Stares, Stranded Wheelchairs & Airport Audacity

 Have you ever had an airline literally lose your legs? ✈️👩‍🦽 

This week, Zara and Faith are diving into the unglamorous, frustrating, and downright chaotic reality of traveling with a disability and hair loss. 

From British Airways leaving a full-time wheelchair at Heathrow on a 13-hour flight to Japan, to the sheer audacity of airport staff telling a passenger to "use the stairs," we’re calling out the lack of common sense, care, and basic accessibility in 2026. 

We also chat about the anxiety of traveling with hair loss, dealing with intense stares at Spanish resort buffets, the awkwardness of old passport photos with wigs, and why we’ve officially entered our "stare back" and "pose for photos" era.

Let us know your wildest travel stories in the comments!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Hi, I'm Zara and I'm Faith and we would like you to sit down with us every Wednesday.

SPEAKER_01 0:06

Woo!

SPEAKER_02 0:06

So in today's episode we're going to be talking about all things travel through accessibility, disability, how we feel going through the border and yeah. We're just girls loving to travel and sometimes it's not as as not as glamorous as we're glad to think.

SPEAKER_00 0:26

No, not as easy. As you might think. Like there's a lot of things we need to think about that it's not just a matter of booking, on the flight, off your pot. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 0:38

So yeah, we're gonna get into it. But we're not gonna out anyone. Are we not? I hear it's me and my black book. I don't need to people. I don't have any like specific airlines that I've had issues with.

SPEAKER_00 0:52

I mean, I do, but I'm not necessarily gonna out them either. Because I'm not here looking at it. We're here for a good vibe. But having said that, I feel like it's I should say which airlines I've had problems with because then it's like a void.

SPEAKER_02 1:10

Yeah. To be fair, it'll look it'll give people knowledge of who to technically not go with.

SPEAKER_00 1:16

What's interesting though is the one I had the most issues with, which was my first time flying with them, I'd actually heard so much horrible things about them in regards to accessibility and disabled people. Well out them. So it's chances are people already know who that is. I'd say it.

SPEAKER_02 1:33

You'll have to say it for me because I don't know who it is. Watch a long. And a mic.

SPEAKER_00 1:38

Let's get into it. Right. So, as you know, or if you don't, I am a full-time wheelchair user, clue in the world, full-time. My wheelchair comes everywhere with me. And I was travelling to Japan about a year and a half ago, almost two years ago now. Best place on earth, like genuinely. Someone was telling me tomorrow, pack a bag, we'll go to Japan, I'm there. I am literally there. But on the way there, there were some issues. So I was with a particular airline again. I'm not gonna out them. I feel like I don't know. Out them! Should I? Mummy. In my mic, no. Okay, I was with British Airways. Really? Yes. Right, and it shook me to my core because they were expensive. It was exactly they would have their crap together. Like I would have thought, sorry, Ryanair, but I would have thought something like that would be with Ryanair. Not BA. I'm sorry. I'm shocked. I didn't think it would be a little bit more. I've all seen something like that, and I've not even actually said what it is. Let's hear the story. Well, anyway, so I'm gonna walk I'm gonna walk you through it, and if you're in a chair, I'm gonna wheel you through it. I'm sorry, I can make that joke, alright?

SPEAKER_02 3:01

As a wheel choose, I can make that joke. Silence. Go. I'm I'm Sean. I'm I'm shoon.

SPEAKER_00 3:08

So I was we had a connecting, all fine, sat on the second flight, and about ten minutes after it set off, or like it was like, you know, like where it's like it's set off, but it's basically still on the track, so you're just like not in the air, but you're just cruising to get to the right point to take off, yeah. And this lady comes to me, loved her. She by this point it's a different airline because the first part of the journey was with the A, and the second part with was with another airline, which I'm not gonna mention then because there wasn't anything bad about them, it was the first airline's problem. Anyway, she comes to me and she's like, by the way, your wheelchair isn't on board, genuinely like that, and here's me, massive headphones on, eye mask, face mask, about to zen out for like the last the next 13 hours, and I'm like, I beg your pardon, and long story short, the first flight I was on did not pass my chair on to the second flight, and for some reason the airport staff and the uh the airline staff of the second flight realized too late. By too late I mean we'd already been in the air or about to be, and I'm like, by this point, obviously, no internet, nothing. I'm like, no, who what who can you do? So she was like, We're trying to get in touch with the airline, we're trying to locate, no worries. And I'm like, babe, if I've not got my chair, there will be plenty of worries. There will be plenty of worries, babe. Let me tell you that. Anyway, but again, at this point, I was very nice to this person because it's not directly her fault. She's just the messenger, yeah, exactly, and I was very much aware of that. Anyway, ended up managing to get um internet, called my sister who was not with us, and I was like, you need to locate my chair immediately. Anyway, long story short, my chair was at Heathrow, which was where I was flying from. They realised it was just like chilling summer at Heathrow, no one knew what was going on, blah blah blah.

SPEAKER_02 5:34

Wait, so you set off from Heathrow?

SPEAKER_00 5:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:36

So it was never on the plane in the first place, because you're on your second plane now.

SPEAKER_00 5:39

Yeah, so I fly to So Manchester to London via Heathrow. Okay, okay. On BA, yeah, and then from that to London to Japan.

SPEAKER_02 5:52

So it was London, so they were stuck in Heathrow then. Yeah. So it had gone from Manchester to Heathrow, yeah, and then lost in Heathrow. Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_00 5:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:00

Love that for me.

SPEAKER_00 6:01

Best time of life. Anyway, so they were like, they're gonna send the wheelchair over, so by the time you get to the airport, you we will give you a chair, Bob's your uncle, Fanny's your aunt, it will be sent to your airport, for your to your hotel. I was like, great, love that for me. Bit of an issue, but it's fine, we'll get there. Got to the airport, and I was like, Yeah, I'm just on my merry way. And they were like, No, we we don't do wheelchair delivery services. So I had to sit there, bear mind you, they told me it was gonna be four hours until the next one comes, right? No, they initially said two hours, ended up being four hours, and they knew my wheelchair was on there, they knew the first thing to get out was my wheelchair. Did they? No, I had to wait an extra hour for my wheelchair to finally come through. So I spent a total of five hours at the airport waiting for my chair, and it's just one of those things where it was like what the hell? And what was annoying for me was the fact that all this would have been avoided had they let my wheelchair on board. Wow. I'm speechless after that because of just voila for too long.

SPEAKER_02 7:22

But this just that story shows how inaccessible travel is. Like it's how unfair it is as well.

SPEAKER_00 7:29

I think it's more I think for me it's we're not seen as priority, and it's more the way I feel is that if an air hostess or if an airline sees a disabled person on a flight, we're seen as an inconvenience. That's how I feel have been made to feel on most flights. And it's just like and when you see when you come across one person from a flight department who is nice and it's like, oh wow, oh my god, this is this is amazing, whereas this is how everyone should be. It's almost like you're getting excited, you're excited when you receive the bare minimum. Exactly. Like, for example, on the way back from this trip, there was this lady who was who I was explaining to her that I need my chair on the flight with me and explaining to her what happened on the way here. She was like, Oh, listen, don't worry too hard, we will get your chair on the plane. And then she went to the air hostess and she explained the situation, and she was like, the chair needs to be on the plane, blah blah blah. And the hostess was like, No, no, da da, there's this the stuff in there is not gonna happen, blah blah blah. And she was like, Listen, I've spoken to such and such a person from your department, blah blah. It's it's going anywhere, and if she wasn't there advocating on my behalf, it wouldn't have happened because I wouldn't have the balls to be like I've spoken to such and such person, no, no, and I feel like why does it have to be like that? Yeah, also why did she need to fight a case? No, yeah, why does it have to be standard? Like, it's it is ridiculous, and it's it it annoys me because whi I think it all goes back to the lack of training, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:14

And it's I think it's just a lack of care. Yeah, like why would you not want to help someone get all their belongings and uh needs to a like with them? Yeah, like it's your property, it belongs to you, it's that's that's that's it's yours, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:30

So yeah. And to add to all this, something I'm sure everyone will see as a necessity bathrooms. And you'd be shocked to know bathrooms are actually not accessible on planes. There is not an accessible bathroom on the plane. Like I was on a I think it's this what you call them, but excuse me if I'm wrong. A double decker bus? Is that a double no a plane? A double decker plane.

SPEAKER_02 9:54

Yeah, that you can yeah. Isn't it isn't it like there's a particular name for him, but I don't know the name for it, but you you do get them.

SPEAKER_00 10:01

Yeah, a double deckers planes. There was stairs. There was like three stairs to get up there, and luckily, personally for me, I can do a couple of stairs, like with like aid, whereas obviously some people can't. No. And I just think what do you do in that situation? Like it was just so bizarre. And yeah, I just I just think it's 2026, like everyone's travelling, get your act together, and also to add to my own, also, I saw this girl's video who went viral. Who basically she was a wheelchair user, and because there was some issues with the aisle chairs, she had to like shimmy down the plane, which I just think I'm sorry, but it's the most humiliating experience you could experience as a human being, as a human being, and basically there was some comments on that video that went viral of people being like, Yeah, but like you don't have to travel, like who who's like, and I'm like, that is literally besides the point. Yeah, it's like you should be able to do anything like what on earth without needing to people's later, yeah. But she should be expecting that, like things happen, and I'm like, what do you mean? No, and it it just that video really bugged me because I was expecting to open up the comments and people be like, Oh, bless her, or like I feel really bad, like something used to be.

SPEAKER_02 11:31

I just feel like it's like if someone like me, for example, if I got on a train and the train was delayed at normally uh Houston, on the way to Houston, it was delayed, and it made me late to work, people would say, Well, it was your it was your option to work in London. It's the exact same. Yes. Like I said, no, it's my choice to work in London, yes. Yeah, but that yes, it doesn't mean that the train should be delayed, it just happens, but that's not that's not the comment to say.

SPEAKER_00 11:58

No, it's uh that should be. And I think it goes back to like people thinking disabled it's like back in the when back in the old days where like disabled people should be sheltered and just like be at home all the time. It's it's we're we're in 2026.

SPEAKER_02 12:13

I think as well, life's for living and you shouldn't be put off by airlines not doing their job and people not caring enough to stop you doing anything. Like 100%.

SPEAKER_00 12:23

That should be the reason. We are gonna talk about terminology in another episode, but to kind of um talk about it slightly, I think this is what people talk about when they say the world is disabling, yeah. Not necessarily the condition or the illness or diagnosis is yeah, the world is more disabling sometimes. I would say to me per for me personally, 70% of my issues have arose from things around me. The environment not being yeah, rather than my condition. And I know I'm not blind to the fact that I am physically different and I have a physical challenge. I don't know, a physical barrier. A physical barrier that stops me doing certain things, but I feel like 90% of the time I'm I love how I'm like taking the percentages higher. 70% of the time it's when like something could have been put in place by society or by people, everybody people, that could have prevented. Prevented that. I lost for words today. Yeah. That was a big story though. Yeah, that was ridiculous, that should never have happened. I just think it was just and it was when I later on complained, it was just like, yeah, I literally got a bog standard email back from BA being like, yeah, thanks for your feedback, we will um thank no, it was like thanks for your feedback, we will take this on board for future. Sorry for any inconvenience. Oh my gosh, inconvenience. I'm like, listen, babe, you took my legs away.

SPEAKER_01 14:05

Why I didn't say that, but you should have done. I didn't at that point I was just like Yeah, you're over it, that makes sense.

SPEAKER_02 14:13

I know, that was a long story. Tell me. So for me when I travel, it's mainly when I get there, like to the destination, I am always like, right, how are people gonna react? Because there's been many a times where like even just on the plane, I get a stared at well, people obviously staring to look for their chair, but they're looking at my seat a little bit longer, and I'm like, love, I'm sat in it, it's clearly not yours. There is a person sat in here. There's a person sat here and it's not yours. Yeah, I could clearly tell they are staring for a reason, and it's like when I'm flying, I'm not flying in my wig. Done it, done it once, never again. Like when I was younger, no. I sometimes don't wear my brows, like I'm sat in one position for my longest flight has been four hours. Comfort is key on the plant. It's like I'm wearing like your classic matching jumpsuit, like yeah, I am going for comfort. Yeah. So stairs, I normally get through it every day, and it does bother me. But when I'm on a plane, I'm like, anyway. When we normally get there though, I just try to ignore people and like just be in my own world and become a bit like ignorant towards it, like pretending it's just not happening and just keep going on my merry way. Yeah, but this one time I think we'd only been abroad once or twice before. I was with my family, 15, 16, and I was still wearing my wig at this point. Family holiday as well. And I think this was actually the first holiday where I was wearing a wig with my family because the previous holiday before that was when I was like 11, 12, and I could just get wearing my headband still, and it was fine.

SPEAKER_00 15:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:47

So for this holiday, I was wearing my wig, or brought it with me anyway, and I remember we'd just arrived and we had like an early flight, and we went for like our lunch in the reset like in the restaurant at the hotel. And I remember sitting away from so I was like looking at the corner of the room, and my dad was sat in the corner of the room looking at me and looking out to everyone. Ah, right, yeah. Yeah, so it was just like a round table, that's just how we sat. And so, and I wasn't wearing my wig at this point because we're just on the flight, and it was really itchy from the flight, so I took it off and I was like, let my head breathe for a minute, it's warm. Yeah, you know, this is not British weather, it's Spanish, it's warm. Yeah, so I'm then gone, got my food, sat down, and my dad has said to me, like, Am I gonna put my wig back on?

SPEAKER_01 16:36

Oh.

SPEAKER_02 16:37

And I was like, probably in a bit, I don't know, like I'm quite warm at the moment. And I could see him like getting agitated and getting angry. And so I was like, I could see my dad getting irritable and getting like annoyed and agitated, and I'm like, Okay, like whatever. And I'm looking at my mum, like, what's going on? Yeah. And then it turns out I get up again to go for seconds. Obviously, I'm just a girl. Love food, probably always. And at this point, I wasn't seely out because I was eating whatever the hell I wanted to, yeah. Probably past it at that point, and so as I've got up to get food, I see like a wave of heads like turn around and start like eating their own food. So like people have been like looking because I had I had hair, but it was patchy, right? So I wasn't bald, and so people could see the bald patches through the headband or whatever I was wearing, right? And so my dad has said this like, can you wear your wig? One to protect me because everyone was staring at me. Little did I know, but also for him, it was just making him so angry because he just wanted to shout and scream for people to stop staring. That's one thing that would traumatise him so much is when people stared, he couldn't stand it. Because you can't do anything about it, especially when I'm like young, like I'm 15, 16, like now. I will wave back, yeah. Like stare at me, I dare you. Do you know what I mean? I'll pose for pictures. I actually will, I will, yeah, even with a can of tuna in like Tesco. Try me. Honestly. Do you want sugar? Which one? Anyway, like I don't care now. But when I was 15, 16, but basically, I didn't want to see people staring at my dad knew this, so I've got up, gone to get more food, and sorry, I'm not laughing at the sugar, sorry.

SPEAKER_00 18:25

I think there needs to be a preface that we were just having a laughing fit.

SPEAKER_02 18:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:33

So yeah, that was that story, and then from that day, like for the rest of the holiday, I was like wearing a headband, I wore my I wore my like my bandana, um, my wig sometimes, just because there were so many stairs, like, and I don't know whether in like I like I love travelling and I love meeting people abroad and like hearing different people's stories, but yeah, people there were so rude, and I'm not gonna generalize a culture or like generalise a nation because that's not what everyone is like, but where we went, you must have thought I was some sort of celebrity, it was awful. Like people were staring bad, and I'm like, I'm still a kid, yeah, like 15-16 years old.

SPEAKER_00 19:13

Like, what do you think you're achieving by staring?

SPEAKER_02 19:15

Like, like do you think I'm blind? And I'm like, trying to figure it out, you're clearly not done it in the past five seconds, leave me alone. Yeah, like yeah, like people were staring bad, so like I completely understand why my dad was like said this because that my worst fear was people staring at me, and it was it was bad on the sometimes.

SPEAKER_00 19:35

I so whenever I'm abroad, personally, I don't care as much as I do in England. Like, if people in the UK stare at me, it might get to me more than if I was abroad for some reason, because I'm like, you don't know me, don't I don't care why you're staring, even though people in the UK also don't know me, but you know, I mean it's it's just different. And s sometimes I used to gaslight myself. This is so like big-headed, but sometimes I used to gaslight myself and think they're staring because I look good. Do you know what? No, genuinely, and sometimes it works, yeah. I like they're staring because they like my outfit or like my bikinis.

SPEAKER_02 20:11

Honestly, sometimes if I know people are gonna be staring at me that day, I will purposefully like put on my devilwear's parada, persona.

SPEAKER_00 20:20

Yeah, or another good thing, I don't know if I've mentioned the other pod before, stare back. Stare back. I remember one time.

SPEAKER_02 20:28

We all had a staring competition. Yeah. Honestly.

SPEAKER_00 20:30

I remember one time there was a pool, um, sun lounger. I was sat on it, obviously. Sun loungers all around the pool. There was one guy or a girl, it was like a guy and a girl, right, like diagonally opposite me. The girl kept like staring right into my soul. And I was reading my Kindle and I looked up and I noticed, and I carried on reading my Kindle, look back up, she's still staring, so I went. Mm-hmm. Until she looks away, and I'm like, if you're gonna stir, stir, stir. If you're gonna stir, if you're gonna stare at me, prepare to be stared back at. Yeah. Because it's saying a one-way thing. I I've got eyes too, but I can stare at you too. Yeah, literally. Two can play that game.

SPEAKER_01 21:14

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 21:14

Okay, I'm getting way too. Yeah. But with that holiday from that, I was like, I am never because that I think as well, that was my last holiday abroad for quite a while then. I think my next one was in like Salu, and I was more I wore sometimes I wore my headband, sometimes I wore my wig. It was a much more comfortable, I was a bit older, and I'd just finished college knowing that I wouldn't be wearing my wig to uni. Yeah. So I was a lot more confident and I was like, I'm gonna wear whatever I want, whatever I want. And it was a much nicer, comfortable holiday for my hair loss at that point.

SPEAKER_00 21:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:46

Um, but now I go bald, I don't care. Me and my partner will just step back.

SPEAKER_00 21:51

Who gives a shit?

SPEAKER_02 21:53

Yeah, my partner will wave like still, yeah. And he'll like he'll announce to people oh, a lot of people. Staring today, as we're just walking along the beach, like he'll do it. So yeah, but that's been my thing. Traveling is the stairs and the perceptions of people when I'm over there.

SPEAKER_00 22:09

It's like, have you never seen anyone bald before?

SPEAKER_02 22:12

Clearly not. That is absolutely mad. So that's my thing when I go away. To be fair, there's actually one thing with planes that I struggle with. Okay. So they put their aircon, they put the air con on. Right? I can imagine. I have no hair. I'm freezing. Yeah. You make the plane like Antarctica. I am freezing. Like honestly, that's an actually fair point. We were coming back from Benedome, I think. We'd been there for my birthday, and the plane was already already delayed, but this whole time the air con was on, and I'm like, I need a hot beverage quickly. I ended up with my jumper on, had my partner's jumper on. I was cold. I was freezing. I even asked the air, like the flight attendant, can we lower it down or turn it off? And that they literally said no because it was just the because we were stationary, it was just the fans having to keep things going or something. Yeah. I was freezing. So that's my thing.

SPEAKER_00 23:07

Not the same, but kind of in line with like airport and plain rules. When they make the toilets, when they shut off the toilets, yeah. Right. So as a disabled person, I mean not every disabled person is like this, but and like some disabilities and some conditions, you can't you can't hold it in. Yeah. Like you when you go, you need to go. Yeah. And I find it extremely bizarre when some instances where like for example a plane is like delayed, and like you it's at that point where you're already on the plane and it's been delayed for an hour, but the toilets are shut off. And I've actually been in that situation before, and I was like, I was literally like, listen, look. Funnily enough, it was still on this Japan trip. I don't know, honestly. Oh my god, this Japan trip. When I was there, Rainbows and Roses, travel part of it, hell, not good. Um I was like, I was literally like face to face with this girl who was like in her 20s, like full on like air hostess, right? I just loved her. But I was like, listen, love, I need to go to the toilet. She was like, no, can do, blah blah blah blah blah. Started like giving me all the rules, all the blah blah blah. And I was like, I will literally piss in the seat. Yeah, so your choice, whether you want to deal with that after I'm gone. Do you want to feel more after me? Or can I just go sort myself out? So she made me wait another further five minutes before being like, yeah, I spoke to someone and it like I just think that what kind of rule is that?

SPEAKER_02 24:44

Why can't people go to the toilet? Like if you're just stuck on the plane, why can't you go to the toilet? I don't see the example. I I j Like I understand the taking off and the landing, fine, or turbulence, but it's like normally like a short period of time. Yeah, turbulence, I actually understand. But any other time, why? If you're just on the ground chilling, planes just rattling about, why can't you go?

SPEAKER_00 25:05

It's it's it's mad. Unless there's like a problem with the toilet, is the reason you're staying there. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:11

Stupid rule.

SPEAKER_02 25:12

Stupid, stupid rule. Yeah. Um but I think also another thing that's stupid that you told me that I know this story is coming anyway, but to lead into the story, is when like people just don't use their common sense. Yes. It's like think before you speak, but think before you make the roles. It's like I have a job where I work with the public. Yeah. Like general public. Public faces. It's like I call it my muggle job. My muggle job. So I work with the general public. Yeah. And you've just gotta have some common sense. Yeah. Like. And some people don't, which I feel like is the like strain for this story.

SPEAKER_00 25:48

I saw something the other day and it was like, common sense is not that common. It's not. And I just said it. It's not, is it? Sense has nowhere to be seen. No, no. But anyway, speaking of no common sense, so I was on a flight a while ago, and on this said flight, there was five other disabled people, which isn't actually that common for me personally. So which meant naturally there was about like it was gonna take longer because of getting everyone out, blah de blah blah. But for me personally, all I need help with is for them to give me my chair on the other end and point me to the nearest lift. Bob's your uncle, Fanny's your aunt. I've said that way too many times in this episode. So on this episode, I'm gonna like really like jump hacking because it's it's it's a long one. So basically, we're on a row, a few disabled disabled people, I'm one of them. At this point, it's been already 20-30 minutes, two of the disabled people are still to come, and I say this to this woman, um, because she sh I know the door we need to go through because we're by the door, but we're waiting to go as if it's like a blooming trail, or it's like a school trip, um, like holding hands. So I'm like, hi love, I know where I need to go. Just like open the door because the door was like a keypad type thing. So I'm like, open the door, I'll skedaddle. See you later. I'm alright from here. I don't need I don't need any more assistance. And she's like, we need to wait for everybody else. These are the rules. If you don't want to follow them, use the stairs. I know people are gonna be watching or listening to this thinking that definitely did not happen because no one would have the audacity to say that. She had the audacity to say that. Yes. But also, I had three, four of the disabled slash carers hearing this, as well as my mum, who was also there, who draw on the floor. And instantly I was like, you I need your name, your full name, because that is there's there's no response to this. This is going straight to your boss. Yeah, this is awful. And it was funny because well it wasn't funny, but it was it was interesting because I said pardon for like to get her to retract. And she said these are the rules, we need to wait for everybody else. If you don't want to do that, there's stairs right there. And she pointed at the stairs behind her. And I was thought, mind you, I know we say like different cultures, different rules. This was the UK. Yeah, no, I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_02 28:48

This was Great Britain. There's such a thing as respect. Yes. She had none. Absolutely. I mean, I know you can have a bad day, but that does not give you the right to like take it out of someone else. I understand road rage because you no one can hear you. Yeah. Right? Unless you're that person that records it and posts it online. But normally no one can hear your road rage. You don't rage in public. No.

SPEAKER_00 29:11

Like, oh what and then what happened was um there was there was two of them. The other guy wasn't there when she said that, and eventually he opened the doors, we were going through it. And basically what the problem was was that her, she was a problem. Yeah, but also the disabled route, the accessible route was through the terminal. Okay, which makes zero sense. So they took me back to departures to take me back round to where I needed to go to go out and to baggage claim. And because of that reason, I needed to be treated like a prisoner because I couldn't apparently be trusted in departures on my own. Because I would have just flown off somewhere else. Whereas but but the real question should be why on earth was this the logical accessible route in the first place? Who thought this is the most logical accessible accessible route? Because it's not. Because what I felt was one, degraded by the way she spoke to me, and two, treated like an absolute prisoner because you couldn't go anywhere. No, you're stuck, and it was just so blooming bizarre. So blooming bizarre. And went home, obviously, emailed the airline, and no, emailed the airport because she was an airport staff, airport staff, airport got back to me. Very sorry for your experience. We will include this in the training, we will look into this, blah blah. Have I heard from them? No, no, and I just think like what what like when she said um if you don't want to wait, use the stairs. I'm sorry. Gob smack, draw on the floor.

SPEAKER_02 31:11

That's awful.

SPEAKER_00 31:12

Like, I really hope that's one of the things that keeps her up at night. Oh one of those things where you like, I should have said that. Yeah, yeah. I really hope that's one of those things for her because Did she get her full name? Yeah, but I can't think of the top. It is in that email, so if I go back to that email. She's on my hit list. Yeah. So if you want me to reveal her name, like this, like this part. She'll we'll have her on again. Oh no, let's not. Oh my god. But yeah, I just think it's and I think it gave again, obviously it goes back to common sense, but also lack of training. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:46

That was definitely like.

SPEAKER_00 31:48

Because I'm sorry, in this day and age, you would not because it's it's it's an ableism term. It's an ableist thing to say. So and you wouldn't say that when it's like racism.

SPEAKER_02 32:02

No. No. But I think with everything that's like so negative with travel, I want to say it's slowly getting better. Yes, definitely.

SPEAKER_00 32:10

But I met this absolute sweetheart of a man um on my recent recent travel to Spain. So he again was actually working for the same airport, like agency, blah blah blah. And he was a what are they called? Like a flight attendant. No, like the person before you get on. He was like the one helping with like assist assistants, he was an assistant, and he came up to me, bless him. He literally, one sentence made my entire trip and he went, I've never flown with you before. Just let me know how you would like things to happen and how I could help. And I just thought, what a gem. What a gem. Because he's right, he's never flown with me before, and it's much nicer experience knowing someone is taking what you're saying on board and like doing the things the way you like it, because again, it goes back to not every disability is the same.

SPEAKER_02 33:09

Can I just say I love how he's worded that genuinely? Like, I've not flown with you before before in like seeing you as a person rather than seeing the chair. Genuinely. I love that he said it that way.

SPEAKER_00 33:19

It was honestly, it made my day. And I'll and he was like, Yeah, I've not flown with you before, so like, how how would you like this to go on? And I was like, Yes, ten out of ten, no, no, so lovely.

SPEAKER_02 33:30

Love that, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:31

Yeah, so yeah. So, although there's some stupid people out there within that industry and just in the world, there's also some nice people, yeah. And I've had the chance to meet both of them, which is great.

SPEAKER_02 33:47

I've loved that for me. I love that he said that to be fair, and like one thing for me with travelling, I'm more excited to travel now than I was previously because I've recently got a new passport. Ooh! Right, because it ran out. I've had I had to. Nothing drastic happened, I didn't lose it, no, very normal, it just ran out. Um, even though there's like three months left on it, but you still can't travel drives me insane. You have to have a valid passport for six months to travel. Which is stupid. It's only valid for nine years and six months, then really. Nine years and not really six months. Not really ten years, but anyway. Wait, no, not nine years and six months. Yeah, it's just ten-year passport. Yeah, nine is my math is not. Alright. But in my past passport. Old passport. In my old passport, I wore my wig.

unknown 34:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:36

And so every time I travelled, I was like, am I ever gonna get through? Like, because I've been like going to a biza or Germany or Spain, I'm not all like Greece, just travelling anywhere. I'm like, oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 34:49

Like actually, really random question. But isn't a wig on like a legal document seen as like if you like wear a hat or like a sunglasses? But this is what I like.

SPEAKER_02 34:59

But this is what I don't know about because me at 16, there's no way I was having a photo without my wig on.

SPEAKER_00 35:05

Do you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 35:06

I actually try to Google that. No one questioned it. And like when I had worn my wig through customs in the past on the story I previously told, no one knew it was a wig. I've got another story. But yeah. Yeah, so but now when I travel bald, which I have done for seven, nearly seven years now. Oh my god. And with that, I just like I am like I'm more excited now because I actually look like my passport. So yeah, I actually look at my passport now, so I'm excited for that. Oh yet to get my driving licence changed though, because I'm still got a wig on in that. Next, coming on next thing. So I'm now more excited to travel because that used to give me some anxiety, you know. Thinking, I don't like my passport. Like I don't look like my passport anymore. And this is why I feel like how you look really matters, and like hair is a massive part of your identity. Because like, even in the film Mummy or two, where like if they're going on the boat, like they're in Greece or they're in Paris, and they're going on the boat to Greece, yeah, the passport guy's literally like your hair's shorter here. Like your hair's longer here. As if that's like a telltale sign of like this is not you, this is you. Yeah. So it's like that's literally how I feel. Like when someone looks at my passport, they're gonna be like, You had hair here. Is this actually you? Oh you know, well I know they're not gonna do that, but it's like it's just at the back of your head. All in my head. So that's why I'm more excited now to travel with my new passport when it arrives. I am excited for that. Would you ever travel?

SPEAKER_00 36:37

Wait, actually, question.

SPEAKER_01 36:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:40

In your pas new one, have you got eyebrows or not? Yeah, I've got my eyes. Oh. Yeah. Do you? I do. I have my eyebrows, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:48

Cute. But just like these ones, like face.

SPEAKER_01 36:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:51

Yeah. Cute. But I think they look more uh your eyes anyway. Even facial recognition. Yeah. Like recently when I've flown with my old passport, it's all facial recognition. It is, yeah. It's it's the I think it's your eye resistance, yeah. Eyes, nose, mouth, I don't actually know. Yeah. Because there's some people, like, you don't look the same when you're 16. No. Like you could have a like I got a 10-year passport at 16, and I'm like obviously like 25 now, I'll need the 26. So my face has changed a lot since I was like 16 years old. So I don't know how it works.

SPEAKER_00 37:24

Must be your eyes, must be your eyes.

SPEAKER_02 37:26

See, I again, this is another thing. Everything else grows apart from your eyes.

SPEAKER_00 37:30

Yeah, I think this is another thing that's not been taught out for disabled people because I can never go through them because it's too small. So I always have to go through anything. They're new as well. Yes, they're new. I always have to go to a person. Wow. So yeah, again, slight inconvenience, but yeah. Yeah. But I do want to touch on the fact that again, it's I feel like it's an outdated process that's just not been thought about, and it's how disabled people are treated through security. Yeah. And I do you know what? I have mixed reviews, mixed reviews. It's not a Yelp review. I've got mixed feelings about this because on one hand, I'm like, great. But so basically, the way it works for me is I don't go through the metal scanner because my whole chair is metal, uh-huh. And I've got metal implant in my head, so instantly it's gonna be going off. So yeah, if she had headphones in by the way, just then I'm really sorry for that sound. Um so I go around it and I get body searched, which again is fine, but sometimes the body search is very thorough, and you are in a busy airport security, obviously, because it's an airport, and I just think sometimes it can feel quite degrading because they like ask me to like do all sorts of like positions, yeah, the YMCA literally, genuinely at one point, yeah. I'll be yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you know thinking about it is literally the YMCA. Um, no sound, no songs or anything, so it's not as nice, but yeah, and I just think but having said that, I know you get the opportunity to do a private one, I can't remember what the term is, but you can request a private search, so whether they take you to a different room, but again, I just feel like one that just adds an extra time to your to it all to it all, but also if anything, it might draw more draw more attention is why you go into a different room, like is there something going on? It just draws more attention to you, and I just think like people get I get asked all the time to take my braces off, it's like if I can hide anything, like my braces get scanned and like my leg braces by the way, and I just think there needs to be a better process for this, less than that, because it's just but on the other hand, sometimes some airports they let me stray through without any search, and I'm like, but if anyone who is a wrong gun sees that, they're like, Oh, okay, I'm gonna travel. Yeah, and I just think there needs to be some middle ground, yeah, that's true, and I just think it's again, it's 2026. Why are these things not taken into account?

SPEAKER_02 40:27

I think definitely that the accessibility needs a lot more work and focus on because the stories that you're told today, not okay. No, in any means, like not okay.

SPEAKER_00 40:37

No, but the what's annoying is again like that girl's story that I said on that TikTok, there will still be some people annoyingly being like, Yeah, but you don't have to travel, or like, yeah, just wait, or like being treated like prisoner, rather that that than be going on holiday, not being able to go on holiday. But no, it's not the point. That's not how it works, not to the point.

SPEAKER_02 40:59

So, to wrap up for today, I think we've realised that travelling needs a lot more work, definitely, especially planes. I think we'll get onto buses and other forms of transport.

SPEAKER_00 41:12

In um it doesn't the inaccessibility unfortunately doesn't stop with planes.

SPEAKER_02 41:17

Yeah, there's there's more there's trains, there's buses, cars, everything, and I think that'll be a really interesting topic as well at some point. But for now, for now, I hope you've enjoyed today's podcast.

SPEAKER_00 41:29

And let us know your thoughts and feelings in the comments, and we'll see you next Wednesday. Woo! Bye!