From Oxford to Istanbul: Studying and Traveling with a Disability

With a backpack full of books, Chelsey Kendig followed up her studies at Oxford in the United Kingdom with a tour through Europe, crashing in hostels, feeding her “concert addiction” and meeting with friends along the way.  Besides documenting the lesser-known wonders of European cities, she writes about “gallivanting around the world” with Dermatosparaxis, which can make walking difficult.  Using a cane and occasionally a wheelchair, Chelsey encountered both challenges and victories in her travels and contemplated other ways in which disability may come into play for travelers.

Although the bibliophile delighted in visiting the Writers’ Museum in Edinburgh and meeting author Neil Gaiman in Dublin, she notes that “Travelling is more than seeing the sights. It’s about cultural exchange. I got to speak French in my three days there, and that was so encouraging, to see that I could really manage. I also hope I got to inspire some thoughts about what a disability does and does not have to mean. I think that was part of my motivation for traveling in the first place….”

Read more in Chelsey’s blog, Sense and Disability.