Nicholas opens up about his personal experiences navigating the challenges of travel
With guests including sports stars, politicians, and industry experts, the Accessible Travel podcast by Nicholas Lapsley is casting a light on the unique challenges faced by people with disability when travelling for work, leisure, or essential personal reasons such as medical care.
“The podcast covers a variety of topics and allows people with disability to share stories about their own experiences with travel,” Nicholas said.
“We cover a lot of general issues relating to travel; going through airport security, accommodation bookings, and parking are all common issues for people with disability when travelling, for example.”
Nicholas first had the idea for his podcast when finishing university. Having completed a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship, his studies sparked a renewed interest in accessibility needs throughout the whole travel journey, especially in accommodations like hotels.
We cover a lot of general issues relating to travel; going through airport security, accommodation bookings, and parking are all common issues for people with disability when travelling.
“Trying to find accessible accommodation can be a significant challenge for people with disability when travelling.
“For me, I hate when there’s a shower-bath combo; I have to really look carefully through the pictures online when I’m booking accommodation to check if the shower is accessible.”
On the Accessible Travel podcast, guests share their personal insights about times they have had to adapt if accessible facilities are not available while travelling, plus some of the more general issues for people with disability when journeying in unfamiliar places. Some guests are people with a life-long disability, while others have acquired disabilities and have had to learn new strategies for travel.
A lot of the guests on the podcast are athletes because they tend to travel quite a lot with their sports teams. I have had a number of ParaMatildas and Paralympian swimmers.
The podcast often has sports stars as guests and this is an area of special interest for Nicholas.
“A lot of the guests on the podcast are athletes because they tend to travel quite a lot with their sports teams. I have had a number of ParaMatildas and Paralympian swimmers as well.”
Athletes from sports such as soccer, golf, swimming, and wheelchair rugby have all been guests on the Accessible Travel podcast, sharing their stories to help raise awareness for the improvements needed to make travel a more accessible experience for everyone. Nicholas is a keen swimmer himself and enjoys regular training.
“I definitely love to swim. I train twice a week and I take part in the multiclass swim meet, normally three or four times a year at different venues around Sydney.”
Nicholas hopes that the podcast will help to influence change in travel industries such as short-stay accommodations like hotels, and more fundamentally, help to influence attitudes towards people with a disability.
Advocacy and empowering other people to self-advocate is an issue that Nicholas cares about deeply. In addition to his own work with the podcast, he is also a member of the CPActive Champions; a group of young people with CP who are dedicated to breaking down social and systemic barriers for people with disability.
“I’ve been involved with CPActive for about a year now. We’ve helped to campaign for better education and employment outcomes for people with disability in New South Wales, and I’ll also be doing some work with helping younger people to self-advocate at school and uni.”
Nicholas plans to continue producing the podcast, covering all topics relating to accessible travel, and he hopes his audience will continue to grow with time.
If you or someone you know is interested in contributing to the Accessible Travel podcast, you can email Nicholas directly at nick.lapsley@gmail.com
Listen to the podcast for free on any major streaming platform: Accessible Travel podcast.