Travel Without Limits: How a group trip to Morocco reminded me what is possible as a wheelchair user

Welcome to Travel Without Limits, a limited series dedicated to all things accessible travel. For World Disability Pride Month, we’ve asked some of our favourite Disabled travellers to share their most impactful experiences and transformative travels.

I am still in awe of many of the experiences I’ve had as a Disabled traveller. Since launching my accessible travel blog 10 years ago, I have visited all seven continents and 48 countries in my powered wheelchair. I’m on a mission to inspire others to break out of their comfort zone and experience all the beauty our world has to offer, no matter what their abilities are. Because of that mission, I’ve gone adaptive paragliding over the Swiss Alps, flown in a hot air balloon over Catalonia and even went zip lining over a lake filled with alligators in Florida.

Despite hundreds of remarkable travels, the one trip that had the biggest impact on me was in 2018. Riding a camel in the Sahara Desert was an experience I had always dreamed of having, but I never thought I could actually do it. I have Spinal Muscular Atrophy, meaning I have weak muscles and can’t walk or stand, so I didn’t think there would be any possible way for me to get on a camel, never mind be able to sit up or hold on. My grip is weak and falling from the height of a camel would be painful – and that’s only if I survived.

But, just as I had all but given up on that dream, I came across a company that immediately caught my eye. It was an agency in Morocco called Morocco Accessible Travel Consultants, who were looking to host group trips in the country. I had never really thought about going to Morocco, but immediately began looking into it – I wasn’t sure what travelling with other wheelchair users would be like, but I was eager to give it a shot.

Visiting Saadian Tombs in Marrakesh