During my flight to the land of leprechauns and Guinness, otherwise known as Ireland, I took some time to consider my trip expectations. Apart from the aforementioned mythical creature and beer, I associated Ireland with green hills, funny accents and shamrocks. In other words, a whole bunch of stereotypes.

While Guinness and greenery were certainly in abundance and there were a few laughable phrases – ‘tirty-tree’ became the mantra of the trip – Ireland really surprised me and took my breath away with its stunning natural beauty.

As we drove along the north coast of Ireland, we made our first scenic stop at the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge in Ballintoy, County Antrim. The walk to the bridge affords some stunning coastal views and then it’s time to face your fears as you cross the Rope Bridge, located 30 metres above the sea. To be honest, unless you have a crippling fear of heights, you should be okay…

Next stop was the famous Giant’s Causeway. As the name suggests, this unique rock formation is rumoured to be the handiwork of a giant called Finn McCool, who attempted to bridge the gap between Ireland and Scotland. Others say the thousands of basalt columns are the result of a volcanic eruption millions of years ago. I think I like the first explanation better…

We took the coastal walk along the cliff tops before descending down to the shore and the Causeway, where we leapt from step to step. The Atlantic Ocean acted as the perfect backdrop for some quality photos and as we gazed around the awe-inspiring columns, it was easy to see why the Causeway is the stuff of legend:

Journeying between Galway and Limerick, we paid a visit to the famous Cliffs of Moher, situated on Ireland’s south-west coastline in County Clare. The Cliffs have been immortalised in a number of movies and television shows over the years, including appearing as the Cliffs of Insanity in the 1987 film, The Princess Bride.

From the Visitor Centre, you can walk to the left or right or both to get different viewpoints of the cliffs. Wherever you end up, you’re guaranteed to get some spectacular shots:

While Ireland’s coastline has a lot to boast about, let’s not forget the country’s many castles. Not only do these aging ruins remind us of a time long ago, they can also be the centrepiece in a memorable photo. Our trip saw us visit Dunluce Castle, Dungaire Castle, Bunratty Castle and my favourite, Blarney Castle.

Located near Cork, Blarney Castle is home to the famous Blarney Stone, as well as a Poison Garden, Wishing Steps and the Witch Stone. Legend has it that if you kiss the Blarney Stone, you will be endowed with the gift of eloquence. Winston Churchill visited and kissed the Stone in 1912, so this may be more than a legend…

Finally, a blog about scenic Ireland wouldn’t be complete without the Ring of Kerry. This circular trail can be found in the country’s south and has many roadside stops where you can take in the endless amounts of beautiful coastal and mountain views.

While they say photos never really do a place justice, I think one thing is pretty clear: from top to bottom, east to west, Ireland is an absolutely beautiful country… to be sure, to be sure.

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Scenic Ireland

When planning an accessible holiday for a person with a disability you have to think long and hard about what facilities and services you will require, but you have the added headache of figuring out how to get there in the first place!

This is why putting in the hard yards to thoroughly research and plan your holiday in advance will pay dividends when holiday time arrives. So using our experience here at Vitalise we are going to show the typical barriers you may come up against, together with some great sources of info to help you sidestep the bear traps.

Let the train take the strain?

The golden rule is plan ahead! There are lots of different railway companies all with different ways of doing things, so get planning as early as you can to give them time to ensure every stage is accessible. If you do, you’ll find that rail operators can help you in all sorts of ways, including with the nuts and bolts stuff like help getting on or off a train. Start here, with National Rail Enquiries.

Alternatively get a Disabled Person’s Railcard. At only £20 a year, this entitles a disabled person and an adult companion to a third off a standard or first class fare anywhere in the UK.

Come fly with me?

Despite the legislation which guarantees the rights of people with disabilities to an accessible and dignified flight, horror stories often ensue. But don’t panic; as always, the best way to ensure a stress-free flight is to plan ahead and know your rights.

Get started with Directgov’s webpage for disabled travellers and consult Your Rights to Fly, a short guide published by The Equality and Human Rights Commission. These sources will give you the ammunition you need to approach your chosen airline with confidence.

Home from accessible home?

There’s no point in doing all that hard work and easy journey if you end up a virtual prisoner in your own hotel. Make sure that your destination can cater for your needs; will you be able to get down to the beach in a wheelchair? What about the local restaurants and other attractions? Luckily this area of research is very well served with some excellent infomation and accessible travel guides.

Start your research at Tourism for All, a website dedicated to accessible travel and holidays in the UK and overseas.

Specialist support

An accessible journey and accommodation may not be sufficient for some disabled travellers with high care needs. In these cases an extra level of support is required in the form of care and nursing staff on-site. This type of provision is not widely available, but the good news is that there are more providers of such specialist services out there than you might think.

A good place to start is Holidays for All, which provides holidays for those with high care needs.

Insure yourself!

For a non-disabled person, travel can sometimes be fraught, but if you have a disability there is so much more to consider, not least of which is the possibility that you will be unexpectedly unable to travel due to a complication with your disability. That’s why cancellation insurance is a must. There are a number of specialist companies out there, such as Orbis.

And there you have it; these are the main things you need to remember when you’re booking a holiday for those with disabilities. 

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What to Consider When Booking a Holiday for a Person with Disabilities

This weeks Big Blogger Interview is with Traveling Ted. Enjoying outdoor adventures along the way, Ted was bitten by the travel bug at the young age of 10. Ted talks to us about the nicest man he has ever met, discovering Guyana and reminisces on his trips with his dad.

You’ve been travelling around since you were 10 when you would go along on yours dad’s travels. What was it about travelling that appealed to you at that age and what’s your most memorable travel experience from when you were younger?

When I was younger I really enjoyed seeing wild animals and birds.  I loved being outdoors for the opportunity to see bear, deer, moose, and birds like herons, eagles and hawks. When we would drive to wild places I would be in the back of the van with my eyes glued out the window with the hopes of seeing a deer or something else exciting.

There are so many travel memories from when I was younger that it is hard to pick one, but if I had to it would be a two week hike on Isle Royal National Park. This park is an island in the middle of  Lake Superior with wolves and moose and very few people. We hiked up and down the island and spent two weeks in the wilderness. 

With a goal to give tips to fellow travellers, your website gives great advice from planning trips to gaining followers on Twitter. What’s the best piece of advice you can give?

I would advise all travellers to find a spot on the globe they have barely heard of before and check it out. I did this with Guyana in South America. If you are a blogger you become the travel expert on that country. If you are not a blogger, it makes you interesting to your peers because everyone will want to know what this place is like. There are plenty of safe countries around the world that are lightly travelled and fit this mould.

Hiking, canoeing, skiing and fishing are some of your favourite outdoor travel-related adventures. What’s been your biggest and best adventure so far?

My three month trip to Southeast Asia was the most adventurous trip I have ever done. I would say to pinpoint it even further would be my two days in Khao Yai National Park in Thailand. I ended up stranded at the gates of the park and had to walk 13 kilometres to the campground through tiger country uphill with a full backpack on. Fortunately, I was picked up rather quickly by a group of Thai college students who took me under their wing and fed me, gave me drinks, and let me go on their night safari with them. 

You’re a very active person and you’ll even be running the Chicago marathon in October. Do you tend to plan your travels around your sports or your sports around your travels? 

That is a really interesting question. Most often I pick a place that appeals to me and then research the adventure activities later. Hiking, canoeing/kayaking, and fishing are activities that can be done just about anywhere. The Chicago Marathon is in my home town, so that really does not count for travel; however, I did do the Birkebeiner cross-country ski marathon in Wisconsin so that is a time I travelled around my sport activity. Next year I plan on doing a cross-country ski marathon in Canada and in future years I hope to do some in Europe and maybe even Japan and Australia.

You have some great daily travel photos on your website. Can you share some of your favourites with us?

Here are a couple. Due to posting this picture, I was contacted by McGraw-Hill Textbooks who purchased a copy for a College Biology textbook. This is my first piece of photography I have ever sold. It is a picture of my mom and dad hiking through the swamps of the Everglades National Park in Florida over 20 years ago. I also really love snow pictures being an avid skier; I never tire of snow on top of pine trees next to a skiing trail.

Whilst you do specialise in outdoor adventure travel, you also enjoy the cultural side of travel, like meeting new people. Which characters from your travels stand out the most and why?

When you travel there are two types of people you interact with: other travellers and the people who live in the country you are travelling in.  Here is one from each group.  On a Halong Bay boat cruise I met a really cool Australian named Neal, who was a blast to hang out with. We drank many beers together and we then decided to fish with these bamboo poles… the pictures tell the story. Another stand out person was a Thai fellow named Lex who helped me out of a big jam when a lady friend and I ran out of gas in a car we rented in Chiang Mai,Thailand. We were in the middle of nowhere, and he drove me to a gas station on his motorbike and then back to the car.  After that problem was taken care of, he took us out for drinks at the local bar. He refused any payment for the help and then refused to let us pay for the drinks. He is the nicest person I have ever met in my life.

Of course this interview wouldn’t be complete without asking you this: What’s the deal with the fanny pack!?

One thing I love about travelling is how liberating it is. You are out on your own and you have no cares in the world about how you look and how you dress. It is almost like another existence than from what you lead at home. I started seeing some online posts making fun of the fanny pack and those who wear it. I took a little bit of offense to them, so I started to be the e-defender of the fanny pack. I find them to be useful when I travel, and I don’t really care how they look. I got an email last year from someone who started International Fanny Pack Day on the 2^nd Saturday in March, and I embraced the idea. 

With 20 countries and 36 states under your belt (or fanny pack), you’ve travelled a fair amount of Chicago, North America and other parts of the world including Asia. Where are you planning on journeying to next?

In the immediate future I am going to the Stagecoach Music Festival in Palm Springs, California, Red River Gorge in Kentucky, and the TBEX travel blogger conference in Toronto. My only other planned trip is Seattle,Washington for a week in July. Other than these trips, I have no concrete plans but a trip back to Guyana is possible as is Costa Rica, as well as a canoeing trip to Canadaor maybe a hiking trip back to Isle Royal.

Thanks Ted! Good luck in your upcoming sporting events and other travels! If you want to keep up with Ted’s travels, visit www.travelingted.com. 

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Big Blogger Interview: Traveling Ted

João rocks up to his third vlogging challenge to give us his Top 10 absolutely essential bucket list locations…and boy does he want to go places!

From taking a dive over Dubai’s infamous Palm and plunging into the teeming Cape Town waters, to bargain hunting in Hong Kong and taking in the creature features of a truly unique Tanzanian safari, it appears as though João won’t be stopped now!

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João’s Big Bucket List Vlog

Ceara takes to land, sea and sky to give us a little taste of her dream bucket list line up!

In between leaping off cliffs and getting a little too close to sharks for comfort, Miss McEvoy also describes her desire to get a glimpse of Gaudi in Barcelona, grab a bite in The Amazon…. and, of course, unearth her deepest roots in Dublin to keep Dad happy!

 
Kick it with Ceara during Winners’ Week and beyond…
 
Lend your support: www.mydestination.com/users/ceara/bbb

…and tweet her: @CearaMcEvoy

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Ceara’s Big Bucket List Vlog

Ricardo’s feeling a little under the weather in his vlog this week…but that’s never going to stop him shouting from the rooftops about his perfect bucket list particulars!

Amongst the many and varying extreme sports, it appears as though Ricardo’s number one mission in life is to party like no man ever has in every single country he comes across! There’s also a bit of room in that line up for mingling with Hollywood stars, getting spaced out in Florida and hearing the drums on the island of Fernando de Noronha (do you see what we did there?). On your Marques…Get set… Go!

Get ready to Ric and roll during Winners’ Week!

Lend your support: www.mydestination.com/users/rick/bbb

…and tweet him: @RickVIBESTAGE

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Ricardo’s Big Bucket List Vlog

Dave comes out kung-fu fighting in this week’s vlog, as he waxes lyrical about where he would go on an epic bucket list voyage.

Monkeying around aside, the one and only Mr Zwolenski takes to the streets of Melbourne to discuss such exciting items as munching on lunch with giraffes in Nairobi, tracing his family tree in Poland, getting cosy with camels near Abu Dhabi and last but not least, getting seriously cheesy in Cyprus. We’re exhausted already!

Give Dave a wave and make sure you don’t miss him during the final stage!

Lend your support: http://www.mydestination.com/users/davezed/bbb/

…and tweet him: @DaveZwolenski

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Dave’s Big Bucket List Vlog

Miss Oliveira grabs her globes and leaps into action to tell us all about her unBBB-lievable bucket list!

There’s no mistaking Barbara’s exploratory spark and her desire to follow in the footsteps of the Inca’s in Peru, get mushy in British Columbia on a dog-sledding expedition and take to the skies via hot air balloon in Cappadocia lead us to thinking that this girl’s got more going on below the surface than the Mariana Trench!

Want to see Barbara bring it in the BBB finals?

Lend your support: http://www.mydestination.com/users/barbaraoliveira/bbb

…and tweet her: @MyBBB_Barbara 

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Barbara’s Big Bucket List Vlog

Aside from enlivening us all with their sheer animal magnetism in their third BBB vlog, Cody and Giselle take some time to talk about their ultimate bucket list locations around the globe.

Not only do Dracula and Maria von Trapp factor into their travel plans, it seems that there’s simply no doing away with the creature comforts that an RTW tour has to offer. So, whether it’s hanging out at the sloth sanctuary in Costa Rica, sunbathing with sea lions in the Galapagos, or having a shell of a lot of fun with the turtles in Cape Verde, you can guarantee these two will have a whale of a time whatever they get up to!

Want to follow Cody and Giselle on their wild ride?

Lend your support: www.mydestination.com/users/giselleandcody/bbb

…and tweet them: @mindfulwandrlust

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Cody and Giselle’s Big Bucket List Vlog

Marko and Alex are thinking beyond BIG in this week’s whirlwind vlog, that’s dedicated in its entirety to all things bucket list worthy!

Get ready for a whistle stop tour as the adventurous Vagabros take us horse riding along the Silk Road in Kazakhstan, through Thai temples, up Kilimanjaro, across the Omani dessert and beyond Bali – all in under 3 minutes! Seems a little imagination really does get you a long way!

Want to see what Alex and Marko would do with the whole world at their feet?

Lend your support: http://www.mydestination.com/users/2vagabrothers/bbb

…and tweet them: @vagabrothers

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Marko and Alex’s Big Bucket List Vlog