Judd Jacobson Memorial Award presented to Lynn Lehman

Barbara and Judd Jacobson founded Flying Wheels Travel 40 years ago. Judd, who was a quadriplegic and business leader passed away in 1991. The Judd Jacobson Memorial Award was established in 1992 to recognize the pursuit or achievement of a business entrepreneurial endeavor by a person with a physical disability or sensory impairment.
The recipient of this year’s $5,000 cash award is Lynn Lehman. In April 1995, Lehman, was a busy single mom, and a barber/owner. While driving to her mother's house to pick up her kids, a van in front of Lehman swerved to avoid a car driving the wrong way on the interstate. Lehman's car was hit head-on by a drunk driver and then rear-ended by several other cars forced into a sudden stop by the crash.

Lehman was left with a brain injury, multiple crushed and broken bones, and in a coma for five months. When she woke from the coma, she faced months of rehabilitation. Lehman spent almost a year learning to walk and talk, and regaining use of her left arm and hand. Determined to discover whether or not she could return to work as a barber, Lehman apprenticed with another barber for several months, until she felt ready to return to her shop.

Today, Lehman wears braces on both legs, walks with a cane and has difficulty remembering day-to-day events and appointments. Despite her challenges, she is committed to making her business a success and her shop a safe gathering place for her north Minneapolis community.

"The $5,000 from the Jacobson Award will allow me to replace and update three barber chairs and sinks, and improve lighting and signage," Lehman said. She also plans to purchase hair care products she can sell in her shop. "I want to make this a safe place where people come for all their hair care needs. And, a little love besides," said Lehman.

Flying Wheels Travel is not only the first and most experienced travel agency for people with a disability, chronic illness or mature travelers, but Barbara and Judd Jacobson were advocates to opening the world to people with a disability. Today, Flying Wheels Travel still plays a major role in advocacy efforts on behalf of those with a chronic illness, seniors and people with a disability.

Learn more about the Judd Jacobson Memorial Award.

12-night Scandinavia and Russia cruise

Flying Wheels Travel offered a 12-night Scandinavia and Russia cruise with two nights pre cruise in London. This fully-accessible group cruise/tour departed Harwich England with ports of call in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, two days in St. Petersburg Russia, Tallinn Estonia and Gothenburg Sweden.

Our accessible tour of Stockholm included a visit to the Vasa Museum that houses a wooden warship that sank in Stockholm Harbor during her maiden voyage in 1628 and time to visit the historic city center.

The highlight of this cruise included two full days in St. Petersburg. Flying Wheels Travel organized a fully-accessible tour and the group visited the Church on Spilt Blood, Peterhoff Palace, the Hermitage Museum and a canal cruise of the city.

The group was also surprised by Tallinn, which is a somewhat unfamiliar gem of a city. Tallinn features a remarkably preserved medieval city center unchanged for the past 600 years, beautiful original wooden homes and a palace built by Peter the Great.

This cruise of the North and Baltic seas was truly an experience of a lifetime for our guests.

A transformed travel industry marks the 20th Anniversary of the ADA

As we in the disability community mark the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), we also celebrate a truly transformed travel industry. Airlines, hotels, cruise lines and tour operators finally recognize that the disabled market is a force to be reckoned with. A recent Harris poll estimates that people with disabilities spent $13.6 billion on 31 million trips last year.

Since 1970, Flying Wheels Travel has been advocating on the behalf of people with disabilities and chronic illness to help educate the travel industry about the needs of our clients. “We are delighted that the world is more open to people with disabilities today,” said Barbara Jacobsen, president of Flying Wheels Travel. “When my late husband Judd and I began this agency, we could only hope for what we see today in accessibility.”

As any traveler in an airport, hotel or resort or on a cruise line can testify, disabled travelers are everywhere and remain an important segment of the travel market. Major destinations such as Las Vegas and certain cruise lines have pioneered access for handicapped travelers.

Resorts, hotels, casinos, cruise lines, airports, motor coach operators, airlines and car rental firms have gone out of their way to accommodate the disabled, who contrary to some perceptions, are often affluent and eager travelers looking for opportunities. This includes U.S. and international destinations.

Complaints about the airlines treatment of disabled passengers— tracked by the Department of Transportation (DOT) — are relatively few, at least compared to the number of flight delays or lost bags. This was not the case just a few short years ago, although challenges still remain with some international airlines.

On the plus side, disabled travelers are benefiting from great travel deals and great travel opportunities. Cruise lines, hotels and air carriers as well as Amtrak do a great day in day out job in supporting disabled travelers. Still the need remains for well qualified travel agencies, such as Flying Wheels Travel, to provide the expertise, coordination and advocacy to assure that mature travelers, people with a disability or chronic illness have a well planned and successful travel experience.

“We are proud of the work we have accomplished in making travel more accessible,” said Barbara. “We participated in the writing of the regulations for the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Air Carriers Access Act, which regulates airlines handling of disabled, as well as Resolution 700 and 1700 of the International Air Transport Association that impacts international carriers.” Flying Wheels Travel was a pioneer in advocacy and was an early member of the Society for Accessible Travel and Hospitality (SATH), which has sponsored the World Congress for Travelers with Disabilities since 1977.

Travel for people with a disability, chronic illness or the mature traveler should no longer be a scary thing. With various group travel opportunities and expertise for individual travel, Flying Wheels Travel is here to open the world to you.

We are there for you when you need us

The travel chaos caused by Iceland’s volcano shows why travel agents are still the best way to book an overseas trip. As millions of people are stuck where they do not want to be and are struggling to sort out their plans, those with a travel agent only have to make one call. Travel agents provide that human connection you need in a crisis - you will not receive that type of service from a Web Site or an overloaded gate agent.

Booking via the Internet is not always the best option for travel, particularly to foreign destinations. Things can—and do—go wrong, and having an experienced professional to speak with is critical to giving you peace of mind as well as offering solutions. This is especially true if you are disabled, have a chronic illness or are a mature traveler. An experienced travel agent that specializes in accessible travel understands your unique travel requirements and can be there for you in arrange accommodations and travel that meets your needs.

Certainly the fallout from the volcano shows the limitations of online booking. With disruptions caused by the ash cloud creating havoc in Europe and jamming travel Web Sites and call centers, it is extremely difficult for many travelers who have to do all the running around themselves. But those who book through a travel agent are able to make one call and have their agent sort out everything for them—or at least explain the options. That is something you can never get online.

Do not take unnecessary risks in planning you dream vacation. Let Flying Wheels Travel help you plan your travel arrangements to make sure all the details are covered to make you trip the best it can be.

Ecuador is Accessible for All

Ecuador is one of the world’s most environmentally diverse places and its many destinations offer travelers a range of attractions to explore. A unique landscape awaits visitors as Ecuador hosts warm sunny beaches of the Pacific to impressive mountain villages in the Andes to the Amazon rain forest, to the world’s ecological wonder - the Galapagos Islands. Best of all, Ecuador is now accessible to all who want to travel to this beautiful country.

Flying Wheels Travel can arrange trips to the highlands of the Andes, the Amazon or the Galapagos islands for people who use a wheelchair, have a chronic illness or mature travelers. Many people have dreamt of such a vacation but thought it would never be possible. Such was the situation for Bob and Beatrice Husky who recently contacted Flying Wheels Travel to arrange a trip to Ecuador.

One of the interesting things about Ecuador, other than its environmental diversity, is that vice-president uses a wheelchair and is working to make the country more accessible.

Flying Wheels Travel celebrates 40 years

Flying Wheels Travel was established in April 1970 by Barbara and Judd Jacobson. Judd was a quadriplegic as a result of a diving accident and identified a need for a full service travel agency to assist people with disabilities with their travel needs.

The past 40 years have seen significant positive changes in travel for people with disabilities. Barbara recalls that when she first met Judd in 1968 in Hawaii he was escorting a group of Minnesota farmers and had to have an assistant with him who was physically able to pick Judd up and carry him about because nothing was accessible at that time. “Judd chose to travel to Honolulu because it was flat and easier to get around,” said Barbara. As a matter of fact, after establishing Flying Wheels Travel their first group travel experience for people with disabilities was to Hawaii. “At that time, there were no curb cuts or what we know as accessible hotel rooms,” said Barbara. “We made do with what was available at the time.”

Barbara and Judd recognized there was more to do than just organize group travel opportunities for people with disabilities, they had to advocate for change. They both became active on local, state, national and international levels to advocate for accessible travel. “Judd’s dream was to create a world where people with disabilities could experience a seamless accessible door to door vacation,” said Barbara. Flying Wheels Travel was one of the founding travel agencies of the Society for Accessible Travel and Hospitality and was active in working for the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Through activism, education and networking, the Jacobsons were able to expand and provide travel opportunities all over the world. They pioneered group travel to Egypt, France, Israel, Africa, South America, Thailand, Australia and Mexico. Then Judd discovered cruising. “Once he realized how accessible cruise ships where and that it also provided respite for the care partner because you unpacked once, he thought this was truly the answer for people with disabilities,” said Barbara.

The Jacobsons realized that cruising offered the opportunity for easy accessible travel, provided abundant options for the traveler and provided many respite opportunities for care partners and family members. Today, Flying Wheels Travel helps people with physical disabilities and chronic illness plan all types of vacation options but finds many people prefer the ease and variability of a cruise vacation. Flying Wheels Travel specializes in providing customized accessible shore excursions for those who cruise. In 2007 Flying Wheels Travel hosted 87 people with multiple sclerosis on an Alaska cruise and provided accessible shore excursion opportunities, escorted services and personal care assistance. “That was the largest group we have escorted to date providing that high level of assistance and personal care,” said Barbara. “We would never have been able to provide that opportunity to so many even ten years ago.”

The Jacobson’s years of experience, advocacy, knowledge and development of resources has made Flying Wheels Travel a premier agency recognized throughout the world. Since Judd’s passing in 1991, Barbara and her expert team have kept his legacy alive by providing award winning travel experiences not only to people with disabilities but expanding their services to people with chronic illness and the mature traveler.

Today, the Flying Wheels Travel team provides individual travel arrangements, customized escorted tours and group travel experiences all over the globe — serving people worldwide. When asked what the future of Flying Wheels Travel is, Barbara stated that education and advocacy is still important and necessary. “People still believe that they cannot travel and many times we have to convince them that they can and provide them the information and ability to do it.” she said. You can count on Barbara and her staff to continue to reach out to people to empower them to travel the world for many years to come.

Travel industry aids victims of Haiti earthquake

As the magnitude of the Haiti earthquake continues to unfold, the travel industry is reacting by setting up fundraising initiatives for disaster relief and recovery for the victims in the area.

Below are a couple examples of the services and aid being provided by travel companies worldwide.

Royal Caribbean International's Independence of the Seas will carry relief supplies to Labadee, Haiti, Friday and the line plans to send additional relief on the Navigator of the Seas and the Liberty of the Seas on Monday and Tuesday. John Weis, RCCL's associate vice president of private destinations and overseer of Labadee operations, wrote on Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein's blog, "We are committed to continuing calls to Labadee with Independence of the Seas tomorrow. Labadee is critical to Haiti's recovery and hundreds of people rely on Labadee for their livelihood."

Travelers on Continental, Delta and US Airways can donate their frequent flyer miles to the American Red Cross.

Flying Wheels Travel encourages our friends to donate to the American Red Cross. Please visit the American Red Cross Web Site to make your donation today if you have not already done so.