As part of our series on responsible travel writing, we recently spoke withTarryn Tomlinson, a TV presenter, travel writer, and accessibility consultant based in Cape Town.

You can also read the essay she wrote for us, “Climbing Kilimanjaro, in a Wheelchair” here.

UNDOMESTICATED: Can you tell us about your path to becoming an accessibility consultant?

TARRYN TOMLINSON: I started this journey of becoming an accessibility consultant for two reasons. One, because I was personally frustrated with needing to struggle more than was necessary when traveling or staying in hotels.

I have to pay the same amount as everyone else for a room/flight/transportation, yet I have less access to the property and services than anyone else, with a higher degree of discomfort when using them.

Two, because I realized that inadequate services for persons with diverse abilities within the tourism industry was not being addressed. The rooms which were deemed, “Universally Accessible” often were not, and persons with disabilities are rarely if ever seen represented in hospitality imagery.

Can you give us any examples of things that weren’t right in rooms that had nevertheless been deemed “universally accessible”?

For example, some hotel rooms which are sold as “accessible” do not have proper grab rails or fixed shower seats installed, which is required for safety. Many “Universally Accessible” restrooms have heavy door closers on them, which makes it near impossible to close and open the door yourself, if you have limited mobility, dexterity or strength.

When tour operators and hotels reach out to you, what are they looking for?

The hotels who reach out to me do so with the desire to make their properties more inclusive of persons with various access needs.

The tour operators who reach out to me generally do so for advice on which hotels and services are appropriate for persons with diverse abilities.

What are you looking for when you evaluate a property, and what are some examples of how you have helped hotels and tour operators improve?

For me evaluation of the property and the brand starts before I reach the property; it starts with the website. Is the information presented on the website accessible to persons with diverse abilities?

I also look to see whether the imagery that they use is inclusive of a diverse range of people, not just persons with disabilities but also those of the LGBTQI + community, for example.

When on the property one has to do a full assessment of the public areas as well as the areas specifically demarcated for persons with various access needs such as an accessible parking bay or an accessible room.

I look at things such as access routes, parking, signage, counter heights, grab rails, furniture layout and some interior design.

I also provide staff training on how to treat persons with disabilities with dignity and respect from the beginning to the end of the user experience.

Do you have any favorite accessible destinations or properties that offer a model for others?

I am very impressed with the Radisson Red in Cape Town, South Africa. I always cite them as being one of my favorite properties thus far.

They have five “Universally Accessible” rooms (which is the highest number I have ever seen in a hotel) which all have interleading rooms for caregivers. They also have braille on the doors, lower peepholes and auditory elevator signals.

Besides a few changes which still need to be made, I would say that structurally, I would rate them 8/10, however, with all the wonderful services, not one place do they mention on their website that they even have an accessible room nor do they use images which are inclusive of people with diverse abilities. Does that even make sense?

At the very least, you’d think they’d want to promote what they had done! Generally speaking, do you see the travel industry making meaningful strides toward accessibility? What else can still be improved?

Unfortunately, I don’t believe that there is enough urgency or incentive to make places accessible. [In South Africa] Property owners are not obliged nor subsidized by the government and so unless they have a deep desire to do what is right by making their property inclusive, they simply won’t.

Many choose not to make any changes, using cost as a factor as well as the notion that there is not enough of a demand to justify the cost.

The solution I thought of then needs to be two-fold; a) We need to change mass perception around disability and b) we need persons with disabilities to see themselves represented on television in a way which breaks stereotypes and inspires them to travel and explore their towns, cities, countries or other countries.

This is why I am in pre-production of the Able2Travel series, a 13-part travel/lifestyle show which shows me traveling the world doing my work, exploring the world, having fun with different celebrated personalities who travel with me to some far and wonderful places and who get to experience just what it is like to travel with someone with limited mobility.

It is entertainment and meant for mass media, and I believe will begin to break down those barriers in hospitality be it perceptual and structural.

That is so exciting! And clearly so needed. How did that project come to be?

The idea for the Able2Travel show came about when I was explaining to a producer I know about the work I am doing. She thought it would be a great idea to turn it into content. Even though I was itching to get the show going, I didn’t have much experience in the tourism industry.

I started to develop my brand within tourism and I became a spokesperson for the Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa, which allowed me to become more acquainted with people in the industry, however as one of a very few voices within tourism fighting for the rights of travelers with diverse abilities, it was a difficult task.

I managed to get financial backing for the production of the promo for the series, and I’m currently sourcing funds for the final production, which is set to start in August 2022.

That’s fantastic. There’s clearly such a vital need for more accessible travel. We’ve talked about how travel providers can improve, but what about travel media? How can writers keep people with disabilities in mind when writing about a destination or experience?

I think that it is important for writers to write with a diverse audience in mind. When writing about a destination to write about it, not just from one's own perspective, but to think about the destination from a social point of view as well.

Does this culture and place provide space for all who visit or live there to integrate?

And how can writers make their stories more accessible for readers, viewers or listeners?

If the written material is presented online then there are multiple free plugins that one can use in order to make your writing more readable.

Other applications such as text-to-speech applications allow the person who is blind to have the words on the webpage read to them.

You should also always add descriptive details about the images you post. [Ed. note: this text is called “alt text” or “alternative text.”] This will give your reader further context. There are many other ways but most importantly is to write in a way that makes it easy for someone to digest the information.

Make use of white space by writing shorter sentences and paragraphs. This makes it easier for everyone to read. Also be sure to use headers as key points and to use only bold font to emphasize key points. Also, don’t use italics and bold at the same time. This makes it overwhelming for someone with dyslexia.

Lastly but most importantly, be conscious of the words you use when describing persons with disabilities. For example, steer away from terms such as, “disabled traveler,” “disabled person,” “suffers from a disease,” or “patient.” Rather use words such as “person with a disability,” “a person with limited mobility,” “a person with a visual impairment.” or “a traveler with access needs.”

Now this is a debatable subject because some people prefer to be called, “a disabled person” as a way of taking back their power. However, I think that if you are an able-bodied writer, it is best to err on the side of caution and use the “people first approach” rather than the “identity first” approach. Those who have a disability when writing can refer to themselves in whichever manner they choose. [Ed. note: This preference for usage varies from country to country.]

Unless someone is using words to be blatantly disrespectful, I do not pay attention to labels, I find bickering over names an incredible waste of time.

I prefer the philosophy of William Shakespeare, “What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.”

Labels don't change my essence and so I have no attachment to them; as who I am and who you are, it reaches far beyond the physical. It is the holding on to the illusion of our separation through labels that keeps us separated.

Saying my name is Tarryn, says absolutely nothing about me, likewise with all other labels. If you call me Tania by mistake, I would not take offense. If you called my Tania deliberately as a passive aggressive move to show me my “person” is insignificant, well then, that is another story.

Your story about climbing Kilimanjaro was moving, and Lee Wyser’s mission to help athletes and adventurers with disabilities is commendable. At the same time, there is a growing call for the media to stop exploiting and objectifying people with disabilities in order to lift up non-disabled readers or viewers. Stella Young coined the term “inspiration porn,” and her TED Talk on the topic has been viewed nearly 4 million times. Do you have any advice for writers that might help them cover accessible travel and include people with disabilities in their stories without objectifying them?

I think to be inspired is a beautiful thing. I am inspired on a daily basis by a million things. I also think that if someone’s life story is inspiring to you and if it sheds some light on your own situation then what does it matter where the source comes from?

Having said that, what is important is that we don’t use the person with a disability and their story as a way to pity them or to concretize one’s own sense of superiority over them. By praising people for doing simple tasks is demeaning, however if someone has done something extraordinary for most people, able bodied or not, why wouldn’t you feel inspired?

If an able-bodied person climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, we would still think it was awesome, because not many people would do it. If a tragedy other than disability was the catalyst for their climb; such as the death of a loved one and they told us their story. Would we consider that a moving/inspiring story or “inspiration porn”?

I hadn’t thought about it quite like that. You’re right that climbing Kilimanjaro is a feat to be celebrated no matter one’s ability, and that’s different from calling someone inspiring just for existing.

This is why it is so important for persons with disabilities to tell their own stories, so that our stories and the way we are depicted are not left to the skewed understanding of others.

It is also why I am insistent that with the Able2Travel series, the emphasis is not on disability but on someone who lives fully, explores and takes you to interesting places - the presenter just happens to be in a wheelchair.

We need more representatives of persons with diverse abilities on our media platforms. We need writers, news reporters, directors, producers and actors with disabilities stepping forward to change the narrative.

If we take the stance that the media needs to change, we will wait forever and it perpetuates the idea that we are at their mercy. The media is run by a majority of able-bodied people.

That a majority will have a minority's best interest at heart is a wonderful idea, but given the history of the world—I believe it is a bit naive. Instead, we people with disabilities need to create content which tells our own story and we need to stop waiting on people's permission to thrive. We need to own our power and agency.

While reviewing your story, our editorial team had a thought-provoking conversation about the porters singing to their clients as they trek up the mountain. “Like a snake you wrap around me, you wrap around me. Trying to eat me like a piece of meat.”

As someone who once edited a travel magazine for a very well-heeled audience, I’m sensitive to privileged luxury travelers who go to places like Kilimanjaro or Everest and don’t even think about the people helping them or their working conditions. My first impulse was to ask you to add your impressions of the song and address whether or not it made you feel bad about them being out in the wilderness. My co-editor, Yi Shun Lai, thought my question suggested a disabled person should feel like a burden. I was mortified that I hadn’t thought in those terms and didn’t realize I was implying you were more of a burden than an able-bodied client stuck out in that storm.

Our conversation was a great reminder of the many different interpretations readers can take away from a writer's words, or even how much our perspective influences what we see when we travel. In your years of travel writing, what have you discovered about people's interpretations?

Well, now I am laughing because of the interpretation, “‘Like a snake you wrap around me,” I believe they are referring to the mountain and not the client, but to answer your question….

People’s perceptions, I have learned, have everything to do with them and nothing to do with me. I first realized this when I moved to Italy, and I let my hair go wild because I didn’t have access to the hair products I would have access to back home.

Now back home in South Africa, you are criticized heavily if your hair is “out of order” and because of my hair constantly being “out of order” I grew up with a complex and felt “less than,” compared to those around me.

Tell me about “out of order” hair.

In South Africa we have multiple ethnic groups; indigenous, European, Malay, and mixed races. I am mixed race, with most of my mom’s side of the family looking Caucasian and my dad’s side more Malay/African, so my complexion is tanned and my hair more Afro-textured.

Now, because of the racial indoctrination of the past government, not only did they manage to divide people physically, they also divided people within their own communities. You see the fairer complexion people who were of mixed race, could be mistaken for white, and so would get better job opportunities and receive certain privileges within society because they operated under other identities. They were also the more affluent of the, “Coloured communities” (we call people from mixed race groups, “Coloured.”)

Some mixed-race people denounced their families to keep up the facade, causing rifts and separations in families and heritage. The government managed to brainwash people into believing that to be as close to “white” as possible was better than being dark-skinned or ethnic.

So having out of order hair meant being farther from the idealized “white” identity?

Yes. In Italy however, because my hair texture was a rarity, people looked at me with fascination. They would even come up to me in the shops and ask if they could touch my hair. They found it beautiful. They found beautiful what others found ugly and my hair was still the same.

I realized then that people’s perceptions and interpretations of beauty were dependent on their culture, history and own self-acceptance.

Many cultures around the world have limited viewpoints about persons with disabilities.

Probably most do. I’m certainly realizing how much more I can do to make my own website more accessible and how much my own limited perspective can influence my approach to, well, everything, this interview included. Circling back to my question about your porters, their working conditions, and how they may or may not be seen…as someone who built a close friendship with your porters, is there anything you wish other travelers knew about them?

Yes, that the porters are just as everyone else. They do this hard job to provide for themselves and their families. That their jobs are a source of income and pride. That they have hopes, dreams and aspirations for a better life and that they too are not objects of pity.

I appreciate that you said that. Just as some travelers may take people in service professions for granted, pity is equally dehumanizing. It reminds me that “people first” means so much more than just using respectful language.