[stylist] Wondering if anyone has thoughts on blindness and independant vacation travel?

Thu Feb 12 14:55:57 UTC 2015

Sem,

I personally have yet to leave America, but I know others who have, and I
have traveled around America, so at least on a local level, I have done
this.

First, disabled or not, anyone visiting another country or place for the
first time will not be familiar wit things. You will have to learn how to
get around, how to use the currency, what it's customs are, etc. None of
this has anything to do with sight or blindness. It's just what each of us
goes through when first visiting a new location. A sighted person will not
know the area any better than a blind person, and will have to ask questions
and learn all the same.

When you know how to navigate things as a blind person, which you learn in
training, you learn how to navigate new areas along with familiar areas. You
know how to do things and how to get around without sight. This doesn't mean
you don't ask questions or ask for help, because that's as much a part of
the process when blind as when sighted, but you will know how to travel
about just like anyone else. I know blind people, totals and partials, who
have traveled abroad and employed the same techniques for mobility as they
do in their own country to get around.

That being said, anyone, sighted or blind, will be more comfortable with a
guide of sorts to help learn a new place when visiting for the first time. I
think any first-time traveler might feel more comfortable with friends or in
a group when in an unfamiliar place.

And at the end of the day, it's what you are personally comfortable with.
Disabled or not, some people like to take off and figure things out on their
own. Many more of us like to ease into things, so group tours or visiting
with a friend from a place work best. It's ultimately your decision to make.

But as to the initial question, yes, blind people do travel without people
being in place to help them once there. They certainly learn what they can
of a location before leaving and will ask plenty of questions once there,
and may even use people at times to find the best ways to get places, but
yes, blind people do travel on their own. I have a friend who is totally
blind, meaning no useable vision at all, and she is the type who likes to
take off and learn a place on her own. Her husband is sighted, and they will
visit a place together, but she likes to spend an entire day going off on
her own and learning how to get around., smile.

Bridgit

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Semirhage via
stylist
Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2015 5:24 AM
To: Writers' Division Mailing List
Subject: [stylist] Wondering if anyone has thoughts on blindness and
independant vacation travel?

The introvert topic inspired this line of thought so I thought I'd bring it
up here to see if anyone had experiences that could be useful.
My husband and I are both visually impaired but he's got better vision than
I do. Still neither are of us are comfortable going to Greece or Hungary or
any of the other places we'd like to visit alone or without having a friend
who lives there or something to meet up with. IT just seems so daunting
traveling there alone  without knowing anything. Granted we wander around
town here and find new stores and restaurants all the time, but that's
different somehow.At least we have some basic idea of where things are I
suppose and we're not on a limited time frame as we'd be when on vacation.
We're going on a cruse instead as a friend of ours told us that we can
travel in a group at each stop that way. We'll feel more at ease that way
and also like we're not missing everything. LOL. So just wondering if there
were any other thoughts or experiences on this. I know the ideal trip would
be to go with other sighted friends, but they're not usually ready to go
when we are or to the same place. LOL.
Sem
I'm friends with the monster that's under my bed.
I get along with the voices inside of my head.
_______________________________________________
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-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Semirhage via
stylist
Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2015 5:24 AM
To: Writers' Division Mailing List
Subject: [stylist] Wondering if anyone has thoughts on blindness and
independant vacation travel?

The introvert topic inspired this line of thought so I thought I'd bring it
up here to see if anyone had experiences that could be useful.
My husband and I are both visually impaired but he's got better vision than
I do. Still neither are of us are comfortable going to Greece or Hungary or
any of the other places we'd like to visit alone or without having a friend
who lives there or something to meet up with. IT just seems so daunting
traveling there alone  without knowing anything. Granted we wander around
town here and find new stores and restaurants all the time, but that's
different somehow.At least we have some basic idea of where things are I
suppose and we're not on a limited time frame as we'd be when on vacation.
We're going on a cruse instead as a friend of ours told us that we can
travel in a group at each stop that way. We'll feel more at ease that way
and also like we're not missing everything. LOL. So just wondering if there
were any other thoughts or experiences on this. I know the ideal trip would
be to go with other sighted friends, but they're not usually ready to go
when we are or to the same place. LOL.
Sem
I'm friends with the monster that's under my bed.
I get along with the voices inside of my head.
_______________________________________________
Writers Division web site
http://writers.nfb.org/
stylist mailing list
stylist at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
stylist:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/bkpollpeter%40gmail.com