I Plan My Travel Bucket List Around My Disability

Reimagining future travel goals

I traveled a lot in my late teens and early twenties, so much so that it became part of my identity. I was a wanderer, a free, brave, and strong self always ready to explore and willing to get lost in the quest for adventure.

Now at age 38, I’m on disability. The headaches that I’d had every day for almost ten years get much worse with physical movement or sitting without a headrest, and definitely with sitting in cars or airplanes. That makes travel a problem.

I haven’t flown to Europe since 2009 and haven’t been on a plane since 2019, but I still have a bucket list of places I’d like to go!

Florence, Venice, and Dubrovnik, for instance, and returning to Portugal, Ireland, Scotland, England, and Wales.

I’d love to slow travel for a month or more at a time, but that probably isn’t feasible. I’d get too exhausted. Right now, I’m not even sure if I can handle a flight to Europe plus a week-long trip.

I’m not going to give up on Europe, though. I’ve come up with a way to work around my disability and still travel, which I’ve practiced with overnight trips close to home.

I get most of my sightseeing done in the morning when my head is starting fresh and I still have energy.

Then I plan for afternoon naps of at least 2–3 hours in the hotel room.

I go out to eat at night, when I don’t want to walk anywhere but still want to have an interesting experience.

I’d like to travel all around Italy and practice la dolce vita there — living slowly and deliberately, taking pleasure in the simple things.

I’d love to sit at a cafe or on a bench somewhere with an amazing view, scrawling travel observations and creative writing ideas in my notebook.

I had a chance to go to Florence in 2009 but didn’t take it. I had just returned to graduate school in Scotland after Christmas break at home in the States and had three weeks to kill before the semester started.

I longed to go to Florence and see the Renaissance architecture, but I felt too bad about making my parents pay for it (I didn’t have money of my own). Instead, I stayed on the couch, wallowing in depression.

I hesitate about Florence now since cars aren’t allowed in the historic center. If I do a lot of walking, I get sick with a severe headache and am laid up for days, so when I travel I will probably need a taxi to get from point A to point B. In Florence, I want to spend much of my time in the Uffizi Gallery, which will require a lot of standing.

A possible solution? Staying in a little hotel I found that’s right across from the Duomo, with the cathedral taking up the entire view from the windows. That’s as close to the historic center as you can get.

Another non-negotiable is Athens, even though it’ll be difficult to haul myself up the Acropolis.

Ideally, I’d rent a car and travel around Greece, stopping at sites like Mount Olympus, the Temple of Delphi, and ancient Olympia.

But since I can’t drive anymore, and traveling by bus to all those sites would probably be too much for my head, I’ve amended my bucket list to include the short flight from Athens to Santorini.

Since it’s one of the most beautiful islands in the world, I doubt I’ll be disappointed!

Places closer to home appeal to me, too. Staying within the United States, I’d like to go to San Francisco; Charleston, South Carolina; and Yosemite National Park. In 2024 my mom and I are going to the Oregon Coast in May and to Maine in October to see the autumn colors.

And there’s always Hawaii! The flight there from my home is about half the distance as a flight to Europe, so it could be a good “practice” trip for me.

A new bucket list was born entirely out of my disability. Because I currently can’t travel far from my home, I got the idea to take a photo of every town in Montana. With my mom driving me, I’ve pretty well covered the northwest part of the state.

Not only is it fun to take the photos, but it’s also a perfect way to spend time with my mom. We’ve stayed at quaint bed and breakfasts and historic hotels, traversing through mountains, pine forests, and valleys.

Since Montana is the fourth largest state, this project will take me years — something to look forward to.

My disability was a devastating change in my life, but I’ve finally learned that it doesn’t have to stop me from traveling. With just a few tweaks, my bucket list is looking as good as new.

This story was inspired by Carol Labuzzetta,’s: