What began as a notebook of hopes scribbled in the margins has grown into an award-winning accessible travel platform with more than 500,000 engaged followers across five social media channels and millions of monthly impressions.
Elijah’s Baby Bucket List Accessible Family Travel, based in Quincy, Illinois, was founded by Amy Tarpein, a single mother of ten who started the project after her son Elijah received a terminal diagnosis.
“I started Elijah’s Baby Bucket List in a moment when most parents would have been too overwhelmed to dream,” Tarpein said.
The platform documents real travel with a medically complex child and provides accessible family travel resources and destination reviews for families navigating similar circumstances. Tarpein travels with her younger four children, including Elijah, who uses a wheelchair.
What distinguishes the project from other travel content, according to Tarpein, is that it comes from lived experience rather than observation.
“Most accessible-travel creators speak about accessibility. We speak from inside it,” she said.
Tarpein is an international bestselling author of “Route 66: An Accessible Guide to America’s Most Iconic Road Trip” and a contributing writer for Accessible Journeys Magazine. She is a member of SATW, NATJA, and IADAS, and holds certification as an Accessibility Leader.
The platform has earned recognition including two Anthem Awards for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in travel, selection as a Bessie Awards 2026 finalist, and designation as the top Accessible Family Travel Blog in the U.S. for 2025. Tarpein was named a Nexus Rising Visionary 2025 honoree.
Her son Isaiah, 14, is a finalist for the Travel Unity Young Professional Award, bringing a youth perspective to accessibility advocacy.
More than 100 accessible travel stories have been published across the blog, magazine features, and partner platforms. The work has reached millions of readers and viewers monthly through storytelling, consulting, and media features.
Elijah’s Baby Bucket List serves families traveling with medically complex or disabled children who need honest accessibility information and proof that adventure remains possible. The platform also works with parents seeking accessible destinations, tourism boards wanting to improve inclusive design, brands aligned with disability inclusion, and media outlets seeking human-centered travel stories.
Tarpein has spoken at tourism conferences, DEI panels, and creator summits nationwide. She completed an immersive accessibility experience at Google’s Accessibility Discovery Center.
“Elijah’s Baby Bucket List is more than a brand. It’s a movement proving that medically-complex families deserve adventure, beauty, and belonging. My business turns our lived experience into actionable change for the travel industry,” Tarpein said.
The project includes accessibility audits and consulting services for destinations, along with authentic storytelling partnerships. Tarpein describes the approach as dual mission work: showing families what is possible while helping destinations become more accessible.
“I started this to show my kids the world together. Now we’re helping the world become a place he and families like mine can actually explore,” she said.
The platform has documented hundreds of adventures, including an outing where Elijah and his family swam with penguins at Tanganyika Wildlife Park.
