Alright, welcome to the AdaptX Podcast where we have conversations with individuals who
are building accessible businesses, advocating for inclusion, or excelling in adaptive sports.
Our intention is never to speak on behalf of those with disabilities, but provide a
platform to share insights into a more accessible world.
Today we are joined by Kristen Secor.
Kristen was born with a rare form of muscular dystrophy, which affects her strength, endurance,
balance, and breathing.
Despite her physical challenges, she continues to pursue her love of travel and has explored
20 countries across four continents, including Antarctica.
Now she uses her knowledge to help others with mobility challenges to travel to their
dream destinations through the information and resources that she provides on her wheelchair
accessible travel blog, World on Wheels Blog.
Kristen, thank you for joining me today.
Thank you so much for having me.
When did your passion for travel begin?
So I've always had a passion for travel.
We always took family vacations, but I did my first international trip right after graduate
school and that really fueled the fire of just seeing new places and history and it
just instilled an absolute love of travel even more than I already had.
What were you studying in graduate school?
So I was studying psychology.
I was a licensed mental health counselor for 11 years and then my disability progressed
and I wasn't able to do that job anymore and that's kind of when I pivoted into the blog.
What aspects of the job I guess were you first unable to do due to your muscular dystrophy?
So that's when I, so my muscular dystrophy is progressive.
So when I was working full time, I was walking with a cane and then I was hospitalized for
like six weeks due to pneumonia and that's when I lost a lot of strength.
I became a full time ventilator user and my doctor had decided that just for health and
safety reasons it wasn't going to be a good fit anymore.
I get sick really easily so that was her biggest concern.
How were you able to balance maybe the susceptibility of getting sick with this love for travel?
Was there an intersection between the two that maybe made you concerned about pursuing
that as a career and as a hobby?
Really, I think my love of travel outweighs the risk.
It's when I feel alive.
It's when I'm most fulfilled.
So I do take precautions and make sure that I'm healthy, that I have antibiotics on hand.
Should I get sick when I'm traveling?
I always discuss my travel plans with my doctors.
After a pandemic, I would wear a mask and you know take those precautions and things
like that.
So I always think for me anyway that I would rather not live in a bubble.
That's not really living so I'd rather do what I love and just be fulfilled that way.
Absolutely.
Well, you're far more adventurous than me.
I don't think I've left Massachusetts in like five years.
So to each their own.
What was I guess what was like the first trip that you took that really drew you into that
as a hobby?
I mentioned that I traveled right after graduate school.
I went to England and Scotland with a friend of mine.
She had studied abroad there so she really knew the area and just seeing the history.
Like in America, we have old buildings but they're nothing like old buildings in Europe.
So getting to see some of the castles and some of just like the different it's a similar
culture but it's also a different culture.
So it really was a nice segue into all of them and it really just made me love it.
Absolutely.
What countries have you visited that you would consider to be the most accessible?
England is well, specifically London is really accessible.
All their public transportation pretty much is wheelchair accessible.
They have plenty of hotel rooms that are adapted for wheelchair users and there's a lot of
things to do.
Even their castles are at least partially accessible.
Like you can tour Bohemian Palace and Windsor Castle and all these iconic sites.
Barcelona was also pretty good in terms of all of those things.
So I would say some of the bigger cities in Europe are probably the most accessible.
But I always challenge myself to go to places that really aren't as user friendly for people
with disabilities just because I'm stubborn and I want to see it all.
I don't want my physical limitations to hold me back as much as possible.
I know that there's always kind of a limit of what you can do.
But that's why I went to Antarctica and South America and those really are not as accessible
as the US or even Europe.
But it was still a fantastic trip.
Yeah you said something interesting there that you kind of gravitate sometimes towards
areas that aren't user friendly or that aren't accessible.
We sometimes hear so much about how it's the business owner or the building's responsibility
to be fully compliant, which it certainly is.
But how much of the responsibility do you think is sometimes on the individual to advocate
for themselves and educate these people because they might not be familiar with accessibility
standards.
They might get into a business but none of their training revolves around accessibility
standards.
So what's that balance between the burden or responsibility being on the user and then
on the business?
I think a lot of the responsibility is on the business.
Because I will say when you go to other countries they don't all have accessibility laws like
we do in the US.
So they don't have those requirements to be accessible and I think that's where my responsibility
comes in to educate them.
You know what you can get a lot more customers if you just put a ramp in instead of stairs
or if you had an accessible bathroom because you know there's so many people that travel
that are disabled and that travel and you could really increase your clientele.
I mean I think you have to come at it from not only a human perspective, right?
Where you're like hey you know what if you're a grandmother or your sister or your brother?
You know what had limitations and how would you feel differently if you actually encountered
it personally but then also come at it from a practical and business perspective of hey
you're missing out on lots of money because you're not accessible.
And if you really wanted to expand your business you could really attract a lot more clients
just by making some simple alterations.
Yeah we definitely talk about how accessibility is not just an altruistic endeavor but it's
also a profitable and good business practice.
What is your planning process like when you're preparing for one of these trips?
I plan at least a year in advance because I need to do research.
I look at what like the hotel rooms in the US we have photos of a lot of our hotel chains
so you can see if it may work for you or not.
In Europe they don't have to post those pictures as much so you've got to email the hotel directly
and say hey can you send me pictures?
Can you send me measurements so I can tell if this is going to be a good fit for me?
Then I have to look at how am I going to get around?
Is there accessible public transportation?
Are there private tours available?
What can I do?
What challenges can I expect?
Are there accessible places to eat?
I use Google Maps a lot to see the street view to see if there are stairs at their entrance.
I also learn to ask very specific questions.
If I just ask is it accessible they'll say yes and then I'll show up and there are stairs
and they're like well you can do stairs right?
And I'm like no I cannot.
That's not my definition of accessible but everyone's definition differs.
So I ask are there stairs?
Is there an alternative step-free entrance?
Is there a lift on that bus so I can stay in my wheelchair or is there a ramp?
Questions like that because I get better results that way but I need time to reach out to all
these places to ask those questions.
I also know that accessible facilities are limited so they sell out quickly so I want
to make sure I get the adaptations I need.
So yeah I plan anywhere from one to two years in advance depending on where I'm traveling
to.
Yeah absolutely.
We hear about the horror stories of traveling with a wheelchair and how so many airlines
damage equipment during flights.
Outside of that what are your primary barriers or concerns when you fly?
Accessible bedrooms 100%.
Yes obviously the wheelchair damage is a concern for people as well but on long-haul flights
you know they the bigger aircrafts have what they call accessible restrooms but they're
not really accessible.
Sometimes they just take down a wall between two standard restrooms to make it bigger but
an aisle wheelchair is what type of wheelchair they use on a plane sometimes barely fits
into one of their accessible bathrooms and if you need help transferring there's usually
not room for someone else to be in there to assist you so it can be very challenging and
I know personally I go to unhealthy measures of you know not eating or drinking to try
to avoid that situation where I may have to use the restroom.
Yeah but that becomes increasingly harder when you're flying to places like Antarctica
I would imagine.
What was that trip like?
I don't know the first thing about how that is structured or what the environment is like
there outside of it being woefully cold so are there yeah what was the what did the trip
consist of?
So I did a cruise to Antarctica.
I left from South America so I flew to Santiago Chile and then we had to sail down the coast
of South America then went to Antarctica for four days so that part was relatively good
accessibility wise a lot of the major cruise lines have accessible cabins and facilities
you know you know you have a place to eat and you know things to do and the ship I did
didn't actually land you know they didn't take people ashore to Antarctica I knew those
ships were not going to be accessible so we just sailed into the peninsulas around Antarctica
we saw a ton of wildlife come back whales every day penguins every day killer whales
seals birds you know so from a wildlife perspective it was really amazing the mountains and the
icebergs were just incredibly big like taller than the ship which is several stories high
and kind of mind-blowing just how massive everything was and yes it was cold but I went
during Antarctica's summer which would be our winter so it was actually warmer in Antarctica
than it was in upstate New York when I was down there it was about 32 35 degrees each
day so it was still cold but not horrible yeah yeah that's that's interesting definitely
probably a sight that you have to witness to really fully grasp the the magnitude of
it all how essential is fitness to your ability to travel or just health globally it's really
important for me especially like the trips I'm taking this year when I'm healthier
fitness-wise I can stay healthier on the trip my energy is usually a little bit better so
I definitely need to stay in shape in order to get the most out of my travels and I think
when you're physically stronger it's easier to maybe ward off viruses and illnesses and
things like that I know the trips I'm taking this year I'll be in Peru be in the merch
and so it'll require me to use a special wheelchair that they have and there's not really side
support so like that core strength is really important and then in September I'm doing
a gorilla trek in Africa again you're gonna need a lot of core support to hold yourself
up it's not really the most accessible area so you're gonna have challenges to you know
over uneven terrain and things like that so I think the stronger you are physically the
better you want to enjoy your trip absolutely maybe if we can segue into kind of etiquette
and language if you were if you were to come into my gym and work with me as your trainer
what questions would you want me to ask you about your disability wait what limitations
I have so that you understand the kind of what my needs are you know wait where maybe
what muscle groups to target because obviously with muscular dystrophy there tends to be
some muscle areas that are weaker than others others have more of a generalized weakness
sometimes doctors put limits on what you can do to work out so I wouldn't want you to ask
those questions of you know what kinds of your physicians given you so that we're not
doing anything that could possibly damage my muscles further I think that's really important
as well yeah it's not it's not a diagnosis that I'm uh thoroughly well versed in I did
talk to a physical therapist who specialized in douche ends muscular dystrophy a few years
back and I actually recall him talking about sometimes concerns with too much muscle damage
via the working out almost expediting the process of losing muscle mass which is common
with muscular dystrophy so it's definitely something where a personal trainer if they're
put in that position should seek out medical guidance from your medical team to better
understand I guess the scope of the disability what are what are your primary goals with travel
for the next couple years and kind of growing out your blog as well as these trips that you organize
so yeah I basically want to show people that you can travel to places you may not have thought
for accessible even if accessibility isn't perfect that there's still opportunities I think Africa
is a great example of that you know when I tell people hey I'm going on a gorilla trip they're
like how the heck you doing that you know like uh because it's in the jungle it's very thick
vegetation and not really mobility friendly for most people um so I think that is a goal of mine
and then I think for the small group tours my goal is just to help people they take that stress out
of planning accessible travel because there's so much work involved it is really stressful and
overwhelming so if I can take that piece out of it and if I can say hey there's you know
a group of us going so if you feel like you need extra support because you're anxious about doing
this you know with mobility problems or with a disability you know there's other people just
like you that absolutely understand your concerns and what you're going through and we're going to
be there with you we're gonna have a great time and to also make it more affordable because
accessible travel costs usually at least twice as much as traditional travel because of some of the
special tours and things that we need sometimes we have to go with private companies rather than
like public tours um so if I can make that you know more attainable for people and take that
anxiety out and just offer support that's really my goal and help them to go to bucket list
destinations the guru trip I mentioned I have readers coming with me on that trip and that's
a destination they never thought they'd be able to go on because of accessibility uh before the
gorilla track we have a small group tour to south africa for a safari so to get to experience that
like exotic really cool kind of atmosphere and then I'm already planning trips for 2025 we have
a trip to Switzerland which is a very expensive country to visit so it's more attainable with a
small group tour because we're splitting the cost amongst a bigger group of people and so yeah I
just want to create opportunities where right now they're either they don't exist or that people
just want more support in going there yeah definitely speaks on accessibility because
on accessibility being multi-dimensional not just a physical uh act of getting into a place but also
the economic cost that comes with not only international travel to begin with but like
you mentioned that it can be twice as expensive for individuals with disabilities how has
uh muscular dystrophy changed your outlook on life
my muscular dystrophy is such a rare form they really don't have like um kind of an idea of what
it can do in the future um so I think it reminds me that life is short and it's unpredictable you
never know what's going to happen and that's true whether you have a disability or whether you're
able-bodied and so I think I just try to live life to the fullest I try to pursue my passions
and dreams while I still can really appreciate what I do have and focus on that rather than solely
focusing on everything that I've lost or that has gone wrong there's so many positives still that
you can focus on and really find a purpose within your own challenges to make a difference in this
and I think that's really special yeah absolutely I appreciate uh you sharing that if people are
interested in learning about the uh the trips that you schedule or reading your blog where would you
recommend that they go to find you it's blog.com is my blog it has all the information about the
group trips I organize as well as a lot of posts so if you're traveling on your own and want to know
more about accessibility there's a lot of information on that blog I'm also active on
Facebook and you can follow me at world on wheels on Facebook are there any prerequisites to
participating in those trips uh like having a physical disability or are they open to anyone
interested they're open to anyone interested um because not all disabilities are visible
and so I'd like to acknowledge that I have people that are slow walkers because they've had strokes
or they've had other medical issues I've had people that are able-bodied that just love what
I'm doing and the trips that I put together and so they're like I want to join and I would love
you know to go with people no matter what their abilities uh so it's always open to everyone
awesome Kristen well the work you're doing opens up the door uh for a lot of people literally and
figuratively so I appreciate uh I appreciate that mission and I appreciate you sharing what you do
with us today and uh we'll include your blog and Facebook page in the show notes if people want to
to learn more about the trips that you're planning or possibly accompany you uh accompany you on one
in the future but again thanks for uh thanks for taking the time to chat with me today thanks for
having me I appreciate it thank you for listening to the adaptx podcast our effort to amplify the
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