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05/12/2026

The countdown is on! Our Alaska cruise leaves in 1 month from today! We are flying in 3 days early to give Tom travel recovery time.

Even if you don't need a few days to recover, I always recommend arriving at least 1 day early to give yourself leeway in case of flight delays. Because we know that cruise ship waits for no mere mortal!

Can't wait to share more about our accessible cabin, and accessible shore excursions.

04/23/2026

On our last few trips, I started noticing a pattern at hotels. Yes, there is the required accessible room, but it is often the room furthest from the elevator or the one with the worst view. The legally required room is there, check.

I have yet to experience a hotel where they are truly trying to meet the needs of disabled travelers in the same way that they cater to non-disabled travelers.

What are your experiences with hotels? What would like to see them do differently?

04/22/2026

While I am obviously aware that Tom now lives with a disability, specifically mobility challenges, I am prone to forgetting (or maybe in denial?) that his disability is because he is sick.

Disability can stem from various sources for example:
1. You can be born with a disability
2. You could have had an accident
3. It may be a part of aging
4. Or caused by a disease

In Tom's case he has a neurodegenerative disease that causes his disability, and by its nature of being degenerative his symptoms will continue to get worse.

You know how when you live with your kids, you don't notice how they have grown, until you see a picture from a few months ago?

It is the same with a neurodegenerative disease. In this case we didn't notice the cumulative changes at home, but when we compared our trip back in December to spring break it highlighted that we need to implement new tools to provide Tom with better support going forward.

For me this brings up grief, sadness, anger and a general feeling of overwhelm. I had just gotten used to the last routine and it is time to change again.

I had wanted to enjoy this precious time with my family, but the disease made it hard. And I spent most of the trip in survival mode. This certainly isn't the accessible travel inspo post I had hoped/intended to write, but it is the honest version of our spring break.

Since we got home 2 weeks ago, my inclination has been to curl up in a ball in bed. While obviously not the best long term solution, I do think that I needed to sit with my grief, before I could pick myself up and keep going.

It feels scary to share this side of my life, but it is my reality of living with and loving someone with a neurodegenerative disease.

And my greatest hope is that if you or a loved one is ill, that you know that you are not alone in these feelings.

04/14/2026

If you know me, you have heard me complain about the lack of direct flights from Indianapolis. But guys, I am here to tell you that otherwise the IND airport rocks.

We have our whole airport arrival down to a science. I roll up to the departure level, unload Tom, the kids and the luggage. They proceed to the check-in counter, check the bags while I switch over two lanes and enter the parking garage (without even having to circle back around the airport, I might add)!

I park in the daily lot. Walk across the bridge, up the escalator where I meet the fam at the check in desk and finish check in.

Then we proceed through the accessible check point with our TSA Pre- check. There is a slight delay with TSA because Tom is not ambulatory, so they insist on patting him down in his wheelchair and doing several swipes along the chair.

I mobile order Starbies while we wait for him, & we pick it up on the way to the gate.

And bam! We are curb to gate and ready to board in 30 min or less!

Take that LAX! One hour just to return the rental car. insanity!

04/13/2026

That's a wrap on spring break 2026! Spring was in full bloom when we arrived home in Indy. And while these sunsets don't have palm trees or an ocean view, they are still beautiful.

This trip was a harder trip, with Tom getting sick and some logistical challenges, that I am still reflecting on and thinking about what I would do differently if I were to plan the trip again. I will share more about this later.

In the meantime back to reality, laundry, and more laundry!

04/06/2026

Happy Easter from Hollywood! Today we took an accessible studio tour at Warner Brother's studio. It was such fun to see the magic behind some of our favorite shows and movies.

Although we were not allowed to photograph it, we got to see the set of Mandy & Georgie's first wedding, which also had the kitchen from Young Sheldon (a family favorite).

Stay tuned for more of our Warner Bros Studio Tour...

04/04/2026

Today was our scheduled travel recovery day for Tom. He spent most of the day resting and recharging his batteries. The rest of us spent the day at the beach and/or kayaking to see sea life and the La Jolla caves.

And all I have to say is: "you guys, some people actually get to live here, full time ". To say La Jolla is lovely, does not do this place justice. In case you haven't noticed I am just a tiny bit in love with this adorable beach town.

We purposely scheduled dinner overlooking the ocean at sunset. And as we were leaving the restaurant, I noticed the full moon. A beautiful ending to a beautiful day!

04/04/2026

Guys, today I was forced to leave La Jolla. But as Ferris Bueller says " the world moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while you could miss it."

So, I said my "see you next times" to La Jolla and we bookended our trip with another stop at In & Out Burger on the way to Chapman University, where we had an accessible campus tour.

Then we hit the 405 and white knuckled it through rush hour LA traffic to Santa Monica. Ask any of my college friends, I listened to this song, "Santa Monica" by Everclear on repeat throughout my undergrad years, so it seems very apropos that I am now spending the next 5 days in Santa Monica to look at colleges for my child.

Once we were off the freeway, I obviously rolled down the windows and blared the song as we made our way down Whilshire to the hotel. It's giving Pretty Woman, as my kids would say!

I reserved 3 rooms at the hotel (for us, the kids, and my parents) where we have the highest level status, which includes free upgrades when available. They upgraded my parents' room to an ocean view with a balcony, but there are no accessible rooms in that category, so no upgrade for us. Don't get me wrong, our room is lovely, but a simple reminder that people with accessibility challenges like rooms with views too! They did give me a delicious bottle of Pinot Noir, as a consolation prize, but I think it might taste better on an ocean view balcony - just saying.

explorABLE adventures

05/12/2026

04/23/2026

04/22/2026

04/14/2026

04/13/2026

04/06/2026

04/04/2026

04/04/2026

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