Amberly Wiese, MOT, R/L, CLT, CATA: OT in Accessible Travel Planning
In this post, we will learn from Amberly Wiese, MOT, R/L, CLT, CATA. Amberly is an occupational therapist and an accessible travel planner. She graduated in 2010 with a master’s in occupational therapy and over the years I've worked in just about every setting with clients of all ages. After over a decade of traditional care and private practice, she became a Certified Accessible Travel Agent due to her own experience with multiple chronic conditions causing her to travel differently! The last thing she wants to hear about is someone being left behind because their family doesn't have the necessary supports in place or someone not traveling due to their own conditions. The world is becoming more and more accessible, and Amberly is here to help push that along and advocate for you!
Q & A with Amberly:
Please tell us a little about yourself and a few of your favorite occupations.
I graduated from OT school in 2010 and worked in traditional healthcare up until last year. I had my own practice as a mobile lymphedema provider for 4 years. Then I was hit with some illnesses and surgeries that made it impossible to physically treat anymore. I became an accessible travel planner a year ago and love it. My favorite occupations are traveling of course, gardening, reading, and taking care of my family.
What motivated you to contribute to this podcast series?
I wanted to let other therapists know that you don't have to be stuck in traditional care if it isn't serving you. I should have made the transition sooner, but I was scared! I thought that I spent all this time and money getting my degree and that I had to stay in patient care. I ended up being burned out, morally injured, and physically not prioritizing my health which wasn't sustainable. After finding this specialty, it's given me new life and I still use my OT skills to help people of all abilities travel better.
Please describe the UncommonOT work that you do and the setting in which you work, the population you serve and the needs that you address.
I am a travel planner specializing in accessible travel. I work with anyone throughout the world who have additional needs and help them adapt their dream destination and activities to their current needs and abilities. I typically gather information about the person almost like an OT evaluation, find the right fit for their needs and wants, and then book the trip for them. I'm also there to guide them with any questions. Sometimes before all those steps I help people get out of their comfort zone and decide to try to travel. When there's a will there's a way most of the time.
What inspired you or drew you to this type of OT work?
I deal with my own chronic illnesses and chronic pain which affects how I travel. I was already planning my own vacations and adapting them and didn't even know there was a specialty where I could combine my therapy skills with the travel industry to continue to help people like me.
How did you get there? Can you describe your path?
Another OT who helps health professionals combine their skills with the travel industry connected with me on Facebook. She is with a host agency which is an agency with over 20 years of experience in the travel industry and has excellent ratings. She connected me with them to become a travel agent, then I was able to book travel. Once I got settled doing that, I was able to help create a course with that OT and a bunch of other people interested in accessible travel so that this information could be available to everyone who is interested. Eventually we created a course that helps travel agents further specialize in accessible travel. I was able to shut down my patient care side of my clinic and focus on this business this March!
Please describe a typical day or OT session at your uncommon setting? What OT skills do you utilize?
A typical day consists of making connections and talking with people who are interested in traveling. If I find out they have additional needs, I'll have them describe exactly what they require and things that aren't 100% needed but would be nice. I look at things like mobility status, assistive devices, special diets, neurodiversity, sensory needs, etc. I use that information to reach out to my contacts and vendors to design the trip. Once all the details are approved then I'll book the trip for the client. That's how I get paid which is awesome. My skills don't require any extra costs on the client's end as the suppliers pay agent commission. I then follow up with the clients and the vendors to ensure accessibility. Then all they have to do is show up and enjoy their trip!
Can you talk about some recent highs (successes) and lows (challenges) of your current role?
Some successes I've had were connecting with a blogger who uses a wheelchair and designing her group trip to Austria. She's going to take a lot more trips with her readers so I'm excited to help plan more. The challenges of this business are many. Some places are more supportive and detailed than others. I've had good luck with large hotel chains as they follow ADA requirements. Smaller chains or international places don't have the same protections in place so I have to go back and forth sometimes to gather all the details to make a decision. Like for example a hotel in Italy listed its room as accessible but then we learned that the elevator up to the room would require the person who uses a wheelchair to stand to ride it which was not physically possible. Also "accessible" can mean different things to different people so our OT brains are helpful in this case to figure out exactly what that means to the individual.
How do you continue to learn in order to stay on top of things within your role?
I have an amazing network of other therapists, healthcare providers, and people with disabilities on the same team and we all bounce ideas off each other and support each other. We are also in the process of offering smaller courses within accessible travel for niches like wheeled mobility, dialysis travel, senior companion travel, neurodiverse friendly travel, etc. which will help continue to hone my skills.
Can you share a little bit about salary and compensation in this setting? How do OT or the services you provide get funded?
This is a business, so I get out of it what I put into it. Unlike traditional care there is no cap to how much I can earn. There are some travel agents making 7 figures in this business. The nice part I mentioned before is that I don't have to charge anyone extra to use my services as my commission is paid by the vendors. That's the most amazing part. I always assumed when I used travel agents in the past for myself that they were charging me a service fee but they don't.
Any career advice for our followers and listeners on how to get started on this path?
Reach out to me or Patricia and we can get you some info on how to get started. We have all the support and training from our host agency to get started as a travel planner then we have the course available too to further specialize in accessible travel.
What’s a common myth or misconception about your job/role you’d like to call out or demystify?
That travel agents charge extra for their services. The commission is already built into prices you find if you were to book yourself. So why not use an agent and take the stress away from planning it for free?
How do we find you , follow you, be in touch with you, and promote your unique work?
Travel Website: www.BacktoLifeTravel.com
Email: travelbacktolife@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amberly.ot
Instagram: @Backtolifetravel
Tiktok: @Backtolifetravel
LinkedIn: Join our new private group "How to Combine Your Skills with the Travel Industry" https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14464642
As always, I welcome any feedback & ideas from all of you or if you are interested in being a guest on future episodes, please do not hesitate to contact Patricia Motus at transitionsot@gmail.com or DM via Instagram @transitionsot
THANK YOU for LISTENING, FOLLOWING, DOWNLOADING, RATING, REVIEWING & SHARING “The Uncommon OT Series” Podcast with all your OTP friends and colleagues!
Full Episodes and Q & A only available at:
https://www.wholistic-transitions.com/the-uncommon-ot-series
Sign Up NOW for the Transitions OT Email List to Receive the FREE List of Uncommon OT Practice Settings
https://www.wholistic-transitions.com/transitionsot
For Non-Traditional OT Practice Mentorship w/ Patricia:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeC3vI5OnK3mLrCXACEex-5ReO8uUVPo1EUXIi8FKO-FCfoEg/viewform
BIG THANKS to our sponsors Picmonic & Truelearn. Follow the link below and USE DISCOUNT CODE “TransitionsOT” to Score 20% OFF Your PICMONIC Membership today! https://www.picmonic.com/viphookup/TRANSITIONSOTLBL23
Happy Listening Friends!
Big OT Love!
All views are mine and guests’ own.
Be a Patron to support The Uncommon OT Series Podcast project via Patreon.
