John Morris: The Man Behind the Largest Wheelchair Travel Site Online

If you’re planning a vacation and use a wheelchair, John Morris’ info-packed wheelchair travel site, WheelchairTravel.org, is a must. Founded in 2014, this lifelong lover of travel was confronted with the possibility that travel was no longer possible after a car accident. Fortunately for him, and for millions around the globe, that was not the case. Read on to learn more about him and his truly amazing site, WheelchairTravel.org.

Name?

John Morris

Age?

34

Location?

Boston, Mass

Disability?

Triple amputee/power wheelchair-user

Injury Story?

A former math teacher and avid traveler of the world, Morris, a graduate of Florida State University, loved the freedoms of being an able-bodied traveler. But in 2012, all of that was taken away when he was involved in a car accident which resulted in an explosion that caused serious injuries. Morris became a triple amputee in the aftermath of the accident.

He lost both legs and an arm, but once he was healthy and back home, Morris wondered if he could travel again. Once he saw that traveling in a wheelchair was more than possible, he began to travel again on a feverish basis. Fortunately for the disability community, they were about to be given an amazing gift – priceless travel info and disability advocacy courtesy of John Morris.

The Birth of WheelchairTravel.org

Thankfully Morris decided to share the valuable information he was accumulating about wheelchair travel during his hundreds of trips around the world. In 2014, he founded WheelchairTravel.org, and 10 years later to no one’s surprise, it has become the largest wheelchair travel site online. His site contains information on dozens of locations around the globe on everything from the accessibility of the location itself to accessible accommodations.

And he advocates for accessibility, in particular air travel, hoping to one day see airplanes that are truly accessible and include wheelchair spaces that allow people to stay seated in their wheelchairs during a flight, as well as have accessible bathrooms onboard.

One major drawback of wheelchair travel is that your wheelchair can get easily broken by baggage handlers. Morris, an avid traveler, has had 4 of his power wheelchairs destroyed by baggage handlers. His wheelchairs were compensated, but that does not make up for the emotional distress and physical issues that can result from not being in the correct wheelchair. This is one of the reasons he is such a strong advocate for changes to be made on airplanes for wheelchair-users.

Why the Site is Awesome

Broken down by region, you will find guides to various wheelchair accessible cities around the world that he has personally visited. For “Africa and the Middle East” for example, you’ll find his best recommendations for that region on things that are both accessible AND incredibly worthy of your time. Locations in this region include Cairo (Egypt), Capetown (South Africa), Dubai (UAE) and Kenya.

And Morris gets specific, which is great if you’re headed to any of these locations. For each location, he provides information on airport accessibility, attractions and sites, hotels and accommodations, public transportation, wheelchair taxis (or lack thereof), sidewalk accessibility (something you don’t often see) and Visa requirements and safety information.

There is also a huge accessible travel resource section where he provides information on much needed information such as accessible travel agents, medical equipment rentals, personal care assistants, travel insurance, and wheelchair van rentals.

For those who are new to traveling in a wheelchair, the site has general information on wheelchair travel via various modes of transportation such as air travel, train travel and international travel. And lastly, Morris’ travel blog is where he shares his recent travels, thoughts on wheelchair travel and the latest on his travel advocacy work, whether it’s regarding air travel or accessible taxis. Highly recommended.

And don’t forget to subscribe to his Wheelchair Travel Newsletter to keep up on his latest travel information and his advocacy, which you can do so here.

— Visit WheelchairTravel.org: https://wheelchairtravel.org/