bathroom, and level paths. No barriers. No drama. Just a normal vacation.

What Every Destination Should Do

✅ Treat disabled guests with dignity and respect 
✅ Assume competence — don’t decide their limits for them 
✅ If something breaks (elevator, lift, pool chair), fix it immediately or offer a backup 
✅ Publish real access info: measurements, steps, terrain, restrooms, transfer methods
✅ Staff training: speak to the traveler directly, ask before helping, and offer choices 
✅ Create service recovery plans for emergencies (quiet room, supplies, accessible ride) 

The Big Message

Kristy summed it up nicely: Accessibility = exceptional hospitality. 

Make it easy for people to belong, and their stories become marketing you can’t buy.

Accessibility Superstar Spotlight: Toni Bastian

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Toni Bastian with dark brown hair smiling at the camera

TravelAbility’s Accessibility Superstars are individuals who don’t just influence their destinations: they reshape them. Each honoree has led the kind of change that lifts an entire community, creating a culture where accessibility is woven into everyday decisions.

Toni Bastian of Visit Richmond has done exactly that. Under Toni’s leadership, Richmond has become a model for inclusive tourism, launching the Accessible RVA strategic plan, training a network of Accessible RVA Champions, and expanding disability-inclusiveness training for frontline staff. Through quiet determination, practical tools, and a steady belief that everyone deserves to feel welcome, she has helped transform the way Visit Richmond understands and delivers inclusion.

“Everyone deserves to feel welcome and comfortable when they travel.”

When asked why this work matters so deeply to her, Toni goes straight to the heart of it.

“I care about inclusion because everyone deserves to feel welcome and comfortable when they travel,” she says. “Once I stepped into this work, I realized how many small changes can completely transform someone’s experience. That’s what motivates me.”

She’s watched the local mindset shift—not from pressure or mandates, but from genuine learning and shared moments.

“Seeing our community move from treating accessibility as a task to treating it as part of who we are has been incredibly encouraging,” she says. “When a visitor tells us they felt at ease here, or a tourism partner shares something they learned that changed how they operate, it’s a reminder of why this work matters.”

One of those moments still stands out. A historic home in town completed VisitAble’s disability training. What they learned pushed them to take on a challenge that would have seemed daunting before.

“That experience pushed them to work through the process of getting a permit to add a ramp to a previously inaccessible entrance, while still preserving the home’s historic character,” she says. “Now they’re welcoming guests who use wheelchairs, but also anyone who benefits from a ramp. It’s a small change with a huge impact.”

Creating Momentum: “Keep the work simple, practical, and free of pressure.”

Culture change doesn’t happen by accident. She’s spent years figuring out what truly brings partners and leadership on board.

“What’s helped the most is keeping the work simple, practical, and free of pressure,” she explains. 

‘Partnering with VisitAble to offer disability training gave businesses a clear, approachable place to begin. Providing access to disability training gave our tourism partners something concrete to start with, and that made it easier for them to get on board.”

But education alone isn’t what moves people, it’s stories.

“Sharing traveler feedback or hosting disability content creators for familiarization tours and letting partners hear real stories helped leadership understand the impact on a personal level,” Toni says.

Those firsthand accounts shifted mindsets.

“Over time, people began to see accessibility not as a checklist but as a way to welcome more travelers with dignity and warmth,” she notes. “That shift in thinking is what created momentum.”

Advice to Other Destinations: “Start with education… celebrate the small steps.”

Her recommendation to others hoping to build an inclusive culture is clear and actionable.

“I feel that when a destination can help cover the cost of disability etiquette training, it creates a gentle way to start the conversation about reducing barriers and creating equitable travel experiences,” she says. “Beginning with education builds the ‘why’ and moves us away from any kind of ‘gotcha’ mindset.”

She believes the most powerful changes come from hearing directly from people with lived experience.

“Hearing directly from someone with lived experience and the barriers they face every day is what pushes businesses to reduce those barriers, often with a simple fix they may not have previously known about,” she says.

And when partners feel supported rather than judged, everything shifts.

“When tourism partners feel supported, they’re far more willing to try something new,” she adds. “Celebrate progress, even the small steps, because those moments build confidence and keep inclusion in everyday conversations instead of treating it like a side project.”

At that point, inclusion stops being a program and becomes a mindset.

“When it’s part of how you plan, train, and talk about visitor experience, it becomes a natural piece of your culture,” she says. “And that’s when real change happens.”

View the Full Superstar Gallery

Best Practices: What Works on Tennessee State Parks’ Accessibility Landing Page

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The Accessibility option in Tennessee State Park’s drop down menu brings you to a page of seemingly endless options. Planning barriers are removed with detailed information on facilities and experiences that are accessible for individuals with varying types of mobility needs. You can find information on:

  • Wheelchair-friendly paved trails and overlooks
  • All-terrain wheelchairs
  • Adult-sized changing tables
  • Colorblind viewers
  • Accessible kayak/canoe launches
  • Language and information access
  • Connection with an accessibility team
  • Individual park pages with details on ramps, accessible restrooms, parking spots, and more to ensure a barrier-free experience

Not only are accessible and adaptive options prolific, the information on them is easy to find.

Check out the beautifully organized landing page here.

Amy Jukes Joins TravelAbility as Strategic Advisor and Business Development Director

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Amy Jukes is the founder of AmVarra Consulting, where she and her team provides fractional executive support and strategy to travel businesses around accessibility. With over 20 years of leadership experience, she has served as Chief Operating Officer at Sage Inclusion, a national accessibility firm, and as Executive Director of Anam Cara, a nonprofit dedicated to educational advocacy for students with disabilities.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Amy to our team as she brings invaluable expertise in business development that will help us scale inclusion to the next level,” said Jake Steinman, founder, TravelAbility. “Her extensive experience conducting 400 travel industry accessibility assessments—many funded by grants she and her team initiated—will help destinations strengthen their leadership in accessibility.”

Her expertise covers nonprofit leadership, tourism strategy, and accessibility implementation, including audits, training programs, and operational planning for cities, airports, and national organizations.

At TravelAbility, Amy will play a key role in expanding The Accessibility Playbook and forging partnerships that enable destinations to move beyond compliance and toward a true competitive advantage. She is deeply passionate about making inclusive tourism both practical and profitable.

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