The ultimate travel guide for someone with cerebral palsy

It’s 2019, and for most millennials travelling around the world is considered an essential experience to put on their bucket list. While exploring different countries and cultures is a spectacular adventure, it requires an enormous amount of planning.

Aside from saving up money, organising accommodation, flight tickets and passports, people with disabilities have the added task of making sure the places they want to see are accessible.

This is something 26-year-old, Caitlyn Alger is familiar with, “Knowing where to go and who to take with you takes a lot of planning,” says Caitlyn.

She has already traveled to Denmark, Vietnam, Cambodia and most recently India. For most of her trips, she has a support worker by her side – giving her the kind of freedom and independence that allows her to have a typical 20-something lifestyle.

During her travels, Caitlyn has taken the opportunity to give back to her community. In 2016, during her trip from Cambodia to Vietnam, she participated in a cycling tour arranged by Disability Sport and Recreation. The proceeds of the CyclePower Tour went to the Australian Women’s Wheelchair Basketball League.

“It’s an experience for me to get out and about … without CPSN I don’t think I could have done this.”

This January Caitlyn and her support worker went to India. For aspiring travelers, Alger says it’s all about planning, accessibility and having the right supports in place.

With her support worker, Smitha – the two worked as a team from planning accommodation to seeing all the best tourist sites.

“When I went over to India, we stayed at a hotel that was wheelchair accessible.” Caitlyn used the trip to soak up Indian culture and cuisine. She even spent time with her support worker’s family who lives in India and got out of her comfort zone.

When reminiscing on her favourite parts of the trip, the answer was easy, “I loved going to the Taj Mahal, and learning the history (of India).”

For Caitlyn, and many others like her this is not just about a single moment of immersing herself into a different world. It’s part of a bigger story. In the 21^st century, more and more people with cerebral palsy can govern their bodies, earn their own money and decide which direction they choose to take their lives.

Along with her travels, Caitlyn works and lives independently out of the home. She can commute without assistance and has a social life that includes going to concerts.

There are still many people with cerebral palsy who might be reluctant to travel to ancient, unfamiliar places – fearing a total loss of independence. There are ways to navigate around this.

Tips for going overseas with a disability:

• Know where you want to go and what is accessible.
• Have someone there who can support you.
• Look for accommodation that isn’t just accessible but has friendly staff.
• Contact the staff of hotels, restaurants and other tourist sites to confirm you can get where you want to go.
• If there are accessibility barriers do your best to try and find a solution.

Always wanted to travel, but looking for the right support? Contact CPSN for more information on how we can help. Did you know you can redeeem your Innovative Choices flexi-funds (formerly Excess) to pay for your support workers travel? For enquiries contact us at 1300 277 600, or email cpsn@cpsn.org.au