As I write this I am waiting to board a plane in Shannon, Ireland airport. The adventure is almost over again.
Yes, you might say I have been “traveling blind” one more time. This time we circumnavigated the beautiful island of Ireland.
Some people may feel I am brave. Some people may feel I am insane. I just feel I have a lot of life left and I would like to enjoy it as long as I can.
My husband did all of the driving. I was not much help. There was no way I was able to read signs. We made do. I had printed directions from the Internet before we left. I had the GPS turned on. My husband prefers paper maps. I cannot read paper maps quickly or without magnification. He made do.
Could I see the attractions? Pretty much. The Cliffs of Moher and the Giant’s Causeway. were more or less hard to miss. They make use of the concept of size magnification. When something takes up your entire field of vision, it definitely extends beyond your scotoma. Same for the beautiful, green fields we would pass. I actually saw plenty of those, too.
The problems I had were with the smaller things. The Book of Kells was not as exciting as I expected. I could not see the detail. However, I did enjoy the gift shop so all was not lost.
And if you are a bibliophile such as I am, the Old Library at Trinity was amazing. It really did not matter I am no longer able to easily read what the books contain. It was a pilgrimage and that was a truly holy place.
Believe it or not, I was not following my husband and hanging on for dear life much at all. He is not much for exploring on foot – bad back – but I am. I went on “walk about” most of the places we visited. I was on my own in the Killarney National Park, the part that looks like a city park, that is. I walked along the wall, turned left and walked two bridges along the creek. I took off in Galway, trusty tourist map in hand. Hug the shore. Follow the canal. Stop and ask for directions often. This may not have been the off the beaten track sort of exploring I would have liked to have done but it was not too shabby.
I can honestly say I did not meet a nasty or unhelpful Irishman during our entire trip. I had one woman volunteer to zip my new jacket. Thanks again, Mom! People would identify my coins for me and take what they needed for payment. Although I could be wrong, I would lay odds none of those people took a penny more than he should have. And if I asked for help once, I asked for help half a dozen times a day. People would point out the toilets or read a menu to me “no bother”. All I had to do was ask.
So Ireland was a success. Will I be as successful next vacation? No way to know that. But for me, for now, traveling blind worked out quite well.
Written April 11th, 2019