Planet Abled invited me to speak at the Access To Travel conference conducted by them on 27 September 2017. I went in expecting the usual conference but was pleasantly surprised. It was conducted at Park Hotel. The conference experience began just after the metal detectors. I was barely through the device when I was met by a Planet Abled team member and escorted to the venue. I checked as I entered the hall. Something was wrong. The light level dropped, and I was in an enclosed space. I am light independent therefore I continued through and entered the auditorium.It turns out that the entrance had been reconfigured as a darkness simulator.
Cameras and Planet Abled staff were everywhere. Unlike other conferences, they did not ask me to settle down. There was active focus on moving around and interaction. The staff helped. We, the tourists had a chance to meet other key leaders in the travel industry such as Mr. Subash Goyal. The food was good and was dry. I have attended more than my share of conferences where the food has gravy and is impossible to eat without 2 working hands.
it is rare to have a discussion on recreation in India. The access to travel conference was one of the few events that addressed not only the challenges when traveling with a disability but allowed me to see what everyone else was doing to have fun.
The most enjoyable part for me in the conference was the emphasis on stories. Each speaker had his own story to tell and had time to tell it in. It was also very easy to ask speakers questions and to meet those who stayed after the conference. As always, the speakers were cross disabilities. I returned home with a greater sense of unity. Our senses that we used to engage with the world were different, but the problems were the same and had the same broad solution namely making people better humans and treating each other with dignity and respect.