Today's episode is all about wheelchair and accessible travel, but our guest, though an international expert in this field, brings way more to the table than just that. For instance,
She's an award-winning accessible travel writer, blogger and photographer, travel agent, author, entrepreneur and disability rights advocate.
She's a service disabled US Air Force veteran, full-time wheelchair user, single mother and former Miss wheelchair USA.
She's the founder of the award-winning Spin the Globe travel blog where she shares her traveling experiences from around the world in a power chair. She shares tips and tricks from her own travels, she gives fellow wheelchair users the tools and the confidence to create their own travel adventures without fear. Her travel articles have been featured in the New York Times, New Mobility Magazine and Lonely Planet and she's published three accessible travel-related books. And, I don't want to forget her 130 travel-related videos that she's created and produced from around the world. Videos led to voiceover work and that led to voiceover acting.  She is a powerhouse!  But there's more...
Though all Sylvia's accomplishments I've mentioned so far are related to what we're going to be talking about today, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention one of the most intriguing areas of her resume. Sylvia is an expert on Mexico's drug war and border security, and has been a frequent guest on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, NBC Nightly News, to name a few. She's also been a guest expert on the History Channel's Brad Meltzer's Decoded in America's War on Drugs and has consulted for producers of the National Geographic Channel's Border Wars and Drugs Inc. series She is also an author of two books on these issues as well as hundreds of articles for Homeland Security publications.
To say that Sylvia is "more than her MS" wouldn't do her accomplishments any justice.
Join me now as I get the inside scoop from Sylvia on why travel post-disability IS possible, is way more accessible than you might imagine, and how your dream of traveling solo with a disability is absolutely achievable. 
EPISODE NOTES:
A quote to set the tone
Documenting everything
The psychological grieving process
Preparing for what's to come
Anticipating medical retirement
Keeping one foot in the door of her career
Pivoting from drug trafficking, border security and human trafficking to her passion for travel
Travel as a form of healing
Finding the confidence to travel alone with a disability
How a 16-hour flight to Dubai set the bar
Becoming a professional travel blogger and the birth of Spin the Globe
How doing your homework on a destination is key
Accessible travel 101
Identifying your limitations
Taking incremental steps to find your comfort zone
Traveling solo
Asking for help
The biggest travel-related setback she's encountered so far
Frankfurt and a broken scooter
Timing layovers to accommodate your ability
The country that is surprisingly more accessible than you might think
Patience, patience, patience
Personal boundaries
Projecting positivity while traveling in a wheelchair
Being grateful for what you CAN do
Wheelchair vanity. It's a thing.
When people look at your mobility device as cool
Arranging MS drug therapy with your travel schedule
Three things a traveler with a disability should never travel without
Being resourceful when hotel accessibility is a challenge
Wheelchair accessible cruising
Cruising during the Covid era
Expert advice to new wheelchair users
Adapt and overcome
Where to find all of Sylvia's resources

LINKS:
Spintheglobe.net - Sylvia's blog, travel consultations/opportunities, books (travel & drug war-related), photos, cool merch, media kit and more!
The MS Gym
Brooke Slick