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

[Jacobson, Shawn D]

My one time traveling internationally on my own (without my sighted wife or sighted parents) was when I went to Toronto for a statistics conference.  Toronto is just like the good old USA accept when it isn't.

I started out using my cane (I start with the cane in unfamiliar places) but my experience is that folks in Toronto do not honor the white cane.  Drivers think someone with a cane can get out of the way as well as a sighted person.  The one person who know what a white cane was about gave directions by grabbing the end of my cane and leading me about.  I traveled without the cane after one day.

Shawn

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter via stylist
Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2015 9:56 AM
To: 'Semirhage'; 'Writers' Division Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [stylist] Wondering if anyone has thoughts on blindness and independant vacation travel?

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
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To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
stylist:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/bkpollpeter%40gmail.com


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