[Blindtlk] international cane travel

[Cindy Handel]

My niece is in Malawi in southern Africa right now.  She says there are few 
sidewalks and drivers are crazy.  Most people walk, but pedestrians do not 
have the right of way.  When a car is coming, the driver does not slow down; 
it's just up to you to get out of the way.  Sounds crazy to me!

Cindy
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "T. Joseph Carter" <tjcarter at spiritsubstance.com>
To: "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, October 05, 2011 4:52 PM
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] international cane travel


I've never been to a developing country, but urban areas in such
countries have got to be a combination of urban traffic as in the US,
with rural roads and pathways.  That is, expect a lot of broken
pavement, poor or non-existent sidewalks, and tons of people in and
out of cars.

Proceed with caution, and don't get distracted.

Come to think of it, I can name urban places here in the United
States that are fairly similar in description.

Oh, you may want to ask about different traffic laws (and traffic
realities, legal or otherwise) wherever you are going.  Even in the
US, the traffic laws vary a bit.  Here in Oregon, right turns (and
even left turns on one-way streets) are legal on a red light.  Cars
may not cross a lane of traffic to do it, however.  The traffic
reality is that the part about not crossing a lane of traffic gets
ignored often enough to be a concern.  Good to know if you're coming
to Oregon!

It'll be hard to give specifics without knowing where you're going.
But the general travel skills apply with very slight variations for
specific circumstances pretty much everywhere you go.

Joseph


On Wed, Oct 05, 2011 at 12:34:42PM -0400, John Davis wrote:
>Hi,
>
>I'm thinking of traveling abroad with some friends soon for a few
>weeks. I've never left the country before, but our plan is to see
>parts of Asia and Europe.
>
>First, I use an NFB cane with the standard metal tip for travel
>everywhere I go. I do use a combination of touch and slide technique
>depending on the situation. I had never thought to ask this question
>until a friend who went to Africa over the summer told me that, being
>in a developing country, the roads and sidewalks look completely
>different from the suburbs and cities of the US! With that, I'm
>wondering If I'll have any trouble using a cane in some foreign
>countries? From what I've heard a lot of sidewalks can have huge holes
>and cracks everywhere and the like which might make using a cane hard
>abroad. especially in more developing countries ... apparently it's
>quite chaotic and a total mess in some places even for people who can
>see! I ask because the NFB metal tip can succumb to rough spots and
>cracks and the like here on occasion, so I'm suddenly wondering If
>I'll have trouble abroad. I will be with a group of friends so maybe I
>won't need to use my cane too much on my own, but I thought I'd ask
>before I leave anyway. Apologies if these are silly or the wrong lists
>to ask these questions on.
>
>Thank you
>
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