accessible-travel-planner

# Accessible Travel Planner Skill

Travel with a disability fails on the gap between "accessible" as a label and
accessible as a reality: the "accessible" hotel room with a step to the bathroom, the
airline assistance that wasn't actually booked, the wheelchair that arrives damaged,
the medication held at a border. The disabled travelers who have good trips plan
differently — they verify access against their *specific* needs rather than trusting
the word, book assistance well ahead and get it in writing, and pre-plan for the
predictable failures. This skill runs that planning. It can't guarantee a provider's
access, so it verifies specifics with the source and builds the contingencies for when
things go wrong anyway.

## What This Skill Produces

- An **access-verified itinerary**: for each leg and stay, the specific questions to
  confirm against *your* needs (door widths, step-free routes, roll-in shower, bed
  height, hearing/vision provisions) — because "accessible" means different things
- An **assistance-booking checklist**: flight/rail/transfer assistance booked in
  advance with the deadlines, confirmations in writing, and what to reconfirm and when
- An **equipment & medication plan**: protecting mobility equipment in transit,
  battery/wheelchair airline rules, carrying medication across borders, and backups
- **Contingency scripts**: for the assistance that doesn't show, the damaged equipment,
  the room that isn't as described — what to say and to whom, in the moment

## Required Inputs

Ask for (if not already provided):
- The trip (where, when, how — flying/rail/road) and the specific access needs
  (mobility aid used, transfer ability, sensory needs, medical equipment, fatigue/
  pacing, service animal)
- The bookings made or being considered (airline, hotels, transfers) so they can be
  access-checked
- Equipment and medication involved, and any documentation the user has (medical
  letters, equipment specs)
- Risk tolerance and support: solo or with a companion, and how much buffer they want

## Framework

1. **Verify access against YOUR needs, not the label.** For each provider, generate the
   specific questions to ask directly ("is the route from lobby to room step-free?",
   "exact bathroom door width?", "is it a roll-in shower or a tub?", "bed height?") and
   get answers in writing. A photo request beats a promise. "Accessible" unconfirmed is
   a coin flip.
2. **Book assistance early and in writing.** Airline/rail special-assistance has advance
   deadlines (often 48h+); book it, get a reference, and reconfirm 24–48h before.
   Transfers and equipment (aisle chairs, hoists) are separate bookings. The written
   confirmation is what you hold up when it's not on the system.
3. **Protect equipment and medication.** Mobility equipment: airline battery/wheelchair
   rules, gate-checking, tagging, photographing its condition before handover, and a
   damage-claim plan. Medication: carry-on with documentation, quantity/import rules by
   destination (verify with the embassy/airline), a time-zone dosing plan, and backups
   for the essentials.
4. **Plan the fatigue and the pacing.** Access isn't only physical — build in the rest,
   the buffer between connections, the shorter days. An itinerary that would exhaust a
   non-disabled traveler is a guaranteed bad trip; pace it to the real energy budget
   (see [[spoon-planner]]).
5. **Pre-write the contingencies.** The predictable failures — assistance no-show,
   damaged equipment, a room that doesn't match — each get a script and an escalation:
   who to demand at the airport, the equipment-damage claim on the spot, the
   room-doesn't-work conversation and the backup. Knowing the move in advance turns a
   trip-ruining crisis into a handled hiccup.

## Output Format

```
## Access-verify these (get answers in writing/photos)
| Leg / stay | The specific questions for YOUR needs |

## Assistance bookings
| Service | Book by | Reference | Reconfirm at |

## Equipment & medication
[Mobility-aid transit protection + damage plan · airline battery/chair rules ·
medication documentation, import rules (verify), dosing across time zones, backups]

## Pacing
[Buffers, rest days, realistic daily load — to your energy budget]

## When it goes wrong (scripts)
[Assistance no-show · damaged equipment (claim on the spot) · room not as described]

⚠ Confirm every access and rule detail with the specific provider/airline/authority —
this plans and prompts, it can't certify a venue's access.
```

## Quality Checks

- [ ] Access is verified with specific questions against the user's needs, in writing —
      never trusting the "accessible" label
- [ ] Assistance bookings have advance deadlines, references, and a reconfirm step
- [ ] Equipment protection (with a damage plan) and medication/import rules are covered
- [ ] Pacing/fatigue is planned, not just physical access
- [ ] Contingency scripts exist for the predictable failures

## Anti-Patterns

- [ ] Do not trust "accessible" without verifying the specifics that matter to this
      traveler
- [ ] Do not assert airline/border/medication rules as fact — they vary and change;
      route to the provider/embassy to confirm
- [ ] Do not plan a punishing pace — access includes energy, not just ramps
- [ ] Do not skip the written confirmations — they're the leverage when assistance
      "isn't on the system"
- [ ] Do not omit the contingencies — the failures are predictable, so the responses
      should be pre-made

## Related

[[spoon-planner]] and [[flare-day-planner]] for the energy/health layer;
[[venue-access-check]] for checking a single place; [[relocation-planner]] for moving
rather than visiting; [[travel-itinerary|group-trip-negotiator]] for the group version.