TabiFolk started as a side project of the accessible travel information site Accessible Japan, created by Josh Grisdale.
While answering inquires of fellow travelers with disabilities, Josh and his team realized that a lot of the people had the same or similar questions. While the questions were very important, they were not yet big enough to fill up a page on the website (but would make the page menus too long!). It was decided that a community forum would be a good way to answer questions.
A community forum would allow not only feedback from the community by seeing what everyone was interested in, it also helps those asking questions get a broad set of answers as other visitors could provide a variety of different perspectives – not just the teams’ viewpoint. This also helps others searching the internet to find answers and other related information. If all correspondence is via email, no one else but the recipient will find out the answer. Having the conversation in a forum thread means that someone searching for an answer on Google can find the conversation and get an answer quickly. The forum enables the team to help more people than ever before.
Then there was a thought…
So, Josh Grisdale and his team set about the creation of TabiFolk as way for travelers with disabilities to connect, ask questions, and share wisdom. Not stopping at forums, they also added member-run groups for shorter themed conversations.
Josh and the TabiFolk team want this website to be not just a set of questions and answers, but a thriving community of people who love to travel and refuse to let their disabilities get in the way of their trip planning.
Of course, TabiFolk was created it for everyone – so even Josh and the team can have a place to get answers to their accessible travel questions too!
Josh and the TabiFolk team look forward to interacting with you and making the world an easier place to travel – regardless of your ability.