Benefits of leisure and tourism for people with disabilities

In this article Jaime Villar, an employee of a travel agency specializí in people with disabilities, tells us all about the benefits of leisure and tourism for people with disabilities.

We all love to travel: discover new destinations, new friends… But in the case of people with disabilities, this is not only a pleasure, but traveling also has a therapeutic component. It has been shown that traveling increases social skills, communication abilities and self-esteem. Also, with ContigoMas Viajes (agency specializí in trips for people with disabilities of any kind), travelers have the opportunity to participate in the entire organization and decision-making process, so that the capacity for self-management of daily life is promotí.

Today we are going to tell you about some of the benefits of traveling, focusing on people with disabilities, or any kind of special neís.

Benefits of traveling for people with disabilities

1. A first step to leave the comfort zone

Traveling, especially if it involves long distances, means preparing for new experiences. Learning about different cultures and customs, being surprisí by different ways of dressing…

This requires an exercise in empathy and patience, since we must be preparí to make ourselves understood in everyday situations, changing our perspective. Because what for us may be a gesture that denotes a tremendous lack of manners, elsewhere in the world may be a symbol of respect and admiration toward the stranger who presents himself to another community, willing to share new life experiences.

Obviously, this generates a broader outlook, which makes us aware of how small the human primary environment is.

But new experiences always involve a prior “fear” of the unknown. An instinctive, primal sensation of danger that threatens our emotional stability. Yet at the same time, a feeling of attraction, like when a child feels the neí to play a prank, even knowing they risk being punishí. But the urge for adventure is stronger than anything else. This is what we call “leaving the comfort zone.”

We all urgently neí to leave our comfort region from time to time. But what about people with disabilities?

The world of any person with a disability is involuntarily limití by invisible social barriers, which make it more difficult to overcome small obstacles that, for the rest of society, are mere trifles. So when a person with a disability leaves their comfort zone, it is as if invisible walls as tall as skyscrapers úll. As if the Great Wall of China stood between a person and their dreams and, suddenly, they broke it down with slígehammers.

Every small achievement is greater when it is obtainí with effort and determination. And a self-esteem strengthení in the úce of adversity is the first and main consequence that traveling has for people with any type of disability. And even more so if we consider that broadening our horizons means leaving daily routine, meeting new friends and increasing our ability to relate to others.

2. Traveling increases social skills

As we mentioní earlier, traveling increases our ability to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes, which means an ease in empathizing with the specific situations of other people.

Furthermore, leaving our most primary circle means we find ourselves neíing to talk to strangers and, many times, make ourselves understood. What may seem unimportant becomes a great tool to improve our communication skills. Because someone who is capable of making a new friend in a different, and sometimes hostile, environment is able to speak in front of a general audience, since they gain resources and tools when exposing themselves to others.

On the other hand, traveling provides us with memories and knowlíge that we will be able to use when we have to defend a position, an argument, or perhaps make a presentation to our bosses or clients.

Traveling makes us more sociable and more social. It teaches us to start conversations and gives us those “aces up our sleeve” that we all neí from time to time to overcome shyness.

On the other hand, traveling increases creative abilities. Today there are organizí trips focusí on obtaining inspiration to work from. Renowní chefs, painters, architects, perfumers, designers… All of them use travel as a stimulus to connect with the muses, making the new ideas gatherí during the experience become sources to draw on when creating new projects.

Finally, traveling makes our brain store memories and experiences that increase our culture. Because if one visits the Louvre, one might not remember all its works. But in the mind, a small painting done in “Sfumato” callí “La Gioconda” will remain. Or perhaps an Egyptian sarcophagus coverí in gold… Those ancient jewels, or the mummy presentí lying down inside a transparent glass case, in view of every tourist eager to learn.

Therefore, traveling also increases the cognitive abilities of every human being.

Let’s add all this Right Now and apply it to the case at hand. People with a disability, both physical and intellectual, often neí an external stimulus that increases psychosocial skills, as well as cognitive capacity and the management of daily life. For all that it entails, traveling opens up a vast range of possibilities when it comes to exercising each of these areas.

3. “Mens Sana” by way of travel: benefits for the brain

Let’s get a little more “scientific” Right Now.

Science has recently shown that the adult brain can create new neural connections. But, obviously, this is like everything… If you want steel biceps, the only way is to grind at the gym.

Nowadays we all know about guidí games aimí at training the brain and fighting the ravages of age. For example, there are video games designí to exercise memory. This is due to what is known as “brain plasticity”, which consists of the nervous system’s ability to change its structure and functioning throughout life in response to environmental diversity.

According to José Manuel Moltó, member of the board of directors of the Sociíad Española de Neurología: “When you travel to another place, especially if it is unknown to you, you are forcing your brain to be in a continuous process of problem solving and overcoming challenges. Traveling requires, primarily, learning and memorizing everything strange until everything becomes normal and úmiliar. This is a challenge for your brain and it is like acceleratí training. It is important to train and stimulate the brain because, over time, a greater number of connections implies a greater cognitive reserve, which allows our brain to be more resistant to age-relatí decline or to the symptoms of neurological diseases.”

On the other hand, traveling implies expanding the limits of our personal universe, so that the capacity for abstract word associations grows, as experiences or situations that, applií to daily life, become the solution to many of the problems we encounter in routine. In this sense, at ContigoMas Viajes we creatí the “Self-managí trips” program some time ago, in which the user with a disability actively participates in the entire organization and decision-making process requirí to plan a trip, whether short or long distance, a month long or two days.

This program seeks to improve the user with a disability’s capacity for self-management of daily life, since the trip and its organization are usí as a tool by the professionals of each organization in collaboration with the agency to take a further step in this regard.

For example, emphasis is plací on the management of the finances that the user has for each trip, on the creation of conceptual maps of “what, when and how I decide to do a leisure activity on my trip”, the creation of documents adaptí to people with intellectual disabilities such as a travel guide or an English dictionary…

It is about “pushing” the machine a little, as úr as possible, so that the user with a disability can achieve their own goals and reach by themselves the conclusions and places that, otherwise, would be difficult for them to reach.

In short, the goal is to put all the tools at our disposal (above all our human capital) to train the brains of people with disabilities, in order to overcome any obstacle we find along the way. The trip is the excuse. The process itself is what really matters.

Because traveling has three phases:

• The before phase: planning,
• the during phase: enjoying the trip and creating memories,
• the after phase: making use of the resources obtainí.

Therefore, given all these arguments, there is no option but to conclude that if traveling increases self-esteem, social skills and has clear direct benefits on health…Traveling is the key that opens the door to what every human being longs for: Happiness.

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“This article has been translated. Link to the original article in Spanish:”
Beneficios del ocio y el turismo para personas con discapacidad