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Your hosts, Nancy and Nate Berger, at the Taj Mahal, Agra, India
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We'd bet any foreign country you want to see is a place the two of us have already visited. In
a wheelchair for more than twenty years, we have traveled everywhere, been on all seven continents, about hundred countries, and seen and done things that are amazing- even for people who aren't ability-limited. |
Make Your Travel Dreams Come True
Nancy and I know, first hand, the problems you will encounter when you travel. We have already found solutions to many of the
problems you are going to run into, and probably have the answers to many of the questions you have about, "Can I travel, too?".
We wrote this site and the e-book accompanying it to inspire you by our successes. So you can enjoy the pleasures and skip the hassles. We will show you how to get where you want to go. Show you how you can put yourself in this picture
of the Taj Mahal in exotic India.
Stick with us and you'll learn how to make your own dreams come true.
You can believe us when we tell you, “If we can do it, You can do it." And we've got the pictures to prove it! |
Nancy is the first woman in a wheelchair to be at Wilde Point, the exact spot in the Antarctic where the famous Shackelton Expedition was rescued in 1916. Would you imagine someone in a wheelchair could land in Antarctica and play
among the penguins? We did it, and the photos on this site show you some of what you will see and what to expect should you decide to go. Antarctica is awesome! Go ahead. See what awaits you. Click on Antarctica
"You can't do that!"
When we started to travel, travel agents didn't even want to talk with us. Hotel clerks gave us a hard time. People who worked the Excursion Desks of cruise lines told us we couldn't do this or that excursion. If we had listened to
any of them, we wouldn't have gone anywhere!
Here's a clue: They mean well, but they just don't know what they are talking about. They have no idea of what skills you have, or how much your desire will help you overcome the roadblocks you may run into. You can get what you want,
but you'll have to "turn them around" first. It isn' t hard, and in Chapter 5 of our book, Just Say No, you will learn exactly how to do it.
"I want to get on the Great Wall of China"
Would you like to go to China, but think it's too tough? Before we went to China the first time, I argued for a half an hour on the phone with the tourism officials there. "Your wife in wheelchair?" they said. "No way. She cannot do.
We won't allow."
Guess what? |
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Fulfilling a dream: It took me, our guide, the driver, a crowbar and two Red Army officers and their rifles, but we got Nan up on the Great Wall.
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Yup- that's us. How we accomplished this, but better still, how you can accomplish this for yourself is also in "The Disabled Travelers Guide". Click the link to read Chapter 9, 'Stairways
to Paradise' to get an idea of how you, too, can get onto the only structure on Earth visible from outer space. If you prefer, you can read it online,
for free- or download it for free and keep for future reference.
Do You Like to Shop? One of the Great Advantages of Travel
In our world, one mall is the same as the next. Same shops. Same merchandise. But in the village markets, souks, and bazaars of the world, all that is different, intriguing, exotic, even excitingly dangerous. Like this market... |
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A seller of forbidden tiger skins at the Golden Triangle, Myanmar (Burma). I could have been thrown in jail for taking this picture, but it was too tempting not to try.
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It is illegal to sell the skins of endangered animals, and the repressive government isn't too happy about tourists taking pictures like this one! The merchant in Burma told
us he would sell us the tiger skin for $450 US, cash. Just for the fun of it, I haggled with him awhile, and got to the point where we could have bought it for about $75.00. Of course, I do not know what it would have cost to bribe the officials to let
me out of jail after they arrested me. "No matter",
the merchant assured me, "Such things never happen". Riiiiight!
Want to learn the art of bargaining at the street fairs, souks and bazaars? Read Chapter 12 of The Disabled Travelers Guide called "About
Bargaining and Negotiating".
It's really great fun. And once you get the hang of it, you'll find bargaining is an adventure in itself, and can be as enjoyable as whatever it is you buy. Don't be afraid to try it, because saving all that money is
a powerful incentive, and gives you that much more money to buy gifts for the grand kids or whomever.
By the way, in case you are curious, we did not buy the tiger skin hanging up in the picture. We're not into doing things that are illegal, and certainly we would not do anything that would foster the killing of endangered animals.
But being in that market, in the dangerous, surreal Golden Triangle (Burma, Thailand, Laos) was an unbelievable experience.
About
Our Free Book,
The Disabled Travelers Guide to the World
The Guide focuses on situations you are going to run into that could potentially derail your trip. We emphasizes solutions that are possible and practical. There is a good bit of “How to advice”, such as Chapter
8: How
to hire tour guides. In Chapter 10, there are some "turning lemons into lemonade suggestions for how to get room upgrades.
The Disabled Travelers Guide presents some important, specific travel plans and strategies that will permit you to squeeze every last ounce of pleasure and enjoyment from your own adventures.
One last thing.
When you hear something is "FREE", you automatically think there's a catch. Not this time! There is no catch to this, you don't have to register, and nobody is going to take down your personal information or try to contact
you. But it is important you know why we are doing this.
When we first got started, we were charging for the book until one day we got this letter:
From the e-mailbag:
On Wed, 11:24:21 -0800, "Ted"
said:
> Is it possible that someone like me might be able to get a copy of
> your book if they don't have the ability to pay?
>
> Before I was injured at work over ten years ago, I too dreamed of
> traveling the world. Since then I've put all my focus on recovering so that
> one day I could. Sometimes I'm not sure if that day will come, but I don't
> want to let that stop me if it doesn't. Your website has helped keep that fire
> in my will that maybe my injuries won't stop my dream.
>
> What would you need from me to make it possible for me to apply for a
> copy of your book?
After thinking about this reader's situation, we made a decision on the spot, and wrote him back:
Hi, Ted. After my strokes, there were many
days I could only lay in bed and think the same thoughts as you. I wondered
if I would ever be able to do anything meaningful with my life.
Then, years later while in the
Antarctic, I figured out the "reason" I had
strokes in the first place. It was to provide an example of determination to
others not quite as strong as I. To encourage and give hope to those
people overwhelmed by physical limitations.
To my husband and me, it is more important that you and other
physically challenged people benefit from what we know than it is for us to get your
money. It is a blessing to be able to share what we have learned with
others, and besides, it is just the right thing to do.
Don't worry. We'll see that you get a copy of the book and there won't be any charge at all.
Best regards,
Nancy and Nate Berger |
The Americans with Disabilities Act became law shortly after Nancy had her strokes. Our lives have been made much easier by the outstanding efforts of those brave people who went before us. Following their example, we want to make
your life easier, too, if we can. May our website and ebook inspire you to make your travel dreams come true.
Click here to read our free
"The Disabled Travelers Guide"
Our best wishes,
Nancy and Nate Berger |
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