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

Thu Feb 12 19:41:05 UTC 2015

do you have a guide dog or how exactly do you mean you went about without 
your cane?

Julie
Courage to Dare: A Blind Woman's Quest to Train her Own Guide Dog is now 
available! Get the book here:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QXZSMOC
Visit my new website on developing courage and living authentically:
http://www.falling-up.com
-----Original Message----- 
From: Jacobson, Shawn D via stylist
Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2015 1:36 PM
To: 'Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter' ; 'Writers' DivisionMailing List'
Subject: Re: [stylist] Wondering if anyone has thoughts onblindness and 
independant vacation travel?

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.
_______________________________________________
Writers Division web site
http://writers.nfb.org/
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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

_______________________________________________
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_______________________________________________
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