In this episode, Matthew Alexander shares his inspiring journey of founding a travel agency dedicated to supporting families with children who have special needs, including autism. He discusses the importance of accessible travel, how to plan inclusive vacations, and the transformative benefits of travel for individuals with disabilities.

keywordsaccessible travel, autism, special needs, family vacations, travel planning, inclusive travel, disability accommodations, travel tips, autism travel, travel with special needs

key topics

• The origin of Matthew Alexander's travel agency supporting families with special needs
• The importance of understanding autism from a first-hand perspective
• How travel can positively impact individuals with disabilities
• Key questions families should ask for accessible accommodations
• The role of partnerships and relationships in providing accessible travel options
• Innovative solutions for accessible travel including hotels, airlines, and cruises
• The significance of planning and communication in accessible travel
• Resources and programs that support travelers with hidden disabilities

Sound Bites

• "Travel can be transformative for people with disabilities."
• "Understanding autism from a first-hand perspective helps create better travel experiences."
• "Accessible travel is about more than just wheelchairs; it includes medications, sensory needs, and emotional support."

Website https:Professional Accessible Travel Hub

https://specialedrising.com/

Ray's Respite Care: https://www.gofundme.com/f/join-rays-respite-care-mission

Hey, good morning, Matthew. How are you?

Doing well, thank you so much for asking.

Good. Welcome to the podcast, dude.

Thank

you, I appreciate it.

So nice to see you. We met at a at an expo and

we did.

that gets us here today. those are so worth it going out and networking, right? Getting to meet new people.

I know you're so right, yes.

Yeah. So I'm excited to listen to your

about your business today and and what you do in helping people travel. it's an area that I think a lot of parents and families probably get a little bit hesitant and nervous about doing. And so maybe

Yes.

you can help to alleviate some of that stress and nervousness today by explaining

I would love that.

Yeah, that's great. So why don't you give us a little bit of background about yourself and then maybe how you got into this business. what attracted you to doing this?

Yes.

So thank you so much for having me, by the way. And what got me into

My pleasure.

of course so what got me into the travel industry is that I was working as a direct support professional, supporting people with disabilities in a group home setting. And I saw on their calendar that they traveled frequently. They traveled two or three times a year at least.

Wow.

And

I thought that so many families are f are feeling stress and feel the burden of paying for a vacation and wondering how their child is going to act on the vacation and are they gonna love it, are they gonna hate it and

I thought why not start a travel agency that is geared towards supporting individuals with special needs?

Okay.

did that have anything to do in some sort of way, even if it wasn't direct, to your experiences traveling growing up?

Yes, I

think so. I think indirectly it did because I always love going on vacations as a kid. And for

example, my family and I we went to Los Angeles, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Dorney Park, Disney World.

Nice.

And my favorite times with my family were when we were able to step out and take that vacation.

and disconnect from our stressful environment and actually have fun.

Right.

That's great. Were there any kind of agencies like yours at the time that were considering people with autism and neurodiversity and disabilities? Or is there anything like that that your parents could connect with? Or were this they just kind of went and let it kind of happen naturally and see what see how things turned out?

That is a great question. And well my mom is a therapist and my dad is a doctor, so they so they they already knew how to work with me, making

Okay.

sure I adjusted to the environment. But everybody I speak to nowadays says that there's no travel agency like mine, especially

Hmm.

with an owner that's on the autism spectrum, and that truly gets it from a first hand experience.

Sure. I would think that puts a lot of people at ease too because you're coming

Yes.

from the inside, right? And having some some personal experience to be able to maybe put their yeah, their concerns at ease.

Of course of course. And

Mark, people could say that they understand autism, but nobody can truly understand it unless you've lived with it. Because autism

Absolutely.

is a spectrum, as I'm sure we all know, and

Right.

everybody acts differently.

Yeah.

And honestly I don't even consider it a being disabled, I consider it being differently abled.

And those different abilities s are dependent on the people.

Yeah. So I would love to just go back in your history a little bit, talk about yourself so people know who you are coming to this place and talking about what you're offering. And I just think it might be l interesting to hear about your background a little bit. so people understand,

Yes.

you know, who you are.

That's great that's a great question. So I was diagnosed with autism at eighteen months old and I couldn't speak until I was four years old. And f as a child I had used the PEC system to communicate. I used sign language. And then once I turned four years old, I became a talking monster. My parents wanted me to stop talking. Talking, yeah.

Stop talking.

Although they were so happy at the time, now they're like, Can you just be quiet for a second? But because I just love I mean, I just I'm grateful that I have the ability to talk now and then I have the ability to advocate for other people. And it's so okay, so before go into a tangent on that, I

Mm-hmm.

I always felt stressed in school and I think that is because not a lot of kids truly mean there is autism education, but they don't live with some of the challenges that I have, especially in terms of social skills.

Mm-hmm.

And I feel like vacations I could truly be my best self.

And as an example, I was talking to a colleague of mine who happens to be a sales director at a major resort in Orlando. but before he joined the team there, he went there with his son who also is autistic. And I will never forget the story. He said that he felt like he got his son back.

when traveling.

Really? What was the thing that did that for him

That's a great question. So he felt so he so the sales director felt like his son was communicating more. He felt like he was truly having fun.

Yeah.

and I'll tell you guy was crying tears of joy at the in that moment and I mean at that moment I cried because

Sure.

stories like that don't come often.

because honestly, a lot of people feel nervous to travel.

Yeah. And what is what are some of the reasons that people feel nervous to travel? What are some of the things that you've come across? Okay.

I love this question. I've come

across everything from finances because they want to reinvest the money into therapies. They are nervous

Mm-hmm.

about how their child will react in a new scenario. And also they are worried about consistency at home and changing the environment how their child will react.

And I always tell people that it's the meaning they're making of it. And what I mean by that is framing it in a point of view. so I am trying to think of the best way to describe this, but

I always tell my clients, and I have them inquire with themselves about is it their own anxiety that is

Right. Yes.

is the parents own anxiety and

I helped them see that sometimes maybe their child needs a little change of environment. And I have seen success stories with my clients about how like for example, I'll tell you, I have a I had a client who went from Ohio to New York City. And their son is in high school, they he was autistic and he wanted to go to New York City for Broadway. And he was an incredibly picky eater.

And when they went to New York City, he was so happy there. they found everything that he enjoyed. And with me and I can get into this later, but we get benefits through the travel leaders network and then the hotel there, the Wall Street Hotel in New York City, they really went above and beyond for the clients

And making sure they have a quiet room for him and they truly went above and beyond for him in the sense that they gave him a candied apple with a Broadway stage on it drawn on because he loved Broadway. And

Yeah.

I got a text from the mother that his son was so happy.

That's wonderful. You know, I think it's about finding what it is that motivates your child, right? And it's hard if you're not getting the experiences in life, if you're if you're staying in because of the fears. Financial reasons are a big reason for sure. But there there are

Yes.

things you and I want to talk to you about how you manage that with families.

Of

course.

But

I think when we start to expose our kids to different things, we that's when we discover what they love, right? So if you

Yes.

if you don't open these doors to them, then we're not gonna necessarily know. And and that's why that dad was so excited and cried because He gave his son an opportunity, right? And his son responded. This is a really beautiful story.

Yes

a hundred percent. And mean I'll tell you in terms of the financial, we offer financing through flex pay based on

Okay. All right.

a person's credit score, if if they need that. And also, most hotels won't require any payment until you actually get there. And

Another example is with cruises. You could put down a deposit and then you won't need to pay until ninety days prior.

Okay. So it gives you an opportunity to to save up. Okay.

And yes, it

really does. And I'll tell you, family

anybody needs a vacation and I tell people this all the time, especially people in high stressful jobs, that people need to get away. And being a parent can sometimes be stressful. Even though I'm not a parent yet, I work with a lot of families and when they're telling

Yeah.

me stories, I hear the stress that they have and I genuinely

Sure.

want to help them.

Yeah, that's really lovely. Because yeah, there there's so much that they have to do during the day. You know, managing

Yas.

managing the home, raising the children, having their own jobs, all this kind of stuff, trying to find that time for themselves is often a near impossibility, right? So

Of course. And then something

that I also do as well is that I don't charge any fees for the clients because

Okay.

I make my money from the supplier and I know travel advisors who actually specialize in general accessible travel who will charge a hundred and fifty to two hundred dollars a day to plan trips and

Holy cow.

I know. And while I understand their pedigree and they feel that they can charge it, I I feel like I morally can't and ethically I can't because first off I just feel I mean I'm gonna be transparent, I feel like it is not the best business practice for

Mm-hmm.

family for travel advisors to charge families.

that much money for accessible travel services when they really need it and they feel like they don't have another choice but to use that advisor. And second, I I understand it from from expenses firsthand, from hearing my famil from hearing my family talk about the expenses and seeing these expenses now that I'm mean I'll tell you I'm in my early twenties, or actually mid twenties now, but

I

I I see the bills firsthand about how regarding how much a family how much a family spends on a daily month sor on a month-to-month basis, and I truly understand that from I truly understand that and I don't want to add any extra burden on them to be able to travel and I would rather just take the money from the suppliers that they pay

Yeah. Yeah.

me.

That's so wonderful of you because the thing is all that money that they're paying these travel agents they could be putting towards their vacation. And so it's

They could be, yeah.

yeah, it's hard enough to afford the vacation. Now I have to pay somebody to help me arrange and that makes

I know.

it very challenging.

Yes, and also another benefit of me is that I like I said, I partner up with the Travel Leaders Network, which can get my clients additional perks that they can't get on their own. For example, early check-in and late checkout, which is a great opportunity, which sorry which is a great benefit for families of children who have autism because getting used to the environment can be a little bit difficult and sometimes they may need a safe space.

To get away from just getting

Mm-hmm.

off of a flight and having that ability to do an early check-in is so helpful.

Is that part of the advanced planning that you do so that you yeah, like can you elaborate a little bit? What

I do. And yeah.

else do what else do you do to help strategies and things like that accommodations?

Yes.

So I work with hotels I I have a client going out actually today and I'm in communication with the hotel every day to make sure that the benefits are there. and also any requests will be honored. I may drive hotels crazy sometimes, but like the front desk front desk staff crazy, but

That's okay.

I

I I truly care about my clients and I want them to have a great experience. And I, for example, if somebody needs an early check-in or a late checkout, I explain why they need that from what the families tell me. And of course if you don't want me to say anything to the hotel, I won't, but I feel like it's always helpful for you to share with me any information that could be pertinent to a person's disability that you feel comfortable with so that I can relate.

Right, right.

that to the hotel and that they're willing to work with you.

Right. Yeah, let's talk about that for a second because the idea of accessible travel, right? I think

people a

Yes.

lot of people like limit that to wheelchair accessibility, right?

Yes.

Can you talk about it in the more broad sense? you know, what is accessibility meaning when we're talking about travel?

I love that question. So well and you're right, many people do think of accessible travel as just a wheelchair blind or a walker or a prosthetic foot, but it's so much more than that. It could mean somebody has medications that they need to take, that they need a medical grade fridge for. Or as an example

I had somebody who was on a food a s a special diet that needed to be honored.

they couldn't have vitamin K. And they needed to avoid leafy greens. So I relate that to the hotel in advance.

Mm-hmm.

And also autism is considered accessible travel. Even service dogs,

or emotional support animals are

Mm-hmm.

ADA. Well s emotional support animals are not ADA, but service animals are. And

But okay.

I mean, that is even an important thing for me. And like I'll tell you, my uncle knows somebody who has a service dog. And I'm trying to get him to book with me, but because even though

mean honestly, 'cause he likes to I mean, there's a lot of things, but that I'm not gonna share, but I

Okay.

feel like it would be very helpful and they have dreams to go to Australia with a service dog, but they're afraid that the Australian government won't take And I I did the research because I have a great contact in Australia

And they can go with a service dog to Australia. Really, yeah, and they would just need to do paperwork. Definitely. Always call me. Yeah. I know always

that's great. So they need to work with you. They need to work with you. Yeah.

call me. I'm always happy to work with anybody. And

Yeah.

I will say that I was at a trade show

I about a couple of months ago. Actually, no, I I forgot w I'm trying to think of when it was. It was it was last year and in and I met this family who had a who had a daughter in a wheelchair due to a disability and they wanted to go see BTS in South Korea. And I told them that it is possible and here's how we can do it. And the mother and daughter were jumping up and down

Ha ha.

and

They were like crying tears of joy because they they've

Yeah.

always wanted to do that.

That's so cool. What are some of the accessibility needs that maybe families overlook when they're planning a vacation, like things that they're not considering?

I mean it could be even as simple as a food allergy, like just a gluten allergy. They could be overlooking

Gotcha.

and or it could be something as simple as a as a sleep apnea. I work with I mean I work with people who have sleep apnea, even I'll say even GLP ones, the weight loss, the weight

Right.

loss drug, I work with a lot of them too.

And even diabetic travel, I mean I'll tell you, along with working with individuals who have autism, I also love working with diabetics because there's limited resources for diabetic travel in the industry right now. And

Hmm. Wow.

I mean the information has been updated for about twenty years. And there are so many there's so much more now.

Mm-hmm.

available

to people than twenty years ago.

Do you supply that information to people? you do. Yeah.

I do. Always yeah.

So it sounds like you do some serious vetting of all the destinations, right?

Yeah,

I I have to. I mean I've done property inspections, I've done virtual ship tours, I've done in-person cruise tours, and have seen everything. And I'll tell you, nothing scares me.

A fearless leader, I love that.

Thank

you. I try.

Yeah. So maybe what are some questions that parents should ask before they're booking an accessible hotel or vacation? I'm sure they're gonna be asking you, but if they didn't go through you, perhaps, what are some of the questions that they

Yes.

would want to be considering?

I would say, do you have any ADA rooms? what does that entail? Or for somebody who has autism, what can I see a photo of the room to ensure that my son or daughter will be able to feel comfortable in the room? And also

I'm trying to think of what other questions. for in terms of a diabetic, do you have a medical grade refrigerator for medications?

Mm-hmm. Okay.

As far as looking for places for kids with different sensory issues and things like that,

Yes.

how do you work in helping the parents plan for something like that? Do you make recommendations, or if parents come to you and they say this is the destination we want?

Will you at times say, okay, this is how we'll make it work, or do you think of well maybe there's another another place that might be better? Did you ever come across something like that?

That's

a great question. And I'm very honest with my clients And I always do an intake to see how I can help them. And if I don't feel I can help them, I'm gonna be honest and I will give a referral to I feel to somebody who I feel can. And

I will say that there are certified autism friendly resorts. And I always try and gear towards them when possible, but hotels are always willing to work with you if they can. And I feel like and honestly, I'll tell you, I mean

I I feel like that for autism, it really depends on the person too. If somebody is very high functioning, I may not recommend a autism friendly resort. But if somebody needs that additional support, then I will recommend it.

Right, okay. if somebody comes to you and you say well that might not be the best place, but here's another option. do you offer other options to you do you do that? I

I do. I do. Always. I try and give about

two to three options to each client because at

Okay.

the at the end of the day it's their vacation and I want them to have the information beforehand so that they can make the most educated decision possible.

Mm-hmm. What do you think hotels globally what standards should all hotels be meeting in order to be able to accommodate people with a variety of abilities and whatever their situations are to be able to accommodate? What are some of the basic things that whole all hotels should be doing?

That is a great question. I feel like hotels at least should have twenty to thirty percent of their rooms be sensory friendly. And meaning like like white walls with the ability to dim the lighting. And also I feel like hotels should have the ability to take out the mini bar in the room.

and have the families put snacks in there that their children will enjoy.

Another thing is that I feel like families with autism should be able to see the room in advance in terms of like a video call with somebody at the property, as long as the timing works out.

Mm-hmm.

Because sometimes seeing the room in advance will help them adjust better.

Sure,

right. Any kind of advance notice and and n

Yes.

understanding of what's gonna be happening helps the family to prepare their child, right? So

Yes.

they understand what's gonna be happening next and next and next and Yeah.

I complet I couldn't agree more with that. Yeah.

Personally, was that your kind of situation when you were younger? Did it help you to know what was coming next? Yeah, yeah.

Yes, I did. I did have some of those challenges.

And luckily my family broke everything down for me and they said like, Hey, in an hour we're gonna go from Magic Kingdom to Hollywood Studios in Orlando or

Okay.

Hey in an hour we're gonna go grab lunch. And that helped me prepare.

okay. because I really feel like, you know, that's such an important important aspect of helping to manage your child's day f globally in a sense, you know.

Yes. Yes, definitely.

And I also th I encourage families that I work with to give downtime as well in their vacations. And that's something we can help you plan. Even if it's like I mean

Okay, how do you do that? What do you talk about?

so in terms of an activity, I try and plan at least an hour I try and plan at least a half hour between each activity and then an hour to relax at night before people go to bed.

Okay.

because sometimes at these all-inclusive resorts they will have things to do at night that the famil the families may want to go to.

Right.

And I I always try and work around them. I get their interest and then I make something that they will love. And I tell people all the time, it's not my vacation, it's yours. I wanna know everything about you so that I can plan the best vacation possible.

So you have people come to you and just say, I wanna go away, we wanna go away, this is what we can afford, and then you do an intake,

Yes.

So walk me through the process. So this is part of the process. So you get

Yes, so

them, they would say they either wanna go on a a general vacation and you can recommend places or a specific. Okay.

Yeah, or they wanna go on a cruise or

so for example, I'm gonna say, 'cause I was just talking with my contact at Norwegian l Norwegian cruise lines last night. I'm gonna say, hey, I wanna go on a cruise to Norwegian cruise lines. Okay, what dates do you wanna go? And then what type of cabin do you want?

What is your preferred location of the cabin? And I have special training from Norwegian Cruise Lines to say, hey, this is the cabin that I think will work for you. And they invite travel advisors to go see the ships so that they can sell it better to their clients. And hotels will often do side visits too, so I can see each room before I sell

Mm-hmm.

it to my clients as well.

Right.

And

I

also get to see and I will and and then once we pick out the rooms, we put that in deposit, I say, okay, let's plan your activities on the boat and your shore excursions. What are your interests? What do you want to do on your vacation? And then they tell

Mm-hmm.

me their interests, and then I recommend the activities that I think they will like. Because like I said, it's not my vacation, it's yours. And unless we have the same interests.

I'm not gonna plan something that I like for you. Even though I make recommendations

Sure. But you

on what I think which activity is one better out of the ones I picked if you asked my recommendation.

Right.

So you have the you have the knowledge if somebody says this

Yes.

is what we want, you have you can click off in your head, you know different places that you can send them to.

Yes. And then I

also know which dining is great on the ship for people with disabilities as well. Because there

Mm-hmm.

is your regular dining and then you have your specialty dining. And what I like about Norwegian cruise line specifically is it's it's freestyle cruising, meaning that you don't you don't have a select time for dinner each night. You get specialty dining credits to enjoy at the restaurants. And

then that way it will and it'll give you a better experience.

Are there better locations on a cruise ship that would benefit somebody with a certain type of need that you've come across where you can recommend and accommodate that and say they need to be closer to this area or that area or something like that?

Yes. And what

I like about cruises is that you can actually pick your state room. And I go through the map of the state rooms that are available with my clients and I will do that on a Microsoft Teams call or I will do it on a regular phone call with them and I tell them why. I think that the

Mm-hmm.

room is gonna be beneficial for them too.

Okay. And how do you get parents to be a little more proactive when it comes to maybe something got overlooked and they're on the ship or something came up that they didn't communicate to you so you weren't able to really accommodate it? Can they

Yes, so

either contact you to help contact the people who need to know, or what can they do? How do you prepare them? Thank you.

Yes. That is a great question. So I always tell my clients,

especially if they're traveling internationally, they're on a cruise, call me, email me, text me, I'm on call 24/7-365.

Because

Wow.

especially for families with an accessibility need, I wanna know so that so that we

can make your vacation better. Especially if something goes wrong, I'm gonna wanna know about it so that I can fix it with the cruise line or the hotel or the flight, so that you don't need to worry about this. This is your vacation that you paid for.

And

you should have the right to enjoy it and not deal with the problem. That's where I come in.

That's really impressive to be that available. What do you do for vacation? When do you take time? You don't take time for yourself. You do, okay.

I do take time. I for example I'm going

on a cruise in November, but I I'm I'll get somebody to cover me who Yeah, I'm still available even though I'm on vacation, yeah. And if I

You're still available even though you're on vacation probably, right?

ever I mean

If I can always get somebody to cover me, but I still prefer to be on call for my clients because this

Yeah.

is my job. This is I mean I I I prefer to know things so that I'm not

Yeah, yeah.

surprised when you come back ten days later and a refund comes in from the cruise line.

Right.

Is this you started this company yourself?

I did.

Are you a one-man show or do you have any s

staff with you or?

I'm a one man show,

but I I'm I'm in a network of advisors.

Okay. So you have people that can step in for you, like you said, if you need a break.

Yeah, God forbid if I needed,

but I always try and be on call whenever I can.

Right, that's wonderful. is there a service or an accommodation that families generally just don't know about Is there anything that comes to your mind that is is Yeah. Okay.

Yes, so many things.

for example, TSA cares at the airports. So if you are traveling out of Kennedy LaGuardia or MacArthur, which are airports in New York, what they have is TSA cares and they can assist you with a more private screening, away from everybody else,

And then also for somebody with a med for somebody with insulin, let's say, they can do they can privately check your bag away from the machine so that there's no radiation that gets in the medication. And

Mm-hmm. Okay.

another program that I love is the Sunflower Lanyard. And the reason I I like that program is that it's meant for people with hidden disabilities. And

if you just wear the lanyard, they'll know like, hey, you have a hidden disability and they'll be able to assist you.

Wow. How common is that at other airports around the country and and around the world?

Very common.

Okay. So like the the TSA

TSA CARES is available at every airport within the USA.

Okay, gotcha. And the sunflower lanyard also is very

It's available at most

airports within the USA, and it's also available internationally as well.

So you help set people up with that prior to the vacation?

I do. We

can set it up, but we may have to send you some paperwork, but we'll do it with you and we'll Sometimes we'll do it for you, but it we do it with you so that you feel like you're also involved in the process as well.

Okay. it sounds like you provide everything that families need.

Yes,

the only thing I don't do is river cruises because they tend to not be great for wheelchair users and I am an accessible travel agency and

Right.

I wanna make vacations accessible for everybody.

Of course, of course. what was it? I missed what you said. River cruises. Okay, gotcha.

river cruises.

because they are not ADA compliant rooms for people with wheelchairs and scooters. But we can always find a way

I see, I see, okay. Okay.

to work around it.

Okay. do you help families negotiate or

So there are hidden costs potentially, surge pricing, these kind of things.

Yeah. Yes.

How do you help families avoid things like that?

I tell them the best times to book and I I'll tell you I mean pricing is subject to change based on availability. So it's always better to book earlier rather than later because you'll get that lower pricing because and I hate to say this, but companies gotta make like these hotels, cruise lines, they gotta make money too. And

Sure, sure.

they take advantage of that last minute

That less minute passenger, and I hate that they do that. But of

Mm.

course, I'm not an executive at a cruise line. I'm not an executive at a I'm not an executive at a hotel. I'm not an executive at an airline. So I fortunately

Course. Of course.

don't have that decision power, but I say the best times to book. And for example, flights are better booked on Tuesdays.

Because the pricing is with the algorithms that

Okay. Keeper.

they use are better priced on Tuesdays. I don't know why, but I mean I'm not that technical, but I even though I try to be, but Yeah, I know. Yes, I know.

Seems kind of like an off day. It's like not quite part of the weekend and that it's not you know, it's like not quite the middle. So

but for example, on the first Tuesday of December, there's travel Tuesday.

And there's a lot of great deals on that.

wow.

That yeah, and there's so many things that not a lot of people know. For

Mm-hmm.

example, with I know I keep talking about Norwegian cruise lines, I just love their brand so much, but they have a of course, yeah, and they're really good. They I mean

But that's good. You're recommending them, that means, you know, you you trust them and you believe in them. Yeah, yeah, that's

they're one of the they're one of the best cruise lines, I think, out there for families with special needs because

Especially if you s are sending somebody into their childcare programs, first off they're trained in disabilities and second, they will give you a phone to use on the ship vr just in case the child care needs childcare team needs to reach you.

Wow. That's fantastic. So they're they're one of

I know, I mean yeah.

the more sensitive would you say that there's any hotels, resorts other than cruises that have that kind of sensitivity and preparedness?

Of course, there are so many. For example, there are a bunch of hotels

in Abu Dhabi that are great in the United Arab Emirates. one off the top of my head I could think of is Atlantis. And they are autism certified and they are incredible for people with special needs. Another one is

generations in Riviera Maya in Mexico. They are great for people with special needs. They are autism certified as well. Another one is beaches in Turks and Caicos. They are also great for people with autism.

And they're also also certified. And another property that not a lot of people think of is Chatham Bars Inn in Massachusetts up in the Cape Cod area. And the reason I like to recommend them, especially for low more local vacations, is that for somebody with an elopement risk, they will change the lock on the door to ensure that your child is safe.

Amazing. That's incredible sensitivity.

If I know the so many things that hotels can do.

And so you can help direct people to those specific hotels.

Yes, and we can direct them

and we work with the sales managers across every brand that we sell.

we have the relationships with people high up at the brands and at the hotels so that we can advocate for you. I tell people all the time that

I told sales managers and hotel managers like this is what the client needs and why they need it.

I'm curious about airlines. I know some airlines are becoming more autism sensitive Is that becoming more global or are there specific airlines that do it better than others?

they are. That is becoming more global.

For example, Emirates is an autism certified airline. Breeze Airways is a certified airline out of MacArthur. And also, even though they're not certified.

I tell people all the time that Delta Airlines is my guilty pleasure whenever I travel. And I always love flying with them. And Delta, if you're hearing this, I will I'll be glad to take some free miles from you. I'm just kidding, but

Ha ha ha.

and the reason I say Delta is their customer service is impeccable and

I truly love flying with them. They are truly accommodating. And an example that I personally had is that last year I went from New York to Orlando and on my flight back I got bumped

Mm-hmm.

I and I asked them to sit in the first class lounge because the General Airport was so busy.

And they were so I mean, I got I mean I'm much better with sound sensitivity than I was ten years ago. And even that bugged me a little bit.

Right, right.

and they said no problem, enjoy the lounge until you need your flight, until you're until you're ready for your flight. And that was so nice of them and they really didn't have to do that.

Right. Do you do you help to try to accommodate that for families as well to try to find these quieter areas in airports? Yeah.

The the best that I can. And

will research the I mean, for example, in JFK, there's a minute sleep area, which I always recommend to families if they're flying on Delta. And the reason I recommend that is that you can get your own private room in the airport. Airport

wow.

with a shower and everything, and then

Really?

Yes, and I know they have this at LAX and Atlanta, and I think they have it in Miami now. There's a private there's a company called PNS where they will give you private access to your own room and they will even drive you to your terminal. Or

Hm. Wow.

I mean that's on the more higher end of pricing, but if you feel like you

Right, right, right, right.

need that

We can always finance it for you. That's not a problem.

Okay, so you work on financing with families, as you said. You talk a little bit more about that?

I do. I and I will say f

yeah, financing I can't because I'm not a trained finance professional. I mean I sell but I'm not a credit specialist, so I can't really say much on it. But financing is subject to your credit score. They do a a credit check and

they'll give you a personalized offer tailored to you and they will let you pick out of they'll they'll give you two to three options if you're approved on and they will find you an offer that will work better for you.

Nice. Okay. Before we go, I wanna talk about the idea of the transformative nature of travel for people with extra needs.

across the board. Can you talk about that a little bit? Describe the benefits that you well, we touched upon at the very beginning how it was beneficial to you.

Yes.

Because I really feel like some of the families and children that I felt were

Better rounded were the ones that exposed their kids to places, that took them places a lot. Can you talk about that transformative nature of it a little bit?

I agree completely. And there

are so many benefits to families with special needs that travel. And the first one is that the one that I can think of automatically off the top of my head is that it will release dopamine and serotonin in the person's body, so it'll make them happier. And even though sometimes it may be stressful.

to travel and to see a new place that who knows they may actually enjoy it. They may have fun. Because I believe

Mm-hmm.

everybody deserves to have fun at least once in their life.

Yeah, I agree.

And I feel I mean there are so many benefits. It'll increase their independence. It will

I'm trying it will increase motor skills because you are needing to walk. And there are options available for those who can. We can also assist with wheelchair rentals, scooter rentals. We can also assist with getting a nebulizer, CPAP, if anything, or a hospital bed even. And

Mm-hmm.

I mean we have partners that will do everything. And I mean, travel is

an experience that everybody should have at least once in their life. And it does. It does.

Yeah. I feel like travel raises people's confidence too because it gets you right? How do you s

how do you see that?

I see it all the time that I mean I'll tell you personally when I travel, I feel I feel ten times less stressed when I come back and I'm seeing new environments and it

Mm-hmm.

will give it'll give somebody with social skill, it'll give somebody with the with who has difficulty communicating something to talk about that they

Mm-hmm.

enjoyed.

And I tell people

Right.

all the time, if you are nervous to travel, start small. So

Okay. That's what I want

to ask you. So yeah, that's actually my last question is how do you encourage families that can't quite

Yes.

make that first step?

Of course. Start small. For example, if you are in New York, go to Manhattan, see a Broadway show, and get a hotel for the night. To see how they will see how they will act. And then from there, if they enjoy it, try going to Massachusetts, for example. And then

If they feel and if they had fun with that, then going to Orlando, let's say. Broaden their horizon, yeah. I wouldn't say star

Okay. So just gotta broaden further and further out. Yeah. Yeah. That's really

from going to New York all the way to Australia.

Sure, sure. That's a big leap. Are you and you're

yeah.

available to help with find the hotels that accommodate in the city? Mm-hmm.

I am. I do I have a

I have a list of every hotel that is great for people with autism. And I will say people say that they specialize in autism, but sometimes they don't. And I'm not afraid to admit that. And I

Yeah.

I told somebody recently, because they asked me to give a grade to the travel industry, I gave it a C because while there is a l there's a ton of resources available, there's always more that we can do.

Yeah, sure.

And

people like me are here to help with that.

My gosh, it's fantastic. Are there airlines that are like the worst at it? You mentioned del couple that were good. Okay. Give me three.

plenty. Pl I mean I I mean

I I could probably get in trouble for saying this, but Southwest I never No, it's okay, no,

Well then don't. I don't want you to get in trouble.

but Southwest I really don't like I've seen a bunch of people get discriminated on against. United somebody got discriminated recently and their customer service is not great to accommodate

ADA related concerns. And as a travel advisor, I know which flight which airlines are better for your needs.

Right. I think it's important for families to know. I think it's it's something

Yes.

that you need it's a it's a great thing that you provide. do you provide like a checklist for families to kind of run down? You do. What's on the checklist?

I do. If they request it, I always do. I I can even go

like I I always provide a packing list. I can create a social story for somebody that needs 'cause

Nice.

I know sometimes with autism social stories are beneficial

Yes.

so that they can see what they're gonna do and they can write in how they're gonna feel.

And I can I mean, I'll even go as far if somebody has a PECS book to get pictures of the destination so that I can send it so that they can put it in there so that they can put it in the child's textbook.

Wow man, you must be working twenty four like you said, twenty four hours a day. That is a lot.

I do but I enjoy it. I really do. And Mark, I mean I'll tell you

and I'll tell you that my mom always said to me as a kid that you gotta do what you love but you gotta make money doing it.

And I I mean I'll tell you this

I agree, man.

is the first industry that 'cause I'll tell you I used to work in credit card Freud. I used to work in I I yeah,

really?

I mean that's a whole different conversation. And I used to work in website design, but this is the first industry that I feel I've truly loved and I feel I can make a difference in.

Yeah, well I can hear and see your passion, my friend. It's

Thank you.

so wonderful to know that you're out there and I really encourage families to get in touch with you. Where can they reach you?

They can go to my website at www.path travelguide.com and they can also follow my Instagram, which is travel has no barriers. And they can also call me at six four six three nine one zero six zero zero.

Matthew, I am so inspired by you and I'm so happy to see the success that you're having in an area that you love. And when I

Thank you.

got to meet you in person, you just have this wonderful way about you, very open. And I just think that's, you know, I just wish you all the best, man. I think this is fantastic. And I certainly am going to recommend you to anybody who's interested in traveling.

Thank you so much, I appreciate that.

yeah, thanks again for coming on and sharing your work and I know a lot of people are gonna benefit, Matt. So you take good care of yourself and keep on keeping on, brother.

Thank you. Thank you.