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.
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