If anyone knows the transformative power of a good trip, it’s actor Selma Blair.
As Blair recently explained while on stage at Travel + Leisure‘s 2025 World’s Best Summit, she was officially diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2018, though she likely lived with it undiagnosed for 25 to 30 years, including as a child living with optical neuritis. But throughout it all, she’s maintained her signature grace, light, and humor.
“The one thing that got me through childhood was great vacations,” Blair said with a laugh. “Everyone just feels better on a vacation. So even as a sickly child, that was always the beacon, the north star for me.”
Now, Blair explained, she’s living relapse-free and back to traveling the world, albeit in a very different fashion with her sidekick, Scout. “Luckily, hotels are really dog friendly, which is a plus and minus,” she said. “Because I do allow my service dog to be quite friendly to people. He thinks my job, now that I’m a lot better, is to go out and be a service dog for anyone else that wants him. And he’s happy with that. And he still does his job for me.”
Blair noted that thanks to Scout, she travels with one rather unusual but handy item in her carry-on: a squeegee. “I do carry a squeegee to get the dog hair off the ground,” she explained, so she’s always ready to clean up any fur from the floor of an Uber or a plane.
As for the duo’s must-have for any trip, Blair explained she simply must have a beautiful room, preferably one with a view. “I [do] make sure you have a room with a view,” she said, explaining that while she may not be able to explore like she used to, she can still enjoy new places this way. ” I always make sure that I have a beautiful room.”
She also noted that hotels could better serve their clients with accessibility needs by ensuring they, too, get a great view.
“It would be lovely if there is room and you see someone with a disability coming, and ask yourself, ‘Is there a view, is there a way to make this a little more enjoyable?’ Because this might be their vacation,” she said.
Blair was also quick to praise hotels that get it right when it comes to accessibility. “I was in a hotel in Washington, D.C. that had the most incredible ADA room,” she explained, noting that it had added touches like high-end railings in the showers that were far from the average, low-budget chrome railings in most hotels. “Disabled people like a little chic too.”
She also emphasized the impact of small touches like flowers, blackout curtains, and even a simple deck of cards, which she always has in her bag in case the hotel doesn’t provide them. “Simple things that can be done for a guest to make them feel seen and not like they’re a problem that no one knows how to deal with.”
Despite the added work that comes with seeing the world with a disability, Blair keeps traveling, and encourages others to do the same, noting it’s key to “hit a milestone of something you didn’t think you could do.”
And while, sure, Blair, like the rest of us, loves a little high-end moment, but for her, travel is not about luxury for luxury’s sake. It’s about both survival and joy. “Travel to me symbolized vibrance and hope and adventure,” she said. “That is worth a lot.”
