A Different Way of Seeing

In this episode, Lois Strachan chats with the team from Handicapped Scuba Crew, an NPO that provides adaptive scuba diving experiences. Handicapped Scuba Crew can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/HandicappedScubaCrew/ Today's travel quote is by Justina Chen Headley: "I didn't know that the world could be so mind-blowingly beautiful." This episode was edited by Craig Strachan using...

In this episode, Lois speaks with Michael Hingson.about his experiences with long distance air travel with a guide dog. Michael has been blind his entire life and received his first guide dog at 14 years old. Today's travel quote is by Aaron Lauritsen: "Explore, experience, then push beyond." This episode was edited by Craig Strachan using the Hindenburg software. Credits read by Musa E Zulu

Today Lois speaks with Neha Arora of Planet Abled in India. The organisation promotes accessibility and inclusive travel for people with all disabilities, giving people the freedom of choice to travel wherever they want. Neha's father is blind, and her mother is a wheelchair user, so Planet Abled was born through her own experiences of travel and the challenges presented for her family. Today's tr...

In this episode, Lois Strachan speaks with Praveena Sukhraj-Ely who is joining us from Pretoria in South Africa. Praveena was partially sighted until the age of 12 years old, when she lost her sight completely. After school, she studied to become a lawyer, and did a Masters in political science, and a Phd in public policy, which opened up opportunities to travel. She shares her story and travels i...

In this episode our host, Lois Strachan, chats with Nick & Nikki Smit. Nick is an entrepreneur, teacher and public speaker, forging his way forward in the disability space as founder of Smergos. Nikki is a swimming coach, teaching children from age 6 and up water safety. She also is an animal lover, happy to house & pet sit while also currently completing a Psychology degree. Nick has cerebral pal...

In this episode, our host, Lois Strachan speaks to multi-talented Musa. E Zulu who is an artist, author, and motivational speaker. Musa was paralysed in a car accident in 1995 and shares about his life, his work and his travels as a wheelchair user. Musa is soon to release his book, for further information on release dates and where to purchase a copy, contact information as follows: valhallaarts@...

In this episode, our host, Lois Strachan, chats to Tony Giles, also known as Tony the Traveller, about his independent travels as a person who is both blind and hearing impaired. Tony, joining us from the UK, has travelled to almost 140 countries and already has his next countries lined up. Today's travel quote is by Pico Iyer: "We travel initially to lose ourselves, and we travel next to find our...

In this episode our host, Lois Strachan, speaks with Mark Bannister who has done a considerable amount of travelling. Mark was born in and grew up in Liverpool, England. As a young child, Mark was diagnosed with a form of Muscular Dystrophy. He shares about his adventure and travel experiences. In 2020, Mark published a book titled Eyes Wide Open, which attempts to show how you can turn any challe...

In this episode, our host, Lois Strachan, speaks with Adam Perry from Minneapolis in Minnesota in the USA. He is a 49 year old man who was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa in the 70s. Over time he lost his peripheral vision, night vision and then total vision. Adam has travelled extensively both for personal leisure and for work and shares his insights and experiences as a traveller who is blin...

In this episode, Lois Strachan chats with Normie Eckard from Ventures4Jesus who is an adventurer and traveller who uses his adventures to raise funds for others. Normie became a T7/T8 paraplegic after a motor vehicle accident when he was 18 years old. Today's travel quote comes from the ancient Roman philosopher, Seneca: "Travel and change of pace imparts new vigour to the mind." This episode was...

In this episode, Lois Strachan speaks with Renee Keuster-Sebranek, our first international guest from the USA. Renee shares her experiences travelling as a person who is blind. Today's travel quote is by Mary Anne Radmacher: "I am not the same, having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world." This episode was edited by Craig Strachan using the Hindenburg software. Credits read by Musa E...

In this episode, our host, Lois Strachan, chats with Elizabeth Maphike. Elizabeth became blind as an adult and the first time she travelled outside of her home city was after she lost her sight. Elizabeth is the provincial chairperson of the Western Cape branch of the South African National Council for the Blind. Follow Elizabeth's blog on: Literature with Love by Liz : https://www.facebook.com/be...

Following on from the previous episode, Lois Strachan continues the conversation with Chaeli Mycroft, an ability activist in Cape Town, South Africa. In this episode, Chaeli speaks about summiting mount Kilimanjaro and shares some of her other experiences travelling internationally in her wheelchair. Today's travel quote Simon Raven: "Since life is short and the world is wide, the sooner you start...

In this episode, Lois Strachan chats with Chaeli Mycroft, an ability activist based in Cape Town, South Africa, about a number of topics related to accessible travel and Chaeli's summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak on the African continent. This episode was edited by Craig Strachan using the Hindenburg software. Credits read by Musa E Zulu.

In this episode, marking our 2 year anniversary, Lois Strachan has a conversation with Jeremy Opperman who is a disability inclusion consultant, and they discuss how this impacts the travel and tourism industry. Today's travel quote is by Melody Truong: "I'm in love with cities I've never been to, and people I've never met." This episode was edited by Craig Strachan using the Hindenburg software....

Lois Strachan interviews Julie Jones from Sydney, Australia. Julie is the founder of an online platform, Have Wheelchair Will Travel, and the co-founder and editor of the magazine,Travel Without Limits. Julie's son was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy at the age of 5 months and they have travelled extensively as a family. As a result and with her background in tourism, she realised the need for infor...

In part 2 of the interview with Tarryn Tomlinson, host Lois Strachan chats with her about her company, Able2Travel and the work she is doing in the tourism and hospitality industries. Tarryn is a writer for Mango Airline's magazine, a consultant on accessibility within the tourism industry, and the founder of an organisation helping underpriviliged children with music and art therapy. Tarryn is al...

In this episode, Lois Strachan chats with Tarryn Tomlinson about her recent expedition up Mount Kilimanjaro in her wheelchair. Tarryn is a consultant in the hospitality industry and a social activist. She is the founder of Able2Travel, and the Bambini Dream Foundation Trust, an NPO that provides music and art therapy to underprivileged children. She also writes for Mango Airlines regarding accessi...

In this episode, Lois Strachan speaks with Rajes Govender, a travel agent from Kwazulu Natal, South Africa. She is founder and co-owner of Consolidated Travel. She shares her insights into the travel industry and her own experiences as a traveller with a disability. Rajes had a motor car accident 18 years ago and lost both her lower limbs. Today's travel quote is by André Gides: "Man cannot discov...

Lois Strachan speaks with paralympian and professional speaker, Darren Harris, about his extensive travels, participation in the paralympics his speaking career. Darren is visually impaired, living in the UK and loves helping people stand out from the crowd, follow their dreams, not be shut down by the masses, and to become torch bearers who break new ground for all of us. This episode was edited...

Lois Strachan speaks with Dr Kim Lewis who is a General Practitioner by trade, and due to brain inflammation, lost her sight 3 years ago. Kim speaks with Lois about her travels, and most recently, her experience of going on a cruise as a blind passenger with her guide dog, Jessie. Travel Tech Corner features the Zoom software that can help us keep connected with friends and family during lockdown....

During this time of uncertainty of the Covid-19 pandemic, enjoy some armchair travel with Lois Strachan and her guests. Even though we can't physically travel right now, we feel it's important that we keep sharing stories, travel inspiration and our experiences for the time when we are able to go out into the world again. Our guest today, is Anthony Ghillino who is the general manager of QASA, the...

Lois Strachan speaks with Sabine Smith from Epic Enabled, an accessible tour operator based in Cape Town, South Africa. Epic Enabled was founded by Alfie Smith, who qualified as a mechanic and started travelling as a youngster. He started Epic Expeditions in 1992. Sabine was born in Switzerland and joined Alfie in 1994. In 2001 they started Epic Enabled to provide accessible safaris for people wit...

Lois Strachan speaks with Zakariya Moola about his experience going on Hajj as a person with a visual impairment. Zakariya was born in Durban and schooled in Pietermaritzburg. He completed a Bachelor of Social Science degree and has his own business retailing stationery. He has been visually impaired since birth. Zakariya's first overseas trip was in 1989 when he went to Saudi Arabia for a minor p...

In today's episode, our host, Lois Strachan, speaks with Cindy Jacobsz who is a visually impaired cyclist and triathlete, and recently took a trip to the Himalayas. Cindy is a mother of 2 daughters. She works in employee health and wellness, and occupational health & safety and transformation. Cindy has macular degeneration, which was diagnosed at 16 years old. She went to a school for partially s...