Break Free From the Grind Through Travel Prehab

UNCAGED CLINICIAN
Blog

June 22, 2025

Uncage your profession!

Today's edition comes to us from a special guest of UNCAGED CLINICIAN, Amberly Wiese, MOT, R/L, CLT, CATP. More about Amberly can be found in the credit at the conclusion of the article.

Let’s be honest, many of us didn’t enter this field to chase productivity quotas or drown in documentation. We became rehab professionals because we wanted to help people live fully.

But traditional healthcare isn’t always set up for that.
It’s increasingly about survival, not service.

If you're a rehab professional, clinic owner, or entrepreneur who's feeling boxed in by insurance red tape, ever-shifting reimbursement, and clinical burnout, this post is your permission slip to think differently.

Because guess what?
There’s a wellness-focused, private-pay opportunity sitting right under our noses.

It’s called Travel Prehab—and it’s changing the game.

What Is Travel Prehab?

Prehab, short for prehabilitation, refers to proactive exercises, conditioning, and education done before an injury, surgery, or event to improve recovery and prevent future issues.

Travel Prehab is short-term, goal-driven therapy designed to help individuals physically prepare for upcoming travel.

Think of it as the therapeutic version of training for a big event, only the "event" is a cruise, a pilgrimage, a family wedding, or a dream vacation.

Depending on the client, Travel Prehab might include:

• Endurance and mobility training

• Transfer and airport navigation practice

• Adaptive strategies for excursions or hotel stays

• Strengthening and joint protection plans

• Addressing speech and swallow problems while out and about

• Custom home programs to use while away

It's meaningful. Functional. Lifestyle-based.
And clients love it—because it ties therapy directly to something they care deeply about.

But What’s the Catch?

There isn’t one.

I’m not offering therapy services. I'm not trying to compete with your clinic. I'm not recruiting your patients.

I'm a licensed travel advisor and former OT.

I work with individuals and families who want to travel but aren’t sure they’re physically or emotionally ready. That’s where YOU come in.

I help them define the dream, you help them build the capacity to achieve it.

It’s a collaborative model.
There’s no cost to your clinic to work with me. Just the potential to:

• Attract new clients from your community

• Build private-pay wellness revenue outside the insurance hamster wheel

• Position your clinic as a place where people go to live life, not just recover from it

• Reignite your team's passion for delivering goal-driven, client-centered care

Why It Works

Let me paint a few real-world scenarios:

• A grandfather dreams of taking his entire family on a cruise, but isn’t sure he can manage the walking or balance issues. Travel Prehab helps him build stamina, test mobility aids, and get cruise-ready.

• A man with chronic knee pain wants to tour the Holy Land with his nephew. With a few weeks of joint-focused strengthening and pacing strategies, he’s not just ready—he’s excited.

• A family with a newly diagnosed neurodivergent child is unsure about bringing them on vacation. A therapy team helps prepare them both with regulation tools, routine adaptations, and confidence-building strategies.

Even if someone doesn’t fully meet their goals before takeoff, a travel planner specialized in accessibility (that’s me) can match them with destinations and experiences suited to their current ability level.

Nobody’s left behind.
Everybody wins.

Want Even More Freedom? Add Accessible Travel Planning to Your Own Skills

If you’re someone who’s already dreaming about stepping outside the traditional healthcare model, here’s another layer: you can become a travel professional too.

As a rehab pro, you already understand mobility, accessibility, and client-centered planning. You’re uniquely qualified to serve this growing niche of travelers, and generate additional income without fighting for authorization codes.

Whether you want to:

• Plan accessible trips for your own client base

• Offer group travel retreats tied to wellness themes

• Add a second stream of revenue while staying part-time clinical

• Build a freedom-based business outside the therapy room

…travel advising can be the bridge.

You don’t have to choose between impact and income.
You can do both.

This Is What Uncaged Healthcare Looks Like

You don’t have to wait for a perfect reimbursement code or a system overhaul to bring fresh energy into your clinic, or your career.

You can start right now, by:

• Offering Travel Prehab consultations

• Marketing wellness packages with real-life goals

• Hosting an accessible travel event with me via Zoom

• Or learning how to become a certified travel advisor yourself

Let’s collaborate to help your clients get back to life, and help YOU reclaim the freedom and fulfillment you thought you left behind in grad school.

Ready to uncage your clinic or your career?

Amberly is an occupational therapist and owner of Back to Life. She works as a travel planner specializing in accessibility and helps people of all abilities travel better. Contact information: 

https://boards.com/a/dEeQT.mq6Qru

Interested in listening to a discussion on today's topic? Be sure to tune into the June 25 release of the UNCAGED CLINICIAN Podcast when David Bayliff hosts Amberly for a conversation!

For more insights and personalized guidance for becoming the entrepreneur you dream to me, visit uncagedclinician.com and schedule a free Growth Strategy Call with us.

Let's work together to break through the ceiling and unlock the full potential of your practice.

Also, be sure to check out our website for other resources!

Your Success is our success!

The UNCAGED team