Unheard and Unseen Travel Stories

How do deaf people get around?

Travels like this are something truly special. In the age of social networks, we can imagine this world through the stories of travellers with disabilities who also share with us tips on how to experience the best possible journey a little differently. The Deaf Traveller is a deaf young man, but an experienced traveller, who inspires other deaf and speech-disabled people and educates people about the life of the hearing-impaired, so they could come to their own realisation that deaf people are actually not at all different. During his travels, he noticed great interest of other travellers in his hearing impairment and the way it affects his travelling experience. With his stories, good and bad, but always with a grain of humour, he defies stereotypes and raises awareness among a broad group of listeners. What’s his advice? What are the things you should never leave at home? Taking an extra hearing aid with you is a must, since lots of things tend to happen at most inopportune moments during travelling. It might just happen that your hearing aid will suddenly stops working right when you’re in the middle of a country road in Sub-Saharan Africa or deep in a rainforest in Indonesia. Of course, you also shouldn’t forget the batteries. It’s not much fun oversleeping in the morning and missing your next ride, so a reliable method that will wake you up every time can come in handy. There’s one such method that turned out to be quite effective – a vibrating alarm clock, which you put under the pillow, will definitely wake you from your slumber and it might just send you in mild shock to boot. When travelling in countries with humid climate or, say, walking under the Saharan sun, your body tends to sweat more than usual. All this can negatively affect your hearing aid. EarGear is a wonderful accessory that protects your hearing aid from sweat, moisture and noise. When travelling solo around the world, it doesn’t matter how good your hearing is as long as you’re travelling with all your heart. Granted, you do have to be more careful with people who stop you on the street. But you’re probably wondering how to communicate with a person who has a hearing impairment. Ed says it’s important to make sure that the listener’s completely focused on you and that you don’t speak slower than usual as it makes reading from your lips more difficult. Therefore, don’t be afraid to show your feelings when speaking to a hearing-impaired person, as they’ll get a clearer picture of what you’re talking about.

How do visually-impaired travel?

Sassy Wyatt is a Scottish traveller who has been completely blind since the age of 23, but this hasn’t stopped her from making her own dreams come true. Using humour, she defies stereotypes that visually-impaired people should stay at home, and this gives these people the courage to get out into the world and explore. She’s thrilled by positive things that she notices have emerged in the world of travelling in recent years, especially since more things have become accessible to travellers with disabilities. Tourist destinations, such as ruins of an ancient city, need special infrastructure to accommodate these travellers. She’s visited numerous destinations and has written articles about her experiences that are full of tips. She uses different senses to feel the beauty of a place; to her, grass is much more than just grass. She hears living beings and feels blades of grass. She likes to surf, ski and greet everyone in a restaurant, for no reason, just in case. The visually-impaired traveller with arthritis brings us a fresh perspective on the world. She’s an owner of a guide dog, Ida, who prides herself with her own hashtag #IdaTheGuider and is welcome in all types of transport. Sassy’s articles are full of tips on how to travel when you’re a person with disabilities. It’s useful to get familiar with taxis that are suitable for wheelchairs. If you’re therefore wondering if a destination is accessible to people with disabilities, read one of her blogs or browse Trip Advisor. It would also do well to remember to bring extra medicine and store it safely in a special bag because medicine is usually hard to get abroad and it can also cost a fortune.

Next time you see people with disabilities on your travels, don’t look at them with surprise, but rather invite them over to your table, so they can share their stories with you. Stories that will undoubtedly evoke a wide range of emotions.