Traveloholic Interviews – Aurélie Loaec
1. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and your blog?
Originally from Brittany in France, I just moved in Nantes after many months rolling the world. Before that I was a legal practitioner but in June 2016 I decided to leave France to spend one year in New Zealand. In order to prepare this big move I looked for information about accessibility in this country, should it be for everyday life, touristic activities or walks. Indeed, I have hereditary spastic paraplegia, which causes to slowly lose my ability to walk. That means I walked with a walking stick for a long time and I now have been using a wheelchair for three years. So I needed to find information about accessibility but I had a hard time finding it so I decided to create my own blog, www.iwheeltravel.com/en, to share my travel stories and information about accessibility in those places.
2. What inspired you to start travelling, was there a particular moment in time where you just thought ‘yes, let’s do this’?
In April 2015 I bought my first wheelchair to go on a trip to Japan! For the first time I travelled outside the European Union. For years, I wanted to discover other cultures and Japan looked really appealing to me! So I finished my studies and as soon as I saved enough money I bought a flight ticket to Japan. That trip was so awesome! There is no doubt I caught the travel bug after that. Months after months I even realised this passion was about to become a central part of my life and that’s how I ended living in New Zealand for a year before spending three months and half in south-east Asia!
3. What has been your most amazing experience thus far?
I have two memories in mind. The first one is when I tried sit ski in New Zealand on a volcano! it was my first time skiing and I really enjoyed the experience. The sensation is awesome and made me feel so free!
The second one was my travel in the Cook islands. I am so in love with this place! Palm tree, coconuts, colourful fishes, white sand beaches and polynesian culture: this looks like a heaven on earth!
4. Has there ever been a total disaster whilst on your travels? What happened?
I never had to face a ‘total disaster’ during my travels. Sometimes things went wrong but it never was too horrible. For example I remember that we had a rough day in New Zealand because Franck, my husband, and I started a hike supposedly accessible but it wasn’t. I thought I wouldn’t have no other choice that sleeping in the bush because of the gate’s opening hours but we succeeded to reach it on time!
5. Whilst on my travels, I have found that each country has a completely different attitude towards the disabled, have you found the same? Which countries do you find the most positive and why?
It’s very true, but not matter wherever I go, people have always been here to help me in case of difficulty. As for the accessibility itself, Singapore is definitely the most wheelchair accessible place I have ever been. Accessibility is everywhere. Transports, shops, restaurants, tourist sites, accommodations : everything has been thought to be inclusive.
6. Is there anywhere that really stands out for you to visit in the future?
There are so many countries that I want to visit ! At the moment I’m thinking to travel in one south European country in the end of the summer: maybe Italy or Greece. Otherwise one of my dream is to travel the south American continent.
7. Is there anything that you wish to plug?
You can follow my adventures on my blog www.iwheeltravel.com/en and on my social medias:
Facebook : www.facebook.com/iwheeltravel/
Twitter : @I_wheel_travel
Instagram : www.instagram.com/iwheeltravel/
Also I am currently looking to join the accessible tourism sector so if any European company has an open position that I could filled in I would be happy to talk with them. Otherwise, I also work independently as an accessible tourism consultant.