Today is our regular Monday featured Travel Blogger post. I so love reading about other families, asking them more questions and getting to know them a bit more! We are putting together some amazing content! Maybe we should turn it into an ebook?
Special Needs Travel Mom
We are so proud to be sharing Karin’s Travel journey and her blog “Special Needs Travel Mom”. I was very curious to find out about this amazing families travelling journey…..
Q:- When was the moment that you knew that you and your family had to travel?
My husband and I have always loved adventure, and started traveling with my first child when she was 3 months old. My second daughter was born 2 and a half years later with special needs; the first several years of her life were consumed with medical issues.
We were so exhausted that we had no energy to think outside the immediate needs of our family. Eventually this took a toll on my body and I developed a serious chronic disease. It was clear that our lives were not in balance and we needed to find a way to really live, not just survive. We knew travel should be part of our lives again, but traveling with a special needs kid seemed overwhelming.
We worked together on getting ourselves healthy and finding better balance in our daily lives, then looked for ways to make travel work for our family. We started slow, visiting places close to home. It was scary at first, but the more places we went, the easier it became. As our world expanded, our perspective changed and the challenges of our day-to-day became a little easier to handle.
Oregon Coast : My husband, two girls and our little dog with a comb-over
Q:- What are some of the places you have been to that makes your daughters smile?
Apparently the apple didn’t fall far from the tree, because both my daughters love adventure. Theme parks are fun, but nothing brings joy to my girls like getting outside and exploring, whether that’s investigating a city or trying something new, like surfing.
My youngest is blind and in a wheelchair, and especially loves speed and movement. She smiles the biggest when she’s riding in a fast boat, adaptive skiing, or feeling the wind in her hair on a sky ride.
Last winter we spent some time in Park City, Utah, where the National Ability Center is located. They help kids and adults with various challenges enjoy a wide variety of sports. They were so amazing to work with. It was the first time our whole family could fully participate in a vacation together. We snowboarded, learned to cross-country ski, and found new activities like horseback riding and rock wall climbing. We all came home from that trip refreshed. My oldest said that it was her favorite vacation because we finally got to enjoy activities as a family, and our youngest could fully participate. That trip still makes everyone smile.
Park City Mountain Resort, Utah : After riding full speed down the on the Alpine Coaster
Q:- As a family unit, do you travel and friends/family tell you “Oh You Cant Go there?” because of x,y,z?
Nobody really tells us we shouldn’t / can’t do something or go somewhere, probably because we’ve never listened to that kind of “advice” in the past. Our philosophy is that our daughter can do anything that any other kid can do in her own way. The trick is to find a way that works. We’ve gotten pretty good at developing equipment to make sure our daughter can go just about everywhere. It gets more challenging as she gets bigger and heavier, but we will continue to find ways to make exploring work for her.
Q:- Do you have a travel plan, or plan each day as they come?
We always start with a plan – and a back up plan, but in the end we just go with the flow and enjoy the journey. We’ve learned that there is no right way to experience something, and not to restrict ourselves by specific expectations. We travel with the anticipation of having an adventure and seeing where that takes us.
New York City : My oldest daughter and I exploring SOHO
Q:- With your daughter needs, is their care available as you travel, or do you work your travel around appointments?
My husband and I run our own business and generally arrange trips around our business needs and my older daughter’s school calendar. Our philosophy is to travel as a family, but we did hire a childcare provider on a recent trip so that my youngest could rest a little and my husband and I could spend some time with our oldest. This is not something I have ever considered before – I’m not usually that trusting, but this care provider was highly recommended by a good friend. It turned out to be great for our whole family. My youngest could get the rest she needed and my oldest got some one on one with mom and dad. It’s good to spend time with your children individually from time to time.
Q:- What is one place that you would love to return to when your daughters get older so they can see it once again?
Since we didn’t do a lot of traveling when my daughters were young, there’s not a lot to go back and revisit. But I will tell you our family would love to explore Australia and New Zealand, those are definitely on our “to do” list
About The Author:-
Karin Sheets is a Seattle native and mom of two girls, one with special needs. She writes for TravelingMom.com and SpecialNeedsTravelMom.com about living the adventure of life – no matter where it leads. Karin’s passion is to help promote accessibility, and inspire other families like hers to travel more. Connect with her at Special Needs Travel Mom Facebook Page and @ionMyAdventures
———————————————
A massive Thank-you to Karin for sharing more about her travelling plans, goals, dreams, journey and amazing success with living a life that is full of experiences!
Do You Think YOU Could Travel With Your Family?
Cheers
Lisa Wood
New Life on the Road
PS:- Here are the Previous Featured Monday Travel Bloggers:-
Monday Featured Travel Blogger 1 Dad 1 Kid – Windwalker Duo from 1 Dad, 1 Kid
Featured Travel Blogger Travel Experta – Marina from Travel Experta
Featured Travel Blogger – Rachel from Our Wee Trip
Monday Featured Travelling Blogger Revealed – Natalie from Family in a Van
Monday Travelling Blogger Featured – Tracey from Life Changing Year
Travel Blogger – Jess from With 2 kids in Tow
Featured Travel Blogger – Jan from Budget Travel Talk
Featured Travel Blogger At New Life on the Road – Lisa From Gone With The Family
This Week Featured Travel Blogger – Keryn from Walking On Travels
Monday Featured Travelling Blogger Journey – Jeremy from Living The Dream
Featured Travel Blogger Monday – Suzi from Two and A Half Travellers
We will be going to a Nascar race at Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania. We actually do volunteer work there for every Nascar race. The first one will be in June and the second one will be in August. The track is a little over an hour from our home so we can get out of there quickly if our parents need us. We park at the track on Thursday and go home on Monday. We avoid all the traffic by going early and staying until the day after the race.
Katherine recently posted..Skiing In Les Arcs