Travel with Niv
 

2023 was a huge travel year for me. Not because I traveled to different places, but because of who I traveled with. My big brother, usually the big brothers are the protectors, but in our case it’s the little sister. My brother suffered a traumatic brain injury at 10 months old. The result of this accident caused permanent brain damage. So naturally he’s not able to do everything(this is just the background ) So my extended family planned a trip to a couple countries in Europe and a situation came up where it was take him or i cancel my trip. Which if you know me the former was the only option.Luckily I had already applied for his passport because I decided it was time to venture out and do things outside of our comfort zone. What better trip when i have 9 other people traveling with me. I wish i could say the trip went off without a hitch, it didn’t but it’s ok I’d still give it a 10/10. My biggest concerns going into the trip really caused no issues. For example I was so nervous about clearing customs in France and England because my brother is non verbal. I tried researching and saw no one share their experiences of similar situations & to my surprise I wasn’t able to find anything. Another concern was how people would treat us because of his disability but if I’m honest I was blown away by the simple act of kindness people showed us. People were offering to carry his wheelchair. A guy walking by carried my bags to our Uber without me asking for help. If you know traveling abroad it’s hard to tell the difference between kindness and someone trying to get over. I was worried traveling with him would cause us to look a little ore vulnerable. Like would pick pocketers see me and think I am an easy target because my hands are so full?