3 minute read
Is 2021 The Year of Meaningful Travel for Disabled People?
As the world starts to open up again, now is the time to start planning your next holiday with Limitless Travel.
HAVING been isolated more than 12 months, disabled people feel they’ve become a forgotten community. This is reflected in a recent government survey where 41% of disabled people reported that the coronavirus pandemic has made their mental health worse, compared to 20% of able-bodied people. And according to Airbnb’s latest report, ‘2021 The Year Of Meaningful Travel,’ travel in 2021 is set to be an antidote to this isolation and disconnection. This is an idea firmly supported by Limitless Travel, a specialist provider of disabled-friendly and accessible holidays, who can testify that travel has the power to change people’s lives with multiple benefits for their mental health.
Limitless Travel’s CEO and Founder, Angus Drummond tells us that “travel doesn’t just offer the change of scenery that we’re all desperate for; travel has the power to benefit our mental health. These are mental health benefits such as lowering stress levels, providing a break from the routine, refreshing outlooks and boosting creativity, boosting self-esteem and confidence and providing different perspectives. Even precovid, our accessible and safe holidays have been reducing the isolation felt by many people with disabilities and their carers who sometimes haven’t been on holiday for years due to their disabilities.”
After shielding at home for so long, almost half (47%) of disabled people reported higher anxiety levels in September 2020, compared to less than a third of non-disabled people. And whilst many disabled people, who’ve been shielding at home, are ready to go on their next holiday, many can feel nervous because they lack confidence in what type of holiday is accessible for them.
Angus explains, “After a year of being at home, we want our customers to feel the magic of travel again. It’s much needed after the anxiety and stress of the past year. For us, 2021 is the year for embracing new adventures, ticking off travel highlights that have been on your to-do list; be that bucket list trips full of epic experiences or quieter retreats to familiar locations, we’re confident that there are sunnier times ahead for all of us.”
Angus, diagnosed with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (a rare genetic disorder) at the age of 22, was devastated with this news and knew his life would never be the same. Determined to experience the best of what the world had to offer, Angus quit his job in finance, dusted off his Glastonbury backpack, and set off with his wife to explore 35 new countries. They canoed through Vietnam, climbed to the top of Machu Picchu, sailed the backwaters of Kerala, and partied in Rio.
As their journey progressed Angus noticed just how rarely the travel industry
considered disabled tourists. Given the incredible experiences the world had given to him, Angus realised that travel should not be exclusive to non-disabled people. Wanting to do something about the challenges he, and other disabled people face, Angus made it his mission to make travel limitless for all disabled people. Thus Limitless Travel was born.
Limitless Travel is an expert provider of disabled-friendly and accessible holidays in the UK and abroad with a sense of community designed for anybody and everybody. Limitless Travel’s holidays and experiences make the world accessible to all, revolutionising travel for people with disabilities by reducing the worry and stress they face when booking a holiday and ensuring all their access needs are met.
Website: limitlesstravel.org Twitter: @LimitlessTr4vel Facebook: @LimitlessTravelOfficial
