What Nobody Tells You About Accessible Travel: Sylvia Longmire On Travelling To 48 Countries In A Wheelchair

In this episode of the JourneyWoman Ageless Adventuress Travel Podcast, host Kathy Buckworth talks with Sylvia Longmire, the MS advocate better known as Spin the Globe. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2005, Sylvia has visited 59 countries, 48 of them as a wheelchair user and 34 of those completely on her own. She and Kathy get into what actually changes about a destination once you're seeing it from a wheelchair: which cities get it right, which ones don't, and the wheelchair-damage statistic almost no traveller knows exists. They also talk about Accessible Explorer, the AI-powered travel coaching app Sylvia launched September 1st, and Walking Dreams, her documentary project on why the vast majority of wheelchair users still dream they can walk. Sylvia lays out the difference between the medical and social models of disability in a way that reframes the whole conversation, and makes a strong, funny case for why cruising might be the easiest way for a first-time solo wheelchair traveller to dip a toe in the water. This episode is sponsored by Airalo - https://airalo.pxf.io/L0EAKa - get 15% off your first eSim with JOURNEY15 Takeaways The real difference between accessible cities and ones that just say they're accessible Why cruising is a smart entry point for solo wheelchair travelers The medical model of disability versus the social model, and why it matters Building Accessible Explorer, an AI coach for accessible trip planning Walking Dreams and the almost-universal, never-studied phenomenon of wheelchair users dreaming they can walk What airlines still get wrong about handling wheelchairs, and why Sylvia's case for solo travel after 50, with or without a wheelchair   Chapters 00:00  Introducing Sylvia Longmire, Spin the Globe 00:56  Sylvia's bio, and how she got to 59 countries 03:24  The quote behind What Happened to You 04:32  Misconceptions people have about wheelchair travelers 06:02  Building Accessible Explorer, launching September 1st 08:10  Best and worst cities for wheelchair accessibility 09:42  The airline wheelchair-damage problem 11:38  Why cruising is a smart way to start solo wheelchair travel 13:31  Travellers versus tourists, and how long it takes to know a place 15:50  The medical model of disability versus the social model 17:58  Walking Dreams: the documentary on dreaming you can walk 20:59  The Prejax Foundation, film projects, and Sylvia's TEDx talk 22:38  Hot Flash Round: travel essentials and favorite brands 27:04  What Sylvia wants to see change for women travellers over 50 29:53  Where to find Sylvia's books, app, and social media 31:24  What's next: the Las Vegas Grand Prix with her sons   About Our Guest Sylvia Longmire is an Air Force veteran, writer, and accessible travel advocate who has never let multiple sclerosis, or the wheelchair that came after her 2005 diagnosis, slow her travel schedule. She writes only about places she has been to herself, which is how her wheelchair-accessibility reporting ended up in the New York Times, New Mobility Magazine, Lonely Planet, and the Matador Travel Network. Her accessible travel blog, Spin the Globe, has picked up its own following, and she's published several books, including two photography collections (The View from Down Here and The View from Down Here 2), a guide to wheelchair-accessible cruising, and the solo travel memoir What Happened to You, named for the question strangers ask her more often than she'd like. Sylvia's work carried forward through the Prejax Foundation, the nonprofit she founded in 2015 to fund college scholarships for students affected by MS. These days she's a voice actor with her own media company, Wheels Up Media, is producing a documentary called Walking Dreams, is weeks from launching an AI-powered accessible travel app called Accessible Explorer, and is preparing to give her first TEDx talk this October in Orlando.   Website - spintheglobe.net Books - available on Amazon under Sylvia Longmire App - Accessible Explorer, launching September 1st on studio.com Documentary - walkingdreamsfilm.com Media company - wheelsupmedia.com Social media - search "Spin the Globe" on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, or find her as @sylvia_longmire   About This Podcast The Ageless Adventuress Travel Podcast is JourneyWoman's travel podcast for women 50+ who see travel not as a luxury, but as a way of life. Each month, host Kathy Buckworth, an award-winning Canadian writer, broadcaster and media personality, sits down with inspiring women, trailblazing celebrities and travel experts to explore what it truly means to travel boldly, and age even more boldly. JourneyWoman is the world's first travel resource for women over 50, founded in Canada in 1994.