Hello!!
Jeremy and Mackenzie here! So we had this crazy idea that we wanted to start a blog about accessible travels. We started to see some of our friends put together blogs about their adventures of moving to new places or writing about their jobs or traveling the world and we thought, "why don't we do that?"
But this will be a little different than most blogs because we will be telling you all about our adventures from an accessibility standpoint. We found that as we started to travel more, we could not find any information on accessibility of hotels, restaurants, or entertainment areas outside of the fact that doors were wide enough to fit through. As many people know, and some do not, there is so much more that goes into "accessible" travel:
We had so many questions and figured that others did too. So we thought that we would blog about our adventures and share our stories; the good, the bad, the crazy and strange so others could get a more in-depth idea of how accessible "accessible" really is. We also want to tell you about all of the people we meet along the way. The people who go out of their way to make our travels as perfect as possible. So we invite you to come along with us on our adventures :-)
Oh, and our travel blog name, "Big Mack Accessible Travels" is a catchy moniker we made up for ourselves (yes because we think we're awesome): jeremy BIGelow and MACKenzie Coughlan
Make sure to subscribe at the RSS to the right to receive updates via email on our postings. See you on the road!
~Jeremy and Mackenzie
Jeremy and Mackenzie here! So we had this crazy idea that we wanted to start a blog about accessible travels. We started to see some of our friends put together blogs about their adventures of moving to new places or writing about their jobs or traveling the world and we thought, "why don't we do that?"
But this will be a little different than most blogs because we will be telling you all about our adventures from an accessibility standpoint. We found that as we started to travel more, we could not find any information on accessibility of hotels, restaurants, or entertainment areas outside of the fact that doors were wide enough to fit through. As many people know, and some do not, there is so much more that goes into "accessible" travel:
- Beds too high (will not allow proper transfer for people able to use their upper body to get themselves from a wheelchair into a bed)
- Beds too low (causes back pain or soreness for health aids, assistants, caregivers, family members or friends assisting someone into bed)
- Beds have a platform (not allowing a Hoyer lift to fit underneath. A Hoyer lift is a device used to lift and transfer someone with minimal effort into a bed, chair, etc.)
- Hallways just wide enough to meet code
- Step in tub
- Roll in shower
- Lower sinks
- Do restaurants have ramps or just one step that is considered to be accessible by state regulations
- Pivot points wide enough for motorized wheelchairs
- Proper railing placement in bathrooms or public places that allow support
- Accessible restrooms
- Family restrooms
We had so many questions and figured that others did too. So we thought that we would blog about our adventures and share our stories; the good, the bad, the crazy and strange so others could get a more in-depth idea of how accessible "accessible" really is. We also want to tell you about all of the people we meet along the way. The people who go out of their way to make our travels as perfect as possible. So we invite you to come along with us on our adventures :-)
Oh, and our travel blog name, "Big Mack Accessible Travels" is a catchy moniker we made up for ourselves (yes because we think we're awesome): jeremy BIGelow and MACKenzie Coughlan
Make sure to subscribe at the RSS to the right to receive updates via email on our postings. See you on the road!
~Jeremy and Mackenzie