Trish's Travels, Treats, and Treasures

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Trish's Travels, Treats, and Treasures

🩷 Advocacy
✈️ Accessible travel
📚 Homeschool life
🦽 Wheelchair user
📍 Northeast Ohio

Collabs welcome 📩 [email protected]

10/08/2026

The accessible entrance should not be locked.

It might seem straightforward, but in reality, getting into the only entrance available for mobility aid users often takes extra effort.

Everyone else gets to walk through the main entrance without asking permission.

A mobility aid user arrives to find the accessible door locked, and suddenly access becomes a quest.

Now we have to search for an employee.

Often, we have to explain why we need to use that entrance, even though our mobility aids are clearly visible.

After that, we have to wait while someone finds a key.

Sometimes, after everything, we end up feeling like we are causing trouble just by being there.

That is not equal access.

An entrance is not truly accessible if you have to ask for permission to use it.

Having to ask for basic access repeatedly sends a message that our participation was not expected.

It can make us feel like visitors in spaces designed for someone else.

If an accessible feature is already there, making sure it stays usable should be the least that is done.

If getting access means having to find someone with a key, it was never meant to be truly equal in the first place.

Image Description: A floral graphic that reads, "An entrance is not truly accessible if you have to ask for permission to use it.

09/08/2026

One of the hardest things about chronic illness is that you never know how your body will feel tomorrow.

Some days, the pain is manageable. Other days, it isn’t.

There are days when you can eat anything you want, and days when eating isn’t possible at all.

Sometimes you can walk into a restaurant, but other times you’re lucky just to get out of bed.

All of this makes planning really difficult.

Living with a dynamic disability often means you have to take things one day at a time.

Image Description: A quote graphic with a pink background and subtle watercolor-style lavender shading in the upper-left and lower-right corners. Centered across the graphic in elegant brown script is the message: “Living with a dynamic disability often means you have to take things one day at a time.” Small clusters of gold sparkles decorate the upper-right and lower-left corners.

09/08/2026

Sometimes, people with serious symptoms have to wait until their condition gets worse before anyone believes them.

Many people spend months or even years describing their symptoms, only to have them dismissed because the right test hasn’t been done or they haven’t seen the right specialist yet.

Dizziness is often ignored until someone collapses and finally gets a full evaluation.

Joint pain is often called minor until someone starts losing mobility and tests reveal it’s actually an autoimmune disorder.

Fatigue, weakness, nausea, numbness, or pain are often dismissed as exaggerations until a scan, lab result, or specialist finally proves something was wrong all along.

Remember, the symptoms were real even before there was proof.

Today's suffering is not less valid without a diagnosis.

Of course, medicine doesn’t always give immediate answers.

Symptoms can be vague.

Standard tests might come back normal.

Getting a diagnosis can take time.

But when a doctor says, "I don't know yet," it’s very different from saying, "nothing is wrong."

Medical gaslighting can make people avoid future care and lose trust in the healthcare system.

Every single chronically ill person deserves curiosity and compassion long before a diagnosis is made.

Image Description: A floral graphic that reads, " Many people spend months or even years describing their symptoms, only to have them dismissed because the right test hasn’t been done or they haven’t seen the right specialist yet."

09/08/2026

Hi, I'm Trish!

I'm a wheelchair-using mom, homeschool parent, traveler, chronic illness advocate, food lover, and firm believer that there is plenty of joy to be found in everyday life.

About 500 new friends have joined this page in the past month, so I thought it was a good time to introduce myself again. 🩷

I have a diagnosis list that feels longer than some restaurant menus, but the big ones are Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, gastroparesis, rheumatoid arthritis, and some assorted spinal issues.

Technically, I’m an ambulatory wheelchair user, but lately I can’t go far without some kind of mobility aid.

Around here, you'll find a mix of disability advocacy, accessibility conversations, chronic illness reality, accessible travel, homeschooling, food, family life, and probably more coffee than medically advised. 😂

I love discovering beautiful places, tasting good food, making memories with my family, and finding small reasons to enjoy an ordinary day.

Living with a disability can be frustrating, unpredictable, costly, tiring, and sometimes just plain ridiculous.

But it can also be fun, meaningful, full of adventure, and amazing.

This page is all about sharing how the tough moments and the joyful ones come together.

I’m really glad you’re here, and I’d love to learn more about you!

Share something about yourself in the comments!

Image Description: A woman sits in a wheelchair. She is wearing a bright yellow dress. Blurred trees are in the background.

09/08/2026

Disabled.
Differently abled.
Handi-capable.
Person with a disability.
Differently operational human.
Premium challenge-haver.
Limited-edition human.
Accessibility warrior.
Person of aggressive resilience.

The words we use when talking about disability can spark strong debates.

Language is important. Some words have painful histories. There are terms that were used when disabled people were put in institutions, kept out of sight, denied education and independence, and treated as if our lives mattered less.

We should care about the words we choose.

But sometimes I think we get so caught up in finding the "perfect" word that we miss the bigger problem.

We need to look at the world those words exist in.

Disability would have a different impact if society truly valued accessibility and disabled lives in general.

Our main goal should not be to come up with a better word for disability.

It should be to create a world where disabled people do not have to struggle so much just to live their daily lives.

Use respectful language, but please do not spend so much energy trying to rename disability that we forget to remove the barriers that make disabled life harder in the first place.

Image Description: A graphic with a muted light gray background and a large curved charcoal-gray hill filling the lower half. Centered near the top in bold brown handwritten-style text is the message, “Disability would have a different impact if society truly valued accessibility and disabled lives in general.” Below the quote is an illustration of two people dancing together. One person is standing in striped pants and a light pink top, while the other is seated in a wheelchair wearing a blue patterned shirt and orange bottoms.

09/08/2026

An accessible restroom should never be used as a storage closet.

As someone who uses a wheelchair, I have opened the door to an "accessible" bathroom only to find boxes, cleaning supplies, extra chairs, trash cans, and other random items filling up the space that is supposed to make the restroom accessible.

When businesses store supplies in an accessible restroom, it can make the space unusable for the people who need it.

No one should have to find an employee, explain why they cannot use the restroom, and then wait outside while someone moves things out of the way.

This common problem does not need a costly renovation. It just takes a bit of thought.

If a disabled person has to move supplies before they can safely use the restroom, it is not truly accessible.

Image Description: A floral graphic that reads, "An accessible restroom should never be used as a storage closet."

08/08/2026

One of the easiest sensory accommodations is a quiet space that does not require a complicated process to use.

Sensory overload does not always give someone time to find an employee to help them access a room that shouldn't be locked to begin with.

Someone who is already overwhelmed should not have to explain their needs to a stranger.

No one wants to make a phone call while their child is having a meltdown.

An adult who is trying very hard to regulate shouldn't have to wait for someone to locate a key.

Sensory accommodations work best when they are easy to access before someone reaches a crisis point.

Image Description: A floral graphic that reads, "Sensory accommodations work best when they are easy to access before someone reaches a crisis point."

08/08/2026

Medical appointments can be stressful.

After enough frustrating healthcare experiences, it can be easy to focus on the red flags.

Today, I want to share a few green flags that help me feel more at ease at the doctor's office.

💚 They listen without constantly interrupting.

💚 They admit that they don't know a lot about my rare conditions, but are willing to learn.

💚 They ask how symptoms affect my daily life.

💚 They involve me in treatment decisions.

💚 They respect my access needs and offer accommodations.

💚 They don't blame everything on weight, anxiety, or stress.

💚 They document concerns and follow up.

💚 They make me feel like I can ask questions.

What is one green flag that immediately makes you trust a medical provider more?

Image Description: A floral graphic that reads, "What is one green flag that immediately makes you trust a medical provider more?"

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