One morning, two years ago, Phil and Victoria Cracknell decided to quit their corporate worlds and set out for life travelling the roads.

A year later and they had driven more than 25,000 miles and visited 25 US National Parks – all the time documenting their trip with photographs, and now those photos have been turned into a 180-page book chronicling their journey, made more remarkable because Mr. Cracknell, 63, was struck down by polio at the age of 16 months and has been in a wheelchair for the last couple of years.

"It was a desire to go out there rather than read it in National Geographic, go out there, look at it and photograph it yourself," said Mr. Cracknell, on what made the couple want to go on their journey.

Being a polio victim, Mr. Cracknell found photography a good way to occupy his time and he would grab a box camera and take off on solo road trips in his invalid three-wheeled car to photograph train and ship yards around England's South East. Later in life, his interest in photography was taken over by studies, marriage, fatherhood and a career.

In 2008, he was working as the Vice President of Corporate Relations and Treasurer of the XL Foundation, and Mrs. Cracknell, 55, was the Executive Gallery Director of the Bermuda Society of Arts, when they decided to quit the rat race for the road.

Carefully planning their adventure, they bought a modified Dodge Sprinter van, now affectionately known as Dragon Slayer, and a base in Southern California and last year set off on a 25,000 mile journey covering parts of Arizona, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Southern California and North Western California visiting 25 National Parks.

Asked what was the most interesting place, Mr. Cracknell said: "Some of them are difficult to describe, for instance the Navajo Nation National Monument, which is on the border of Utah and Arizona, it is absolutely spectacular.

"That was one interesting place, but all of them were interesting, we can't pick only one, because they all were spectacular for all sorts of different reasons.

"Yellowstone National Park was another one where we went for three days and stayed for three weeks – we couldn't get out of it, because at the end of it we wanted to see more."

Mrs. Cracknell added: "They call it the Serengeti of the US, because you can go on Safari there. There are grizzly bears, black bears, bison and wolves. You can see them in their habitat while they are hunting, while they are taking care of their babies."

Their road trip was satisfactory on many levels, including the "awesomeness" of some of the places as well as the people they met. "People on the road are a different breed all together, they are adventurous, they are articulate and from all walks of life," said Mr. Cracknell.

"There's no colour bar, there is no discrimination. The most voices that we heard were French, German, Japanese, Chinese, English, Italian and Spanish. They all rent RVs so they are just out there."

Mrs. Cracknell added: "That was the sad thing, because there are all these National Parks and (former US President) Theodore [Teddy] Roosevelt was instrumental in getting these set up for the American people, but most of the people in the parks were foreigners. Obviously there were some Americans, but Europeans really revere in the American National Parks."

Educating park rangers on disability requirements was something they didn't see coming. "We showed them that this [scheme] may look good in a book, but really for a person in a wheelchair it doesn't work," added Mrs Cracknell. "And we congratulated them when it does work."

Mr. Cracknell, who has been disabled since he was 16-months-old, said most disabled people did not get out and about.

"Sometimes it's because they can't, or they are embarrassed, or they don't have the transport, or they can't afford to, or don't have access, or don't have a partner who's also on board, and I am sorry for those people," he said.

"But I have always been very self-sufficient and got out there, and very little has stopped me, except I can't climb Kilimanjaro or [Mount] Everest, but what we are trying to suggest to people is that it doesn't matter if you have a disability, you can, if you set yourself up right, still do things."

So what next for the Cracknells? Well, they are already back on the road and are heading for Telluride, Colorado, to the 37th Annual Telluride Blues Festival; from there they will visit four national parks – Black Canyon of the Gunnison, the Great Sand Dunes and Mesa Verde National Parks.

And in between the parks, Mrs Cracknell said: "We will soak in mineral springs, take two-train rides on historic steam engines, experience the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge and take a four-wheel jeep tour into the San Juan Mountains. After criss-crossing southwestern Colorado we will drop down into Arizona to witness the splendours of the Grand Canyon."

Their book 'Views From A Wheel Chair' will be out soon. For more information on their adventures please visit www.viewsfromawheelchair.blogspot.com.