As national caregiving systems crumble in the U.S. and Canada, Crip Trip offers a raw, funny, and urgent look at what it takes to survive while disabled.

On a mission to find consistent filmmaking work to cover the costs of full-time caregiving, disabled TV director Daniel Ennett and his friend Frederick Kroetsch, who steps in as his stand-in caregiver, set off on a cross-country RV trip that quickly becomes something much bigger. 

The new docuseries Crip Trip turns their chaotic, hilarious road trip into a powerful journey for disability justice, as the duo interviews other disabled people, joins protests, and even attempts stand-up comedy — all while fighting to keep Ennett out of long-term institutional care.

The six episode series highlights a reality many face: disabled people are forced to jump through hoops to stay alive. 

As a quadruple amputee and full-time power wheelchair user, Ennett relies on caregiving support to live independently — but outside of the care he receives from his aging mother, his government leaves him with limited options: pay the hundreds of thousands of dollars of full time care out of pocket, or accept a lifetime of social isolation in an institution. 

Simply, as Ennett put it in episode 1 of the series, “shutting us away is easier for them.”

Canada, like the United States, is in the throes of a national caregiving crisis, with 2.6 million disabled Canadians needing help with at least one daily living activity, and roughly 50% of these people reporting having unmet caregiving needs. Provincial programs in Canada fund caregiving hours to help disabled people live independently at home, however many disabled people report receiving far fewer hours than they need to live independently. 

For example, in one episode, Ennett reveals that even though he is a quadruple amputee who “can’t even brush [his] own teeth independently,” he was only approved for 6 hours of care per day, despite him needing 24/7 support. 

As a result, people are often forced to rely on aging family members, pay out-of-pocket, or face the threat of institutionalization — choices that erode autonomy and safety. 

After experiencing the bureaucracies first hand, Ennett said he knew he wanted to create something that could shed light on how unjust these systems are. 

“I worked closely with Fred to make a show that was entertaining enough to keep people watching, but also educate them about the massive systemic barriers that the community faces,” Ennett said in an exclusive interview with Cripple Media. 

The buddy-comedy floats these topics by through refreshing humor that flips the stereotype, “disabled people get too many handouts,” on its head – with tenderness, care, and refreshing humor. 

Equally powerful is the show’s approach to travel, revealing both the joy and the barriers that come with navigating the world while disabled. 

Embarking on their journey in an old, ambitiously, renovated RV set a humorous backdrop to show the intricate process of traveling with a disability. Months of preparation went into making the vehicle wheelchair accessible and spacious enough for adequate movement and storage. 

Traveling while disabled often means adapting to environments never designed with you in mind. Narrow hallways, cramped bathrooms, and inaccessible layouts can turn basic tasks, like navigating a narrow passage or managing hygiene, into major obstacles. This is where the role of a caregiver becomes essential, offering support in moments that are intimate, vulnerable, and sometimes awkward for everyone involved.

Crip Trip doesn’t shy away from this reality. Instead, it puts a spotlight on the widespread inaccessibility baked into mainstream travel, like RVs, where discomfort seems less like an exception and more like a guarantee for disabled travelers. The series reminds viewers that this isn’t a personal failing or inconvenience — rather, inaccessibility is a systemic flaw that burdens its disabled citizens.

So beneath the humor and mishaps, Crip Trip is ultimately about something deeper: the fight for freedom in a world that makes independence nearly impossible.

The threat of an unjustly institutionalized life is what pushed Ennett and Kroetsch to turn this road trip into a showcase of disabled persistence and joy in the face of ableist policies and perceptions. 

Each stop on the trip drives home the main point of the show — Ennett’s struggle is not unique to him, his province, or his country. Disabled people around the world are forced to choose between their dignity and their survival, and it is a grave injustice that those already at risk have to battle bureaucracy to maintain a decent quality of life. 

Ennett, Kroetsch, and their fellow disability advocates spend the series protesting the easy route too often taken by decision makers: ignoring the bodies, needs and humanity of the disabled community. Through their art and activism, they remind society that political lip service, inspiration porn, and the power of friendship can’t sustain the livelihood of disabled people. 

There’s a gap calling for institutional reform that prioritizes our autonomy without performance, penalty, or poverty – and Crip Trip is both a rallying cry and a road map, demanding that we build a world where disabled people don’t just survive, but live freely and fully. 

Canadians can catch new episodes of Crip Trip every Friday at 9pm ET on AMI-tv through May 30, or stream them for free on the AMI+ app as they’re released. Watch and share widely to help bring this groundbreaking disability-led series to a broader audience in the U.S. and ensure disabled stories stay in the spotlight where they belong.