[Travelandtourism] Cheryl Echevarria: Founder, Echevarria Travel - Advocate for the Blind

Thu Feb 16 11:51:37 UTC 2012

Very nice:)  WTG Cheryl!

Steve

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[mailto:travelandtourism-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of cheryl echevarria
Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2012 5:12 AM
To: travelandtourism; ascheppe at hotmail.com; info at peachtreetravel.net;
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Cc: Echevarria Travel Blog2
Subject: [Travelandtourism] Cheryl Echevarria: Founder, Echevarria Travel -
Advocate for the Blind

Here is the story that I said was going to happen. It was published today on
www.fortune52.com February 16, 2012  This is from www.fortune52.com, I am
also going to be honored with 52 other women from Across Long Island on
March 12, 2012 Cheryl Echevarria is blind and might not be able to sightsee
like everyone else, yet this intrepid Brentwood woman loves to travel. She
relies on her service dog, Maxx, her heightened sense of smell, touch and
sound and the confidence that comes from traveling often.
Born with Type 1 diabetes, Cheryl was 22 years old when she was diagnosed
with diabetic retinopothy, a common diabetic eye disease that is the leading
cause of blindness in American adults.
Cheryl's life changed forever one night in 2001 when she was driving home
from her job as an administrative assistant when suddenly, she recalls, her
vision became completely blurry. "I had to pull over. I couldn't
see."Cheryl's doctor told her that if her diabetes was affecting her eyes,
it would also affect other organs in her body. Subsequently her kidneys
began to fail as well. In 2002 she began kidney dialysis treatments three
times a week for four hours a day. Her treatments continued for three years
until she went through another life-altering experience when her friend
Steve Carroll donated his kidney to her.
Once Cheryl recuperated from the organ transplant, she was determined to go
back to work. During her dialysis treatments, she lost her sight completely
in one eye. She says her remaining sight is "like looking through a
telescope hole covered in thick plastic."
Cheryl enrolled in a training program provided by the New York State
Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped (CBVH), where she learned
new job skills, including how to use computer software for the blind.
After completing the program, Cheryl was ready for the next step in her
recovery which was to go back to school. She began taking classes at
Branford Hall Career Institute in Bohemia, and became the school's first
blind student to graduate. She found an administrative job in the healthcare
field where she worked for two years.
Cheryl felt she missed 10 years of her life being sick and was ready to
transition into a new career. She began scouring the internet for new
connections.
"I found the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) online and joined the
greater Long Island chapter," she says.The NFB is the largest non-profit
organization in the world for the blind that is operated by the blind.
Cheryl now serves as the treasurer of the Long Island chapter, adding that
all members and officers must be blind to serve in a board position. "We are
advocates for education, employment and accessibility," Cheryl says proudly.
"We lobby ourselves, we don't hire anyone."After searching through the
federation's resources, she decided that becoming a travel agent would be a
good career choice. She loved to travel and she could work from home. "I
have a background in customer service and sales, and this was a good fit,"
she says. After completing her job training online, Cheryl started working
through a host travel agency, confident that becoming a travel agent was the
right career move.
In 2009 Cheryl and her husband, Nelson, founded Echevarria Travel. Cheryl
says Nelson is an integral part of the agency, and is the photographer and
videographer for the travel images used on their website. "I'm the only
blind travel agent in the tri-state area that I know of," she says and was
recently named president of the NFB's national travel and tourism
division.Cheryl's blindness has given her a very clear insight into the
planning required to ensure a pleasurable trip for her clients.Her agency
offers services to everyone, but Cheryl's specialty is the traveler who is
blind, on dialysis, in a wheelchair, or has had an organ transplant. As a
survivor of all of these illnesses, Cheryl is uniquely qualified to help
them plan their trip.
"I know what a person would need and the questions to ask," she says.
"What's your degree of blindness?  Do you use a cane?"If travel plans
include a cruise, she will want to know if the client can read Braille. "I
ask because not everyone does," she explains. "If they don't [read Braille],
I contact the cruise line and make sure they get a meet-and-greet and tour
of the ship so they can familiarize themselves with their surroundings," she
says.
If they plan on traveling with their service animal, Cheryl explains that
they will need to go to their vet to get a health certificate and they need
to secure a permit to bring the animal into another country.
The cruise industry has taken notice of this newly mobile customer base and
are making their vessels more accessible so sight-impaired travelers can
acclimate themselves quickly.
Cheryl has been working closely with Norwegian Cruise Lines, and says she
helped them implement Braille menus on their ships.No two visually impaired
people have the same level of functional vision so Cheryl helps her clients
overcome some of the red tape they might encounter to ensure that they have
a good experience. All of this pre-travel preparation includes additional
paperwork that Cheryl helps her clients complete as part of her services.
Understanding the requirements and information needed for traveling today is
invaluable. As a travel advocate and advisor for the blind, Cheryl has
opened up a world of new experiences for these sensory travelers that might
have been out of reach before.For more information, email:
reservations at echevarriatravel.com, call Cheryl at  631-456-5394 , or toll
free at  866-580-5574  ; or go to:www.echevarriatravel.com. For daily
updates read Cheryl's blog atwww.echevarriatravel.wordpress.com
Leading the Way in Independent Travel!

Cheryl Echevarria
http://www.echevarriatravel.com
631-456-5394
reservations at echevarriatravel.com

For daily updates read our blog at
http://www.echevarriatravel.wordpress.com

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