Traveling stimulates all five senses. But it’s much harder to enjoy the sounds, smells, and tastes of a new place when you’re struggling to navigate it safely.
Each airport, rail system, and point on your itinerary has different rules and varying levels of accessibility and support. Even to destinations that don’t have accessibility standards similar to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), there are ways to make traveling with or without companions easier.
Jani Nayar, executive director of the Association for Accessible Travel and Hospitality (SATH), says it all comes down to planning, whether that’s finding the right hotel or choosing a guide or tour operator that offers an enriching experience centered around sounds, tastes and touch (think wine tastings, cooking classes and museums with tactile experiences).
We’ve tapped into the expertise of tour operators, travel advisors, and visually impaired travelers to create a list of tips and resources to help you plan a trip you’ll remember for years to come.
Plan early
To ensure a smooth trip, Cindy Caldwell, Disability Travel Advisor at Full Access Vacations, recommends spending ample time (ideally several months) thoroughly researching the support available at your destination. He says please look into it. This means you need to check every aspect of your trip, including hotel layout, staff reviews, and support for things like Braille room numbers and signage and large-print menus. If you’re planning a city tour and travel with a cane, get a tactile map, find out what curb signs for canes look like, and listen to the audio warning of a green light at a crosswalk. I recommend checking to see if there is one.
Plan ahead and find out about accessibility measures at your destination, such as Braille blocks.
Photo by Andrej Lišakov/Unsplash
Book the assistance you need at the airport
Navigating the airport chaos may be the most difficult part of your trip. But a lot has changed since the Air Carrier Access Act went into effect in 1990. Airlines are now required to assist visually impaired (VI) passengers with boarding, disembarking, connecting flights, and retrieving baggage from baggage claim. Additionally, you cannot be required to travel with a companion. Please check with your airline at the time of booking to find out where your pick-up access point is located. Consider using the TSA Cares program to reserve a Passenger Support Specialist to help you get through security quickly and easily.
Familiarize yourself with the aircraft and introduce yourself to the crew
Once the flight attendant has escorted you to your seat, make sure you know where the call button is in case you need to be directed to the restroom or have any other questions onboard, says travel agency Traveleyes. says Blind founder Amar Latif.
Make sure your guide dog can travel with you
U.S. airlines are required to accept guide dogs with the proper Department of Transportation forms; for cruise ships, it depends heavily on the operator. International destinations have widely different policies regarding service animals; some don’t allow service animals at all (United Arab Emirates) to others that require special applications, health reports, and even a two-week quarantine that could ruin your trip. Mobility organizations recommend checking with the embassy or consulate of the country you’re interested in to find out its policies. They also recommend checking with the Department of Agriculture to see if guide dogs are exempt from quarantine.
Ask hotel staff for accommodation recommendations
Having someone give you a brief tour of the hotel’s layout and amenities when you check in can save you a lot of time and give you more freedom to spend your time in the hotel, says Latif. Where are the elevators? Can they help me find the pool, restaurant, or gym?
Try a tour operator specializing in the VI community
Companies such as London-based Travel Eyes, Seeble and Maine’s Mind’s Eye Travel pair travelers with sighted, background-checked companions and require them to pay to bring family and friends along. I try not to have any.
“[Our travelers] We want to go to places that we normally wouldn’t be able to go to without help, such as Thailand and Italy,” says Damiano La Rocca, Director of Seable. “They get trained support and can meet other people.”
Seeble’s sighted local companions support two travelers at a time on every trip, explaining the sights in a meaningful way and making sure they are properly guiding people. Must undergo visual recognition training. These companies are choosing experiences that don’t rely heavily on large descriptions of visually stunning landmarks. Instead, travelers can immerse themselves in physical activities such as adaptive skiing or hands-on cultural experiences such as wine tasting, crafts and cooking classes. With car transportation included at all points, it’s one less thing he has to worry about.
Support using technology
If you’re traveling unaccompanied, you can find visual assistance through apps like Be My Eyes, which uses cellphone video chat with volunteers to help VI travelers navigate unfamiliar areas. Many airports also use Aira, a visual interpretation app that helps VI travelers find restrooms and restaurants near their gate. Additional travel tips are available at VisionAware, an online directory of resources for the blind community.
Some destinations offer tactile exhibits that visually impaired people can touch to better experience artworks and landmarks.
Photo credit: MZeta/Shutterstock
Don’t give up on your big adventure
Adaptive recreation organizations around the world run programs tailored to every sport, from windsurfing and skiing to rafting and kayaking.
Blind South African traveler and blogger Jessica Pita never considered the highly visual sport of scuba diving until a friend introduced her to Mozambique’s Professional Association for Adaptive Diving Instructors (PADI) program. There wasn’t. Her diver friend guided her around the coral, using her tactile hand signals to tell her depth and time. She said she had no idea how much this experience would stimulate her other senses.
“The sound of the coral was so strong,” she says. “It was like a crackling sound, and as we got closer and closer to it, it felt like it was coming from all around me.”
The biggest lesson for Pita was learning to trust the guides to relax and have fun. She has now added diving destinations like Hawaii and Zanzibar to her bucket list.
After years of relying solely on friends and family when traveling, Pita says, “I wanted to know it was safe to let my guard down.”
