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

Thu Feb 16 11:59:08 UTC 2012

Thank you!!
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

> From: blinddog3 at charter.net
> To: travelandtourism at nfbnet.org
> Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 05:51:37 -0600
> Subject: Re: [Travelandtourism] Cheryl Echevarria: Founder,	Echevarria Travel - Advocate for the Blind
> 
> Very nice:)  WTG Cheryl!
> 
> Steve
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: travelandtourism-bounces at nfbnet.org
> [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;
> braille at satx.rr.com; derek2872 at yahoo.com; alabarre at labarretravel.com;
> pdonahue2 at satx.rr.com; milt2533 at gmail.com
> 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
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Travelandtourism mailing list
> Travelandtourism at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/travelandtourism_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> Travelandtourism:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/travelandtourism_nfbnet.org/blinddog3%40ch
> arter.net
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Travelandtourism mailing list
> Travelandtourism at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/travelandtourism_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for Travelandtourism:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/travelandtourism_nfbnet.org/cherylandmaxx%40hotmail.com