I Won Accessible Travel Writer of the Year!!

On Monday 26 October, I walked into The Savoy in London for the Travel Media Awards, and I walked out as Accessible Travel Writer of the Year 2026. I’m still taking it in.

Accessible travel is the thread running through almost everything I write.

I started The Empowered Traveller because I wanted to show that disabled travellers deserve the same sense of adventure, discovery and plain good holiday-making as anyone else, and that the industry can do far better at making it possible. To have that work recognised by my peers, in a room full of the people who shape travel media in this country, means a great deal.

The category was sponsored by TUI, and I’m grateful to them for backing an award that gives accessibility the spotlight it deserves. Sponsorship like that sends a message that this is a mainstream subject, not a niche one.

I also have to talk about the company I was in. The shortlist was Jessica Heather of Holiday With The Heathers, Carrie-Ann Lightley, Allie Mason and Sassy Wyatt of Blind Girl Adventures, and me. Each of them brings something different to this field, and each of them makes the conversation around accessible travel richer, braver and more honest. Being named alongside them was an honour in itself, and I’m proud to be part of that community.

Thank you to the judges, to the Travel Media Awards team at APL Media, and to every editor who has trusted me with these stories. Thank you, too, to the people I’ve interviewed along the way, who generously shared their experiences, and to everyone who has read, watched or shared my work.

The award is lovely, but the real prize would be accessibility becoming a standard part of how we talk about travel. There’s plenty more to do, and I can’t wait to get on with it.