San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is the latest airport to open a Sensory Room for passengers.
Designed for Neurodiverse travelers and their families, the interactive room offers a variety of experiences.
Spaces include an ‘Activity Area’ with both analog and digital options, a ‘Calming/Soothing Area’ for contemplation and wonderment and a life-size ‘Cabin Experience’ featuring a realistic, full-scale aircraft interior mock-up which allows families to acclimate to the experience of flying before boarding their actual flight.
Look for SFO’s Sensory Room post-security in Harvey Milk Terminal 1, which can be accessed from any SFO terminal via connecting walkways.
The SFO Sensory Room will be open daily from 5:00 am to 11:00 p.m and will not be staffed.
SFO is pleased to offer a new Sensory Room in Harvey Milk Terminal 1. Designed especially for our neurodivergent travelers, the space features interactive experiences to help guests prepare for their trip and alleviate pre-flight anxiety. Learn more: https://t.co/TgqEsatFVZpic.twitter.com/FAV1BPSnSs
— San Francisco International Airport (SFO) ✈️ (@flySFO) December 16, 2024
In addition to offering 60 miles of beaches, a boardwalk, oodles of restaurants and shops, and attractions ranging from about 90 golf courses to a cool Ferris wheel, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, prides itself on being sensory-friendly.
Here are some of the ways they do this:
*More than 150 local businesses have taken a sensory-friendly pledge to create an inclusive environment and have trained their staff members in ways to make that happen.
*Myrtle Beach International Airport (MYR) participates in the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Program. Airport and airline personnel – and other travelers – know that anyone wearing a sunflower lanyard might need special assistance or extra patience on their journey. The airport also offers a Quiet Room in the baggage claim area where families can decompress before or after a flight.
*Many Myrtle Beach restaurants, attractions and hotels offer discounts and special services to members of the Autism Travel Club ($10/year). For example, wait staff at participating restaurants are trained to seat guests in a quiet space, to expedite meals and checkouts as needed and to handle potential sensory overload situations with understanding and compassion.
Now there’s another tool in the Myrtle Beach sensory friendly toolkit.
A new children’s book, “Splish, Splash, Squawk! Finding Joy in a Sensory-Friendly Vacation,” created in partnership with Visit Myrtle Beach and author and illustrator Lynda Farrington Wilson, explores some of the challenges faced by families with children on the autism spectrum.
The book tells the story of Maris the parrot who, armed with her trusty telescope and heart full of compassion, watches over the families vacationing in Myrtle Beach.
(This is a slightly different version of a story we wrote for NBC News)
What makes a happy camper this summer? S’mores, sing-alongs and — lately — streaming.
The pandemic nudged millions of people toward outdoorsy trips and experiences, and many are now hooked. But they’re increasingly demanding a decent Wi-Fi connection wherever they pitch their tents or park their RVs, and campsites are providing it.
Wi-Fi at campgrounds has become “the fourth utility behind water, sewer and electric,” said Tim Rout, founder and chief solutions officer at AccessParks, a San Diego-based broadband provider for RV parks and campgrounds.
“Six or seven years ago it was a ‘nice to have’ service so people could load their email or check their bank account,” said Rout. “Now people expect the same quality of service in RV parks that they get at home.”
Who wants to be connected when camping?
About 40% of campers say Wi-Fi availability influences where they decide to camp, said David Basler, chief strategy officer for the Outdoor Hospitality Industry trade group. “Generationally, this increases to 65% in Gen Z and millennials and 45% in Gen X campers,” he said.
Searches for Wi-Fi-equipped U.S. properties on the campsite booking platform Hipcamp are up 110% year over year, according to founder and CEO Alyssa Ravasio, who said the number of such sites grew by 30% over the past year. Most Hipcamp hosts that provide Wi-Fi don’t charge guests extra for it, Ravasio added.
Wi-Fi is now offered at 82% of U.S. campsites, OHI estimates, slightly ahead of laundry and even shower facilities. It was the most commonly provided amenity last year among privately operated camping properties surveyed recently by The Dyrt. The camping information app found Wi-Fi being added at a faster rate (nearly 16% of campsites added it from 2022 to 2023) than pickleball courts (12%), dog parks or kayaks and canoes (each at 10%).
Working while camping
The Dyrt found 29% of campers worked while camping last year, up from less than 24% in 2022 and 2021, even as more employers mandated a return to in-person work. Some campers may have been “quiet vacationing” — working from a remote destination rather than taking off to fully unplug.
Rout said AccessParks’ business was already growing before the pandemic. “But since more people flocked to the outdoors and RV sales accelerated, there is a younger, more professional demographic in campgrounds — more families, more Zoom calls with work, distance learning, etc.,” he said. “Since then, our growth has dramatically increased due to the demand for fast broadband Wi-Fi.”
At least one Montana campground relies on Wi-Fi for a camera system that monitors the area for grizzly bears, Rout added.
Wiring up
Marley Behnke said Wi-Fi was already installed at the campground in Grayling, Michigan, that she bought in late 2022. In addition to letting guests stay connected and share details from their adventures with loved ones, “there are apps that provide real-time updates for activities, facilitate food delivery, organize scavenger hunts and enable interactive games,” she said.
Wiring a campsite for high-speed broadband comes with challenges like ensuring the signal can make its way through uneven terrain, trees and metal RV bodies and withstand extreme weather. Depending on property size and the type of service offered, installation might run anywhere from $50,000 to $500,000, Rout said, though campgrounds can typically recoup the expense by raising prices by little more than $1 a night.
While middle- and lower-income travelers are especially keen to camp this summer, Deloitte researchers say, camping demand is up 7% in a year when high-income travelers comprise a greater share of this season’s leisure travelers overall. The “glamping” (glamorous camping) sector is forecast to grow by more than 15% each year through 2029, according to Arizton market research.
“I’ve got kids who have not grown up camping consistently, so I definitely need a posher camping experience,” said Sommer Nyte, 46, a Bellingham, Washington, realtor who recently bought a new pop-up tent trailer. Wi-Fi is on her wish list alongside pools, boat rentals and programming for families with children.
Internet connectivity isn’t sweeping every campsite, though.
While the RV Industry Association found about 60% of private sites offered Wi-Fi as of 2022, only 3% of public ones did.
We’re heading into another few weeks of record-breaking holiday travel and on our last few flights it seemed everyone was sick.
As the Centers for Disease Control – and your mother – will tell you, keeping your hands clean and washing them often with soap and clean, running water is one of the most important steps to take to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others.
But in some public restrooms, the height of the sinks presents a hand-washing challenge to kids and short people.
That’s why the Stuck at the Airport hygiene team is delighted every time we encounter one of the Step ‘n Wash self-retracting step stools in an airport restroom.
At last count, close to 100 airports around the country have installed these handy stools in some or all of their restrooms. So keep an eye out for them when you’re traveling this season.
It’s only Monday, but we already have a nomination for Airport Amenity of the Week.
Singapore’s Changi Airport, which already wows travelers with free amenities that include butterfly and cactus gardens, movie theaters, and the world’s tallest indoor waterfall, now offers free bicycle rentals to passengers with layovers in Singapore.
The year-long program offers layover passengers free two-hour use of a bicycle to explore outdoor attractions in the airport’s vicinity, including the Jurassic Mile, a free outdoor display of more than 20 life-sized dinosaurs and pre-historic creatures that stretch out over half a mile.
Layover passengers can cycle along the Changi Airport Connector cycling path that links to Singapore’s wider park connector network and visit beaches, Bedok Jetty – a popular fishing spot, the East Coast Lagoon Hawker Centre and nearby residential neighborhoods
To make it easy to explore Singapore on a layover, the airport has mapped out four different routes lasting two to six hours and provides pay-per-use shower facilities by the bike return point.
Want to go for a bike ride on your Changi Airport layover?
To take advantage of Changi Airport’s free bike rentals, you’ll need to have a layover of at least 5 1/2 hours but less than 24 hours between flights.
Advance reservations for free bike rentals at Singapore’s Changi Airport are available here.
