Accommodations

January 2005

In June 2004, Steve bought a 1995 35-foot Fleetwood Southwind to put The Ample Traveler© and Three Wise Twins, LLC on the road. We've done a lot of thinking over the past year about travel, universal accessibility and how to affect some changes in an economy hellbent on standardizing everything. We've made some progress in telling this story, but there is so much work to be done.

Looking back on 2004, it has been a remarkable year. In February, we started thinking about a way to get out on the road and travel more. The idea of becomming full-time RVers slowly emerged. We loved to travel. We wanted to see more things. The trick was to survive on the road. We needed a reason to be there.

We love to create media. We love to talk. We love to take photos. We love to shoot video. We love to write scripts. We love to edit and play with gadgetry. We love to play on the Internet and create webspaces.

Why not combine our love of travel with our love of media production?

That has been a bit more difficult to do that we originally planned. But out of the desire to travel and the desire to make media, along with a clear understanding of the obstacles that stood in the way of two fat people (one of whom is chronically ill), a disabled cat and our caretaker, The Ample Traveler© was born.

Planning the first issue of The Ample Traveler© in a study room at the Columbia Missouri Public Library in August 2005. We've done a lot of thinking over the past year about travel, universal accessibility and how to affect some changes in an economy hellbent on standardizing everything. We've made some progress in telling this story, but there is so much work to be done.

As we face the new year, we are not sure The Ample Traveler© will survive. It is challenging to be on the road for those in the best of health, with the easiest of access. We face all the challenges of camping fulltime (and yes, even living in a modern RV is a form of camping - you think about space, storage, water, sewage and electricity a lot more consciously in this lifestyle than you do in a fixed home) in the context of all of the challenges of prejudice.

It is not easy. It is often misunderstood. It is lonely.

But we wouldn't trade the year 2004 for anything. We have to find a way to make this sustainable. We may not be able to stay on it fulltime in the future. But we are not giving up on traveling. We have seen so much, met so many nice people and learned so much about life on the road.

Citizens traveling freely is the mark of a free society. The extent to which some people are put in their place is the extent to which a society is oppressive and tyranical. We work for universal accessibility because we believe that accommodating diversity is a matter of freedom. We believe that it also makes good business sense. Accommodating difference is a strategy that ensures a wider market and a loyal market. Cultural and economic changes can ensure social justice and freedom.

Our message is simple: There Is Room for Everyone!

PRINTABLE VERSION