Planning Accessible UK Travel: Essential Tips for Exploring London and Beyond

Planning a UK trip when standing still hurts, stairs are a gamble, and transport feels unpredictable can be genuinely daunting. In this episode, Laura Dilts shares how she built a London and Scotland itinerary around a back injury, without shrinking the trip down to safe choices or missing the magic.

We talk through the real decisions that make accessible UK travel work: starting early, turning a wish list into an energy-friendly plan, and researching each attraction for seating, step-free routes, and the sections that simply won't work. Laura explains how she handled iconic sights like the London Eye, the Tower of London, and Edinburgh Castle by pacing herself, skipping stair-heavy sections, and speaking up clearly when she needed to sit.

Transport is a big part of the story too. We dig into London's accessibility options, why buses and taxis are worth budgeting for, and why hop-on hop-off buses are underrated for tired legs. Laura also gives an honest account of the UK's Passenger Assistance Service on trains, what the help actually looks like, how luggage is handled, and why flexible tickets can be a lifesaver.

We also cover airport assistance lessons from Edinburgh and Heathrow, including what went wrong during a terminal transfer and how to avoid it next time.

Whether you're planning accessible travel in the UK, travelling with someone who is, or simply want a calmer and more confident approach, this episode is packed with practical takeaways.

You can find our comprehensive guide to accessible travel in the UK, including a free downloadable checklist, in the show notes at uktravelplanning.com/episode-195. 

🎟️ Sponsored by Walks Tours & Devour Tours. Explore London with expert guides, from sightseeing to food tours.

👉 Book London sightseeing tours with Walks
👉 Book London food tours with Devour

Transcript

Accessible Travel Sets The Scene

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Planning a trip to the UK when accessibility matters can feel overwhelming. In this episode, listener Laura Dilt shares how she researched attractions, trains and transport across London, England and Scotland so she could travel with confidence and why planning ahead makes such a difference.

SPEAKER_01 0:17

Welcome to the UK Travel Planning Podcast. Your host is the founder of the UK travel planning website, Tracy Collins. Each week, Tracy shares destination guides, travel tips and itinerary ideas, as well as interviews with a variety of guests who share their knowledge and experience of UK travel to help you plan your perfect UK vacation. Join us as we explore the UK from cosmopolitan cities to quaint villages, from historic castles to beautiful islands, from the picturesque countryside to seaside towns.

Sponsor Recommendation For London Tours

Meet Laura And Trip Overview

SPEAKER_02 0:47

Before we get started, we'd like to thank our sponsor, Walks and Devour Tours. If you're planning a trip to London, you'll already know the challenge. There's a lot you want to do and only a limited amount of time to fit it all in. That's where the right tour makes all the difference because you want experiences that are the best use of your time with more access, less waiting, and a deeper sense of the city. That's why we recommend Walks and Devour Tours. They offer walk-in tours and food tours designed to make your time count, often with early or after hours entry. You'll also be with exceptional local guides who add the stories and context so you leave with a richer understanding of what you're seeing and a trip that feels genuinely memorable. If you're visiting London as a couple with family or you simply prefer a more intimate experience, walks and devour tours also offer private tour options. To learn more, you'll find the link in the show notes. Now let's get into this week's episode. Hi everybody, and welcome to this week's edition of the UK Travel Plan and Podcast. I'm your host, Tracy Collins, and I'm so glad you're here today because we've got a really special episode for you. Now, if you've been listening for a while, you might remember episode 173 where my guest Laura Diltz from the US took us along on her incredible trip to London and Scotland. The highlights, the favourite moments, all of that. And if you haven't heard it yet, go back and give it a listen because it's a really lovely episode. But today we're going behind the scenes of that same trip. Specifically, how Laura planned and prepared for it. Because Laura didn't just rock up and hope for the best. She planned really, really thoroughly. And she had good reason to, because Laura travels with a back injury. That means standing for long periods is painful. Now, when we talk about accessible travel, what we really mean is how you experience a place because that's going to be different for everyone. It might be mobility, it might be chronic pain, it might be a hidden condition, a visual impairment, neurodivergence, whatever it is that shapes the way you move through the world, shapes the way you travel too. And the more we plan for that, the better the experience for everyone. Now, what I love about Laura's story is that it's not a story about limitations. It's a story about preparation and self-advocacy and knowing yourself well enough to figure out what you need and then go in and having an absolutely brilliant time anyway. We talk about how Laura researched accessibility at places like the Tower of London and Edinburgh Castle, how she used the UK's passenger assistance service on the trains and why she recommends it to anyone and the lessons she learned along the way that she'll be taken into her next trip. So whether you're traveling with a mobility challenge yourself, planning a trip with someone who is, or simply want to travel with more confidence, there's so much in this conversation for you. I've also linked in the show notes to our full accessible UK travel guide, which we've just published on the website. Um there's so much in that guide. Honestly, it's packed. Um so go do go and check that out. Um, but right then, let's get into it. Here's my conversation with the wonderful Laura Dilt. Hi, Laura. I'm so glad you could join us on the podcast this week to chat about your trip to the UK and how you planned and prepared because of your own needs. Now, I would like you to introduce yourself to start with, just in case um those people listening have not heard you in episode 173, where you talk about your trip um and everywhere that you went. So, first of all, if you could introduce yourself, um, tell us a little bit about yourself and then tell us uh a little bit about your trip before we start talking about how you prepared.

SPEAKER_00 4:13

Sure. So my name is Laura Diltz. I'm from Massachusetts. Um, my children are now out of the house, sort of half half the time, because they're 18 and 21. And I'm doing a lot more travel this year. That was my goal for my 61st year to celebrate. And I started off with going to London and Scotland and want to come back so badly. I have a whole list of where I want to go next, but it probably won't be until 2027 or 2028 at the rate I'm going.

SPEAKER_02 4:48

Well, it'll come around before you know it, honestly. Laura. And so during your trip, um, just give us a little bit of a quick overview of your itinerary. So you did some of that independently and some on a tour, didn't you?

SPEAKER_00 5:01

Right. So I did a, I call it a combination of DIY and um tour. So my do-it-myself part was in London and then traveling to my friend that lived um near Milton Keys train station in Only and spent 23 hours with her and then got on a train from where she was to Glasgow, and I had one extra night in Glasgow on my own, and then I joined Colette Tour for the rest of my 15 days, and it was called Easy Pace, and I chose it because it was easy pace, which meant part of the day was on your own, and I chose often to sit in a cafe and have a cup of tea or in the park, um, or at the coach. I I talked to the um coach driver quite a bit, um, because I'm not a real shopper, so that I could have flexibility and not have to figure out all the logistics. So okay, that makes sense.

SPEAKER_02 6:09

So, I mean, you did you did you did quite a bit of that um independently in England and London, and then you went up to Scotland and did the tour. So that makes sense. So, and I know we we spoke uh before we did the last podcast and we we chat quite a lot um about how you planned the trip because there's some challenges for you getting around mobility-wise. So let's just have a chat about how you planned the trip um considering those sort of um those uh challenges that you're gonna meet. Um and also like the sort of resources that you found, because you found a lot, you've given me some fantastic resources and websites which we've included in our guide on the website. But how long before and how did you start planning um the trip?

SPEAKER_00 6:56

So about a year and a half to two years out, I started planning and deciding what I thought I would like to do. And over time I narrowed it down. And then once I had more of a confirmed what I really wanted to do list, then I started looking at could I do it? So I'm gonna give the London Eye as an example because I really wanted to do it, but I wasn't sure if you could sit or not, because I have a back injury, and so standing in line or standing still for any length of time is painful. So I walk with a cane to help be able to walk through the pain, literally. And I even tried seeing did I want a cane with a seat in it? I found them uncomfortable. So to be honest, I found plenty of places to lean and sit everywhere I went. So um, and I talked to somebody else who's mobile challenged and said she didn't carry a chair with her and has always been found up find a place to sit. So um museums definitely have usually those stools that you can borrow and things, but usually there are places to at least lean. And so if I lean, the pain can subside or I can take a break. So with the London Eye, I couldn't quite figure out, I mean, I knew they it had a handicapped ramp, and so I wouldn't have to take stairs because I try to avoid stairs, but I wasn't sure if there was a seat. So I happened to ask in your Facebook group, is there a bench or anything in the London Eye? And someone in the group, it may have even been you, I'm not sure, said yes and sent a picture in the group that there's this bench. And someone said, Oh, but a lot of people aren't sitting in it, you might not be able to sit. And that's never a problem for me. I am able to speak for myself. And sometimes I have the cane with me because then you don't have to explain because I don't have a visible injury. I have crushed vertebrae, it's not obvious that I'm in pain, you know. So I just politely say I need to sit, you know, if um if I'm somewhere. So that's an example. And then for some of the other places, um, the Tower of London, I did sign up for the walking tour, and I just told the um guide that I might need to sit at times, and as we were doing the tour, he gave options, and there's a whole section that I chose not to do because of the amount of stairs. And I have been to the Tower of London, but not since my twenties, and I'm now in my 60s, so I have seen it all before. I might have decided to do the stairs if I really was keen on it, but I had enjoying what I was already seeing, so I opted not to do that because that was the part of the location that was not accessible, didn't have elevators. Um, there were plenty of places for me to sit. There was benches, um, it was it's beautiful scenery. I mean, there's I'm always happy to just take in my surroundings. So um the cobblestones I was a little bit worried about, but really it wasn't too bad. Same thing in Edinburgh, even though I was on the tour of my tour company, I researched ahead that they had a shuttle van, and our coach tour guide connected me with the local guide, and they helped me and two other ladies on my coach get to the spot where we needed to be to wait for the shuttle. But I mean I I could have done them on my own, but I'll take the help when I'm given it. And they gave us a ride up through the castle, and I was so glad because that would that walk would have killed me going up. And then talking to the other two ladies, we split up and I said, Well, I'm gonna walk and sit on my way, so you can look for me when you're walking. I'll probably be sitting along the way, and they actually found me again later. I chose to walk down at my own pace from the top of inside the castle. Um, the views were gorgeous. Um, there was one section I skipped because the stairs, you know. I I asked um in one area, is there a way to go around without going this way? And the staff said, Oh yes, come this way. You know, so you don't see you can't necessarily see everything, but even if you're able-bodied, you don't see everything. You pick and choose. In both both places, both castles, I probably spent two and a half hours, and that was plenty for me. Um, my favorite part in the Tower of London was talking to the female beef eater and learning some of the history and stuff, and the and the and the scenery and taking the pictures of um the shard and the head, you know, the places where people were living, you know, the beef eaters live. All the scenery there was just breathtaking. And so I would sit down on a bench, I might take a few pictures, I might stand up. You know, so I did do the walking tour, but I often sat while the tour guy was talking, and we had an earpiece. So even if I was further away from the rest of the group, I could hear him. I just would I always, when I walk for exercise, which I made sure that I was physically up to all of this, and you have to know your own limitations and what you need for modification. I walk about two miles every few days, but I walk a quarter mile, rest, walk a quarter mile, rest. So I did the same thing throughout London and throughout my whole trip. I would walk and sit. Um, at another part of our tour, we were seeing a demonstration of sheepdogs. I went and found a rock to sit on, a big boulder, because I knew I couldn't couldn't stand that long. If there hadn't been that, there was a fence. I would have leaned against the fence or a tree.

SPEAKER_02 14:10

So you you you prepared by obviously you you kind of knew the places. I guess you identified the places that you were gonna go to, or you were interested in the state of the state of the state.

SPEAKER_00 14:20

Right, and then I researched what they had. So almost all museums, historic sites, and so on have information on their websites, or you can call a place. Like recently, I I travel locally with a friend who's blind, and so recently I called to find out a place because she can't really do stairs. I only looked on their website, and hindsight I should have called because she was only able to do a little part of that particular place we went to. But she was fine. She says, Oh, I'll hang out in the gift shop. You got you two go on, and she enjoyed enjoyed most of the day, but I felt bad that I hadn't called specifically with the particular place because that website didn't have a lot of information. So, you know, if the information is detailed, great. If it isn't, then send an email or make a phone call. Also, you can do a lot of I love YouTube for this. You can look up, and there's a lot of YouTubers that do videos on how accessible is XYZ, you know, and it's from somebody who's in a wheelchair or maybe is blind or whatever, and they give their honest opinion. So there's more than one way to get information. But yeah, I researched ahead so that I would feel comfortable with where I was going and what modifications I would need to make. So, like originally for public transport, even though I was planning to take the tube, I read a lot that it said the bus, the buses are much easier to use for handicap accessibility. So I don't remember which app, I think it was City Mapper helps work with the buses a lot. So I was planning originally to use that and only use the tube to get into the city from my friend's house because of the distance. But one, I was gonna be in the city or I was gonna Uber. Now that didn't quite happen because of the tube strike. So I you know I arranged with Rizet um and his lovely X is X XFA cars?

SPEAKER_02 16:36

XFA cars, thinking.

SPEAKER_00 16:38

Yeah. Um they brought me in each day and out, um, and I walked a lot more in between. Whereas originally I was going to take the tube in and planned to use Uber or a black cab to get from point A to point B when I was in the city if walking got to be too much. I didn't really have that as an option, but I ended up walking at least 10 miles a day. And I probably didn't do as many of some of the things, the more flexible things, because I was tired. Yeah. And when I was done for the day, I texted him and said, come get me. And to be honest, it would have been a lot for me to get on the tube and take the train back to my friend's house. Um, but at least the train ride would have been a break, like a 30-minute break. So I knew I could walk the eight minutes from his house to the tube. That that, but there's no way I would want to walk 15 or 20 minutes like you've talked about in some of your other podcasts. So you have to know your needs and your limitations and and plan accordingly where you're gonna stay. I always budget extra for taxis and Ubers. Like when I went to New York City last year with my daughter, I know by the end of the day, even though at the beginning of the day I took the subway, by the end of the day, I take a taxi. It's worth me, it's worth$20 to$30 or whatever. It's worth it to me because I want to enjoy my trip and I want to be able to do the next day. So a lot of times I might take the subway to a restaurant to go to dinner and then Uber back after dinner because I'm tired.

SPEAKER_02 18:14

Yeah. No, I totally agree, totally agree. And I mean, when I took my mom uh to Bath for her 80th birthday, and exactly we kind of planned, and we got lots of Ubers around when she was tired so that we could get around because you know, Bath's quite hilly, and um, so so that it was easier to do it that way with her so that she didn't get um she didn't find it too tiring.

SPEAKER_00 18:35

Yeah, and to be honest, in in um Glasgow, the hop on, I love hop on, hop off. It's worth the money. And if I was gonna stay more than one day on my own, I probably would have paid for the two-day one because you get everywhere, it gets you where you want. You can hop back on, you sit down. Some of them actually have a human guide, and in Glasgow, some of their buses did, and some of them were the tape recording with the different languages. But I always tried to do the one with the real guide to start out. And before I got off to do the loop again to go where I wanted to go shopping, I asked her, I said, What do you recommend? And she said, Well, I'd get off at this stop and then get back on on this stop, and then you can get off right around the corner from your hotel. So perfect. Um, the hop on, hop up, you get to see everything, you hear some of the information, and you don't have to figure out how to get from point A to point B. And it goes to all the key tourist spots.

SPEAKER_02 19:36

Yeah, and they're usually not too expensive either. So it's a great idea.

SPEAKER_00 19:40

No, they're easily priced. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I just used one in Florida in January with my daughter and my friends, and we went around the whole tour to get the whole history thing. We actually took a different shuttle that was free back to our hotel because we decided we wanted to freshen up, add another layer because we were freezing in Florida because it was cold. I brought the Massachusetts weather with me. Did not have plan, I wanted warm weather. Let's put it this way. I did not use my swimsuit on that trip. Um, and then we went back to the hop on, hop off. We knew we wanted to do the historic area with the shopping. Took it, took the the um hop on, hop up there, asked the guide again. He says, Well, if you get off here, you can walk the whole stretch and get back on our shuttle at the other end. So that's what we did and ate lunch, and we took a few hours and walked from one end to the other, and then got on the hop on hop off on the other end. Perfect. It was it was perfect.

SPEAKER_02 20:43

Yeah, and honestly, I think hop-on hop-off buses are are really useful, um, really good like that because as they say, and if you if you're feeling tired, you can just stay on them and just keep going round of the loop listening to it.

SPEAKER_00 20:54

You're still experiencing you're still where you're still on holiday and you're still at that place you wanted to be and absorbing it. Exactly, exactly.

Passenger Assistance On UK Trains

SPEAKER_02 21:04

So you talked a little bit about um obviously some of the places, the key historic places that you went to to visit and that you kind of researched on the websites and checked that out. You've talked a little bit about kind of working out how to get around on London transportation and obviously in Glasgow using the hop on hop off bus. And um, what about the trains themselves getting because you actually you took a few train trips. Um so how did you manage that?

SPEAKER_00 21:28

How did you prepare and that's that's thankfully because of Doug's ebook and you guys reassuring me in communication via the internet that I would be okay because I was really worried, and I could not get the apps to work from the United States, it doesn't like it, and the phone number only wants at least European or British phone numbers, and um so I originally did try online to book it ahead, it wouldn't let me because it somehow knew I was in the United States. So when I got to England with some help from someone who had a British telephone number, I called and I actually had the wrong phone number for what I needed. It was passenger assistance, but not the right passenger assistance. They gave me the correct passenger assistance, and then I called and we waited online, and they helped me book all my arrangements for when I was needed it. And then the day of at Houston Station, they had this huge sign. It says passenger assistant, you cannot miss it. It's this whole area, and I went there. Now I did buy the flex ticket, which I highly recommend. Um, and when I got there, it was a Saturday that I was traveling. No, Friday, I was traveling on on that. And they said, Well, we're gonna be canceling some of the trips. Trains because of XYZ. So we want to put you on the express train. I said, Oh, okay. Because I had the right kind of ticket. They literally whisked me off. Um, took my um my suitcase and wheelchaired me off to where I was going. And I had to message my friend who was meeting me at the other end because I was two hours early because I was on the express. Now I ended up having to wait at the other end because her son needed to come back into London to fly out to San Francisco. She said, Well, I'm not going to be there in time because my son's not ready. I said, That's okay. I said, Well, there must be someplace nearby. She says, asked to be brought to, and I don't remember the name of the coffee place, but there's a coffee shop right outside. So passenger assistants brought me to the coffee shop. I had a second breakfast. I had my um I had a sausage in a bun instead of the bacon. I was thinking with the HP sauce, since you in your one of your pod tests, you said I had to have the HP sauce. It was delicious. I I want HP sauce. I really liked it. So I got myself a bun and I got a cappuccino and sat there for an hour and perfect chit-chatted with people because I love to talk to people. And so I was enjoying I was just enjoying it being in my surroundings. Um, and then the next day she brought me back to Milton Keys and I asked for assistance, and I got a little nervous because it was a little chaotic. I did have to politely bug them because I wasn't sure that they remembered me, and they're like, Oh, we're sorry. Yes, we know you're there. But I did have to push a little bit when it got closer to when my next train, which was the one that was going to Glasgow, and they met me. They they tell they tell somehow in their system where I was sitting. So at the next station, they came right to where I was, helped me off, and switched to the other train, moved my suitcase, got me situated. Now I didn't need a wheelchair, so they said to me, Can you walk? I said, Yes, but I just need help with my baggage, my my uh luggage. They had me situated. I was in first class and I got to enjoy my five and a half hours, and there was only one other person in the first class carriage. Wow. Wow. I don't know why, but I got, you know, the butler guy or whatever. I don't know what his title was, but I had plenty of personal service and loved the food and the tea and had some snacks. So that's really good. So you've seen your assistance was lovely.

SPEAKER_02 25:41

Yeah, I was gonna say it sounds like the the your whole experience with that was was really good and it really helped you, which is which is excellent. And um, you know, that's what that's what we want to hear.

SPEAKER_00 25:51

Yeah, yeah, I mean you do have to pay attention. Yeah, I mean you do have to pay attention to even though they're helping you because there's a lot going on, so you still have to self-advocate. But the service worked amazingly well.

SPEAKER_02 26:02

That's good.

SPEAKER_00 26:03

And I made sure I did have I I know in the UK you don't need to tip, but in the United States, when someone's pushing you in a wheelchair and stuff, we usually tip. So I did give like a small amount of pounds to people because I'm not a lightweight person, so I know you're pushing a lot of pounds.

SPEAKER_02 26:23

I'm sure they I'm sure they appreciated it though, um Laura, honestly. I'm sure they did. I mean, it's like nobody's gonna turn down a tip. So saying we're not, you know, the the tip as into the tipping culture as much as in the States, but you know, right, right.

SPEAKER_00 26:35

But I just you know, and I always said thank you. Um it was it was easy to access. They were wonderful. I wasn't the only person that they were helping. They asked you how do you what what what do you need, even though they might have it on their notes. They just confirmed that that's what you needed. They helped me locate the bathroom when I was switching, when I was switching trains to go to Scotland, I said, Do I have time for the restroom? He's like, Yep, I'll take you right there. He all I said, I'll watch your luggage. Here you go. He brought me right to the handicapped bathroom. I would have never found it on my I'm telling you, it was hidden. So I'm glad I asked. Not that I couldn't have used it on the train, but it's a lot easier to use the bathroom when you're not in a moving thing.

Airport Support Wins And Fails

SPEAKER_02 27:20

Yeah, absolutely true. That is true. Um, so that's good. Now, what about um the airport? Because I don't think you had such a such a great um experience in the airport, but you still planned ahead for that.

SPEAKER_00 27:32

I did. Um I learned once I was in the UK, the airport situation is different than in the United States. In the United States, you just tell your airline and you can tell it in the apps that you need wheelchair assistance, and then when you check in, you tell them you need wheelchair assistance and you access it. And it's often run by the airline and not the airport. Sometimes it's the airport, but usually there's people assigned to each airline. So in Edinburgh, when I got there, there was a flight to India, and I swear to God, there was like 30 people in wheelchairs needing assistance. And I waited a little while. I I checked in and they told me where to go. It was around the corner from where I checked in. And I checked in with the person who was at the desk, and I said, Well, it's gonna be a little while. And 30 minutes later, I'm like, This is unreal. Like they really so I went back up to the little desk and I said, I said, I can walk, I just need my time. And I said, How far is it from this gate? Because if it's really far, I need a wheelchair. If it's not far, I can walk. And she said, Oh, that one is literally up the escalator and to your left. It's not that far at all. She says, I'll give you a lanyard that says you need assistance to help you through security. You won't have a problem. So that's what I did in Edinburgh because seriously, there were 30 people waiting to be moved in wheelchairs. Some of them were their personal wheels. It was a lot. So clearly, this flight had a lot of seniors and people who needed accommodation. It wasn't my flight, but whatever other flight was out coming out that morning. And then when I landed in Heathrow, I had assistance, but there was a communication problem with my helper. His English was not his first language, and I ended up having to take the train, the tube, one uh from one terminal to the other. So he helped me get my luggage off the domestic flight, and then I had to switch to an international flight. And even though I had left myself three and a half hours, I ended up having to walk myself with my luggage to the other gate. That was very harrowing, but I didn't really have a choice. I did ask for assistance when I got to the next terminal, and they helped me immediately. And um, they apologize. And I don't know if I could have rectified it. Um, you know, someone else you would have had to get assistance. I am able to walk. I don't want to repeat that. I think I did fill out a complaint thing with Heathrow to make them aware. I think what I would do differently is next time I would make sure I'm flying the same airline from Edinburgh to London and London to Boston because then I wouldn't have had to go get my luggage. It could have been my luggage could have passed through. Do you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 30:34

Yeah, yeah, it goes directly through.

SPEAKER_00 30:35

Yeah, you don't have to come to the I was on Virgin Atlantic for the second half of my trip, and I was on British Air out of Edinburgh. Next time I'll make sure it's the same airline because I think part of the problem was it was two different airlines.

SPEAKER_02 30:52

Yeah, so you had to move your luggage, so that that makes it even more complicated.

SPEAKER_00 30:56

Uh right, and they did help me get my luggage, but after I got my luggage, the guy didn't understand that I wanted help to the other terminal, or if he did understand he wasn't willing to help. And at that point, I didn't have time to wait around to try to find somebody else. I just had to deal with it. It was not a good situation, but I made do. Um, that's where you have to you always have to have a plan A, B, and C and do the best you can. Now, when I got to the Virgin Atlantic counter, they were excellent, but I had to rush at that point because that that whole train changing from one terminal to another ate up so much time, even though I was hustling with all I could. The guy said, We're gonna get you through, I promise. And he, I don't, I don't even know. Somehow I got back through security like in a flash. Like, we're in a hurry. I gotta go. He's like, Okay, and then he said, and then he I they put me in a buggy, you know, it's a cart with wheels, but yeah, they called it the buggy. The guy I was with said to the buggy guy, please take her first. She's got she's gotta get to this gate. They were beeping the horn and everything through I don't know, it was like 30 gates. I mean, it was it was a long run. Wow, we were going as fast as that buggy could go. I got to where my flight was. There was another guy there with two other people in canes and a guy in a wheelchair. He says, Are you on this flight? He says, Just join me. We cut the line to the front. There was some sort of um electronic problem with checking people, so it was backed up, getting people onto the plane. But um that's probably a good job. Yeah, otherwise, I don't think I would have made my flight. Um, and then I followed him, the guy with the wheelchair, pushing the wheelchair with the two other people in canes and got on the on the flight. And I thanked, I mean, I didn't even have time to tip them there, but I thanked every single one. They were amazing. So when I got to the second terminal, the help I got was fantastic. So, you know, overall, I would have never made it to my flight without that passenger assistance, and I feel that way wherever I travel. But you also still have to have your wits about you and and advocate for yourself, or if you're not able to have someone with you if you're traveling with your companion, you're like, if I travel with my daughter, I have her help me do stuff. Yeah, but I just said this is what I need to do. And they're like, oh my god, we need to rush. And they rush. And I really would have never made my flight, even though I had scheduled three and a half hours in between. From now on, if you're in Heathrow, I'm booking four hours. I'm leaving four hours in between flights. I'm telling you right now.

SPEAKER_02 33:50

Well, yeah, especially if it's barely enough time. Yeah, especially if you're as they say you're flying in from another another airport and having to change, having to get your luggage and change that that all adds to the the time and the stress, and then not getting the help to get you to the uh international departures doesn't help as well. Um, but I mean, overall, uh, you did a lot of planning for this trip because you you you kind of knew you knew what you were gonna need, you knew that you'd need some flexibility, and and I think that's that's really important because we all have um you know from day to day what we need, what our challenges are can be different. Um so I think I think it's it's you know, we you can only plan, I think, for yourself or um, you know, or uh those people that you're you potentially might be you know traveling with looking after.

SPEAKER_00 34:39

Right. And you definitely want to have a plan A, B, and C. And I save everything in my phone and I print out stuff. So um for my day trips, I always have at least one piece of paper folded that's in my little day pack with stuff that I need, like phone numbers and stuff, even though I have it in my phone in case the internet's not working. And I had an international phone plan, but I also had an eSIM for extra data. And I also offline loaded the maps, downloaded maps and the stuff that I needed. So yeah, you just you have to be you have to plan for whatever your challenge is, yeah, you have to make the plans and be flexible so you can still enjoy your trip. And even if you don't have a challenge, you should plan to be flexible, absolutely enjoy your trip.

SPEAKER_02 35:29

Absolutely, absolutely. Whatever, I mean, I I have a um I have an inability to ever, ever remember the hotel room that I'm staying in. I'm not joking. I can never, ever, ever remember uh, ever remember. And I happen to be like, yeah, yeah. Well, I never thought about that, did I? No, not me. I didn't honestly, I was I was on on a trip with somebody else, and she said, I have the same issue, I always just take a photo. And then I was talking to somebody else last year, and they were like, I also take a photograph outside the hotel if I have forgotten or don't remember the name of the hotel. It's like all those strategies that you put in place. Um, you know, if I was with Doug, Doug will never forget the number of the hotel room. He will never forget the hotel. He's really good at that. I it goes honestly, I I don't know what is, but I I just never ever do. So it's you put those strategies in that will help you. I plan if I'm having a day out in London, and I know London really well, but I plan out my route. This is the way, this is what I'm gonna do, and this is what I'm so I know exactly um how I'm gonna get there, and have, as you say, having a plan B or plan C. So again, it's about recognizing what what your needs are um going forward, what having some flexibility if you if you need it. I have got um we've put together a uh a massive article on the website, which I know you you've you've had a look at, which have got um links to all sorts of uh different um uh ways to get support, accessibility uh sites to about getting help on the trains, because we've chatted about that. So I will I'm gonna link to that because I think that will be a useful resource as well for um people to have a look at.

SPEAKER_00 37:09

Yeah. Um I also in the hotels, usually there's a business card. I always take that business card and put it in my wallet so I have the phone number and the address for the hotel, as well as put the hotel in my phone as an address. You know, I like I add it in my contacts so that I can put it in my, I just can click on it and add it to my maps um without having to type it in.

SPEAKER_02 37:34

Um just kind of thinking about some of the things that I do, um, because I struggle with claustrophobia and I don't like being so I can't, I just can't cope with the tube um during rush hour um if it's really busy and it's hot, um, because I just panic. So um so I will avoid it at that time or take a bus.

SPEAKER_00 37:53

Right.

SPEAKER_02 37:53

Because then I feel more comfortable. But it's all those things that you, you know, those things that you will do at home that you need to think about if you travel and like how do I make do those same adjustments for for whatever my my needs are when I'm when I'm abroad. I think that's important.

SPEAKER_00 38:07

The other thing is I'm diabetic, so I always have glucose tablets and food with me.

SPEAKER_02 38:12

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:13

And you know, if I'm at a location where they don't want to let you have the food in inside, like some museums, I'll leave it in my bag, I'll check my bag, but I'll tell them that I'm diabetic. Often places when you tell them you're diabetic, they let you bring the food in because they don't really want you to have a problem. Where normally they won't let you, they often will let you. So it's it's a medical need.

SPEAKER_02 38:37

It's a medical need, Locke.

SPEAKER_00 38:40

I have this because I'm diabetic. Okay, go on ahead.

SPEAKER_02 38:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:43

I mean, nine times out of the ten, they don't they don't refuse you. The minute you say why you need it, they usually I said, I promise I won't, I won't eat it in an exhibit. I'll find a spot.

SPEAKER_02 38:56

I'll sit down and have my sandwich, yeah. Now, if if anybody is um is listening, if so if you're out there listening to this episode and you're thinking, oh, this is um really interesting how Laura did all this preparation for a trip. Um if if there's somebody planning something similar to what you were putting together and feeling a bit unsure, um, what would you what would be the one thing you'd encourage them to do early on in that planning process, Laura?

SPEAKER_00 39:20

Well, I'd have them make an appointment with you for a consultation. Oh, yeah. That's what I would do. Um, as well as look at your resources that you have. You have a lot of resources that are free, but also resources that are um budget friendly. So there's a lot of different options, and you have different options within even within the types of consultation that you do. Um, I would also join the Facebook group and ask questions. Trust me, there are times where I wish I could find a Tracy and Doug for other places that I'm going. It's not always uh as easy, but I also, because of your global travel planning page, I've asked you for recommendations for people around the world and other things. So you connected me um to your friend who is an expert in Hawaii, and I used a lot of her resources. I looked at her resources for planning the part of my trip that's DIY for that.

SPEAKER_02 40:21

Oh, that's good. That's good.

SPEAKER_00 40:23

Yeah. So and also I do have a travel agent that I work with for some things. So I always use the travel agent to um shop for trip insurance that's gonna definitely cover what I need with options. And she always finds me one or two, but I know she's gonna give me a reputable company and she knows what my medical needs are because not all travel insurance is the same. So I use her for that piece. And if I can't figure out something else, I also use her expertise to help find me a resource if I'm not able to find it on my own. So you know, the there are a lot of experts out there that you can access, and usually it doesn't cost you a lot because they travel agents usually get you know paid by the companies to do what they do, but they're also not gonna give you a company that's not reputable because that's their reputation.

SPEAKER_02 41:25

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 41:26

You know, like I know that if I meet with you and Doug, you're gonna only give us good information because that's your reputation.

SPEAKER_02 41:34

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 41:34

You know, so absolutely. We um I love free I love things that are free, but I also believe pay for what you need to pay for. You know, you can pick and choose. Yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_02 41:46

And and and as I always say, it's like we uh we provide a lot of a lot of resources for free. So we always appreciate it when when people take that little bit step further and think, okay, like we'll we'll book a consult with Dog for you know Q ⁇ A because it now offers that uh and it actually has helped a few people um planning their train trips, looking at kind of you know what travel assistants in need and and chatting about luggage and all those sorts of things.

SPEAKER_00 42:09

Um Right, but you also, if you have a few quick questions, you usually are willing to answer a few questions without doing a consultation. So, you know, I it's not instantly here you have to pay for this service. There's a lot of things that we give for free that are wonderful.

SPEAKER_02 42:26

Oh, that's what I'm saying. It's like we have so much free the Facebook groups, the websites, the podcast. There's a lot of free stuff. It's there's a load, a load of um, you know, a lot of free stuff that we do give to to help people. Um it's when people kind of uh it need that next step. Like you, you know, bought the train ebook because you you wanted that little bit of extra information, that sort of um that sort of stuff. So right.

SPEAKER_00 42:48

It's you know it's good to do that. The next time I go, I really want to do some more train travel and move throughout the United Kingdom, maybe more on my own. And I definitely would book a consultation to help piece all those pieces together. Because in my head, even though it's way ahead, but I I like to dream, that's half the fun, right? Of where I want to go. And I know all the places I want to go, but I'm not quite sure which order to travel to is the best. And I know that it's more than one train line. So I definitely at that point will be like, okay, Doug, I need your expertise.

Final Encouragement And Closing Notes

SPEAKER_02 43:27

Yeah, yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Well, I thanks so much, Laura, for for joining me this week. It's always great to chat and for you to share um about your travels and about how you plan and how you prepare and how much you enjoyed your trip to the UK as well, which is always lovely to hear.

SPEAKER_00 43:42

I did. Yeah, yeah. I want to go back. I was already dreaming of going in January because of how much snow we had here. You guys have less. I was getting uh alerts for bargain airfare, and I thought, well, Edinburgh in January doesn't look that bad right now.

SPEAKER_02 43:59

Yeah, compared to where you are, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_00 44:02

Yeah, I like well my son, where he is um two hours from me, they got 31 inches the other day of snow. I'm like all over this place.

SPEAKER_02 44:10

That's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 44:10

Well, we got I got 14 inches, but he got 31. I'm like, oh, I'm so tired, sick of the snow.

SPEAKER_02 44:17

Well, we're in well, well into spring now, so hopefully, uh hopefully the weather will get better. But thanks so much, Laura, for coming on to the podcast again.

SPEAKER_00 44:23

Yes. Take care. And everybody, go travel, even with your challenges. You only live once.

SPEAKER_02 44:30

Ah, perfect. Absolutely true. Thanks, Laura. Thanks again, Laura. You can find a link to our comprehensive guide to accessible travel in the UK, including our free downloadable checklist in the show notes at uktravelplanning.com forward slash episode one nine five. If you've enjoyed this episode, please, please do leave us a rating on your favourite podcast app. It really helps uh get the podcast out there and makes a huge difference to us. Um, you can also leave us a voice. Message via Speakpipe as well. The link is in the show notes too. We love to hear from you. But as always, until next week, from myself, Happy UK Travel Planning. Thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of the UK Travel Planning Podcast. As always, show notes can be found at uktravelplanning.com. If you've enjoyed the show, why not leave us feedback via text or a review on your favourite podcast app? We love to hear from you, and you never know, you may receive a shout out in a future episode. But as always, that just leaves me to say until next week, happy UK travel planning!