I’m Kelsey Brickl, a multilingual writer, Modern European historian, and lifelong traveler born in the Chicago area, who very happily first visited France during my able-bodied childhood. I now move through the world in a full-time power wheelchair and live with multiple complex, invisible and visible Disabilities. I’ve learned through firsthand experience what it means to travel in a world not built with people like me in mind.

Over the years, I found myself searching in vain for guidance that spoke plainly about the real challenges of accessible travel: the lift that’s technically there but chronically out of service, the museum that’s quiet enough for some minds but too crowded and overheated and therefore overwhelming for others, the accessible toilet marked on a map but blocked by three steps.

I wanted honesty, specificity, and insight, not simple checklists labeling things “accessible.” I wanted something built for people like me and for families like mine. I wanted something to help point out the positives, too: the relative ease of booking discounted train tickets for a wheelchair space on a high-speed train for those who truly need it, the willingness of so many to provide assistance when asked, the brilliance of the French pharmacy system.

Accessible France is that something. It’s the culmination of my academic training, my successful travels through France since becoming Disabled, and my deep commitment to helping others find beauty, meaning, and belonging in their travels instead of feeling anxiety and fear.

I don’t promise perfection, but I do promise truth, care, and the kind of attention that comes only from someone who’s lived it. Whether you're physically Disabled, chronically ill, neurodivergent, traveling solo or with family, I’ll help you plan not just a trip, but a journey worthy of your energy and dreams. And I’ll provide blog and video content to inspire and guide along the way.