Archive for April, 2008
Posted on April 30, 2008 - by admin
101 Accessible Vacations
An Interview with author, Candy Harrington
another exclusive interview with the Virtual Book Review Network
The Virtual Book Review Network is pleased to interview Candy Harrington, author of 101 Accessible Vacations; Travel ideas for Wheelers and Slow Walkers, which is the first guidebook dedicated exclusively to wheelchair-accessible destinations, lodgings and recreational opportunities. Organized by activity and interest, the chapters help illustrate the wide variety of accessible vacation choices for over 101 cities, lodging options, national parks, tourist attractions and recreational activities around the world.
{mosimage}About the author: Candy Harrington is the editor of Emerging Horizons, and the award-winning author of several accessible travel books who has been covering accessible travel exclusively for 14 years. For more information visit http://www.101AccessibleVacations.com. Candy also blogs regularly on accessible travel issues at http://www.BarrierFreeTravels.com.
LAUREN SMITH: What inspired you to focus on accessible travel?
Candy Harrington: Well, I’ve been a travel writer all of my life, but 14 years ago I decided to change my focus a bit. Looking back, I was tired of writing what I considered “fluff” and I wanted to do something that was more of a challenge. A friend suggested accessible travel. Nobody was doing it at the time so I definitely saw it as a challenge. To be honest, I had to spend a few years just learning the laws and the realities of accessible travel, before I ever wrote a word about it. Shortly thereafter I founded Emerging Horizons, a magazine about accessible travel. And today I write columns for other publications, provide internet content, pen books, host a radio show, and even write features for other magazines — all on the subject of accessible travel. I guess you could say things kind of snowballed (in a good way) for me.
LAUREN SMITH: Can you tell us about a couple of your favorite accessible vacation spots?
Candy Harrington: Well personally, I love Yosemite. I’m a mountain girl and I grew up not far from there, so it’s just a favorite place of mine. It’s changed a lot over the years, and part of those changes include improved accessibility. Just a few years ago they unveiled a great new accessible trail to the base of Yosemite Falls. The trail they had before was a bit dicey for wheelchair-users, but some folks could do it with a lot of assistance. The new trail is beautiful, and not only is it very accessible, but it also blends in with the natural environment. It was designed by the same landscape architect who did the FDR Memorial in Washington DC, and he did a great job.
