My husband and I are planning to go on a cruise this month. We get along well but have very different interests in entertainment. To avoid tears (mine, not his. I tend to become emotional when I am being thwarted or bored) we long ago developed the habit of going our separate ways when it comes to vacation activities. We both get to do what we want to do and nobody melts down. And a good time was had by all.
When we sat down to talk about shore excursions this morning our different interests really became apparent again. I had been hoping there would be a few things that interested us both. I don’t know what I was thinking!
Like I have said before, I am not (usually) a danger to myself or others. I just cannot see faces. The blurs that are members of my tour group are going to look pretty much like the blurs from every other tour group. I hate to admit it, but I could easily wander off.
I tried to call the cruise company but no one is there on Sunday. I could just sign up for the excursions I want but just presenting myself the day of doesn’t seem like a viable option.
Guess what! You are in charge of ME! I will need to wait and talk to a real person tomorrow.
Since this will be my first international adventure as a visually impaired traveler, I figured I should do a little research. The Discovery Eye Foundation has a nice, short article entitled What Good Is Sitting Alone In Your Room? ( All together now! “Come hear the music play!”….have you ever wondered how much of your brain is nothing but a giant repository for old song lyrics? But I digress….again). The article stresses planning, planning, planning. It also suggests making a list of everything you need and taking two of each! This person obviously has never seen me packing for a trip. Any more stuff and I will need to hire a Sherpa, several of them. I will pass on that idea but it might be helpful for you.
Asking for help is a tried and true tactic also mentioned. One more time, people are great and most of them will help.
Quick aside: the first time I was in Bavaria and the surrounding area there was a woman with blindness on the trip. She and her friend ended up hanging around with my friend and me. It made for some interesting times. This woman had no clue how close she came to taking a swim in the Grand Canal in Venice and I think she was only one of us who truly enjoyed the precipitous slide we had down the bobsled run in Innsbruck. (That sucker was steep!) All told, helping her took nothing from our enjoyment of the trip and it even added a few positives.
Back on track!
The article also pointed out that there seems to be a market for travel for the disabled, even adventure travel. The article referred to Disabledtravelers.com as well as sites called Traveleyes and Mind’s Eye Travel.
Looking at the Mind’s Eye Travel site I was brought up short. Unless there are two, visually impaired women with the same name, I went to high school with that company’s owner!
Small world. Get out there and explore it. I am going to.