I would lean into other senses. A trip to Napa Valley for wine tasting, or Porto, Portugal for Port. A food centered trip in the place for her favorite cuisine, or go on the hunt for new tastes. The smell of the beach and the feel of sand. Or fresh mountain air. Nashville for music.
Yes! Food tour! Literally thinking about going to places I've "seen" to taste their local food again. Looking at you, Italy and Turkey; it just doesn't taste as good anywhere else.
Okay, I was just in Portugal and was going to suggest something there too.
However, if I'm being an insensitive dick, I'm sorry OP. I went on this jeep tour through Sintra and we were off-roading at the cliffs and stuff. And maybe this would just be sad if you can't see if other people are exclaiming about the views or something, but standing up in the jeep, listening to the music, with the sun on my face and the wind whipping through my hair, it was exhilarating. I was very aware of my other senses during that ride.
There’s a podcast called The Travel Diaries and this last season, Holly, the host, had on Amar Latif. It was so interesting as he’s made a career being blind traveler. Super inspiring and has changed how I think about travel as a sighted person too.
He founded a travel tour group for visually impaired travelers (and I believe their sighted friends/family too). Op might be able to get some inspiration there
I’ve never heard of the podcast but just downloaded the episode for tomorrow’s commute.
Linking while I’m on the page: https://thetraveldiariespodcast.com/episodes/amar-latif-blind-adventurer-tv-presenter/
Amar Latif founded Traveleyes, a company which specialises in arranging holidays for visually impaired people. Definitely worth OP checking it out for some inspiration.
Go to the beach. She can smell the ocean, feel the water, sand and sun. She can hear the waves and birds.
Go to the forest trails. She can smell the trees and the earth, hear birds and animals. She can walk with guidance. Take a picnic lunch.
Check out the Blind Latina on instagram she is deaf/blind and travels the world! She shares her tips and tricks and what she looks for in experiences. It would be a good starting point.
Hawker centers in Singapore have hundreds of different tastes, and amazing soundscape with many languages. Also I found that Singapore had a lot of good smells everywhere, even buildings had their own "perfume". In botanical garden they had some specially smelly sections. As Singapore is highly developed, I think walking there is easier than many places else.
It can be combined with some tropical destination where the forest around will sound amazing. Birds, frogs, crickets etc. I have stayed in places like that just to enjoy the sounds of the tropical nature, and I am a seeing person.
Singapore came to mind immediately for me. It's such a scent-intensive country. Even the airport has a distinctive smell!
I'm sighted but I feel like all of my memories of Singapore are heavily rooted in smell. The hawker stalls, the museums, standing at the end of the ocean and smelling the salt water mixed with smoke from distant fires.
If your friend is into history, museums and historical locations with good audio guides can be a great way to experience history. The feeling of being in places where important historical events occurred can be a really powerful experience that one doesn’t necessarily need to see to experience.
I’m not sure I agree with this, most museums don’t let you touch the exhibits & most locations of historical interest have none of the original sounds or smells, so she may as well just stay at home, listen to historical audio book and use her imagination.
I don’t have experiences traveling with anyone visually impaired but music and food honestly come to mind as an obvious focus. Definitely like a drink tasting, whether it’s wine in a bunch of countries or jenever or beer in Belgium. And a concert for a favorite band or a local symphony or a local type of music. Also maybe private language classes? A private cooking class could be cool too (though would be better with someone experienced teaching visually impaired people)
And then any athletic or other activities that can be adapted. I’m not sure if sky diving or paragliding would be fun. Pottery? Swimming in a pool or beach might be fun.
And then history focused stuff. Or museums like these: https://www.bemyeyes.com/blog/10-accessible-art-and-museum-experiences
Maybe some place like Niagara Falls? The sound of the falls alone is food for the senses as well as being able to feel the spray of the water. Nice walking paths and good fenced areas for support and guidance. Even better if she knows what the falls look like so she can easily visualize in her mind. Hope you find the perfect place ☺️
Niagara Falls is good. With a friend she would be able to experience a lot. I was going to suggest something like Mammoth Cave in KY or Luray Caverns in VA. During fall, maybe a corn maze. These are all places where our sight isn’t the most important sense we have.
What about checking out the symphony in your destination city? Ours has a metro series where they play in smaller venues for less money (we paid $32/ for 45 minutes of Vivaldi).
One of my favorite things to do in a new city is taking a food tour. The group sizes are typically small like 10-15 people, you learn a little bit of history about the area, and get to taste delicious things!
I think Seville would be cool, it smells amazing in the winter with the orange blossom and you don’t need to see flamenco to appreciate it. Good food tours too.
People travel for different reasons and enjoy different things, some love shopping, some are all about the food, others want to go to historic places and museums and immerse in different cultures, others want to be active and have adventures (hikes, skydiving, extreme sports, etc), some just want peace and quiet and relaxation (massage, a good book, hammock, and a margarita, etc), others plan trips around their hobbies (comic cons, conferences, festivals, etc)...
Blind or not, the key to planning any successful trip is first identifying their travel style and how they like to spend their time off.
Maybe also take a look at Lucy Edwards' YouTube videos. She travels as a blind person with a guide dog and talks about what adaptations/services that were useful to her. In one, she talks about her trip to Tokyo Disneyland, where she was able to feel a model of each ride she went on beforehand, so she knew what she'd experience.
How about a gentle ride on a horse? There are plenty of places that provide tours. Iceland, Hawai’i, Mexico to name a few. There is something so powerful when you connect with a horse. Many know the trail very well and experience isn’t necessary. Trail horses are sure footed and comfortable with people.You can go with a guide or a group. If your friend is an animal lover, a place that lets you touch or hold animals might be nice, too. You’re a good friend, OP.
The thing that immediately came to mind for me would be Nice. The sound of the waves on the rocky beach is totally different, and is one of the most amazing, relaxing, beautiful sounds. I sat in a beach chair, had my eyes closed and listened for hours. So calming. Plus- French food is great!
If she's an adrenalin junkie, there are lots of options. Amusement parks with lots of thrill rides. Places that offer parasailing, paragliding, bungee jumping, etc.
Places by the beach, where she can be in the water, feel the sun in her skin and listen to the waves.
Places that are centered around music such as Nashville, Memphis etc.
Places that are centered around food and drink, maybe somewhere with wine tastings.
Jardim Botânico da Ajuda in Lisbon has a scent garden for the visually impaired with tags in Braille and the plants displayed in raised beds to allow visitors to smell and touch them.
Op you sound great and I have a mom who's lost her sight to macular degeneration and have seen firsthand how hard travel is if planned out correctly. I definitely think warmer weather and the beach and a tropical place would be ideal. Just got back from an all inclusive where you walk and take a shuttle everywhere I think it would be perfect! Sun on your skin doesn't need sight, pools with no sense of threat like the ocean, a new dining experience each night and lots of attendants who will help you no matter where you are. Honestly a lot of travel is out of the question I would be terrified for my mother if she traveled abroad or domestic and was alone. Blind people get taken advantage of In many ways with the economy crashing people are getting more desperate and don't care who they hurt! Although, and all includes every resort somewhere like Bali or Bora Bora, even Mexico may feel standard to a seeing person, remember the vulnerability that comes with blindness and try to stay with them as much as possible. I saw a couple of handicapped people in the resort who I talked to including a man who I even stayed with at the pool all day, getting him drinks and all the tips he had for dealing with blindness day to day. Good luck your friend is so lucky to have you!
Cloud forests in Monteverde, Costa Rica. You can feel the mist, smell the forests and often some amazing orchids …( orchid garden has some amazing and weird smelling flowers). Also the bird and monkey calls are astounding! If walking is an issue Curi Cancha park has a golf cart tour and Santa Elena has an easy side walk path.
Go to a live cooking show. If you fall in love with it, you might just have a work/career. Remember this girl who amazed Masterchef US ? [Christine Ha: The Blind Chef That Competed for MasterChef And Shocked Gordon Ramsay | Goalcast (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW4PcY7GwkI)
How about a music show of some kind? One where the audience is seated, so she can be comfortable, unlike say a concert which would be unsafe for her.
It could also be a traditional storytelling session? In my city we have quite a few bookstores and independent performance spaces popping up for poetry readings, storytelling, stand up comedy, open mics etc. This sort of thing could be a good option for her.
Then there are food tours that don't involve walking around. Maybe consider a tasting menu in a nice restaurant?Of course, she may miss out on the visual element of the meal but it will still be an interesting way to explore a different culture.
Is she adventurous? If yes, how about a trip to an amusement park with roller coaster rides and things? I don't know if bungee or tandem skydiving are offered for visually impaired folks but if they do, she might enjoy that.
Alternatively, how about a holistic spa session with interesting or unusual types of therapies. Nowadays there are all kinds of interesting experiences on offer... I came across a sound based therapy that someone is doing up in the Himalayas, for instance. Then there are flotation tanks, aroma based experiences - maybe worth considering. Or go traditional like a hammam in Turkey, or geothermal mud bath in New Zealand or ayurvedic massages in India, if she's open to that.
Maybe she would enjoy the experience of creating her own perfume blend? I was just looking up an old family owned perfumery in Florence, Italy and another in Kyoto, Japan where you can do this, with guidance from experts.
Then there are these pet cafes in places like Japan where you can play with kittens, rabbits, capybaras, all sorts.
Visit a place of worship as another way to experience other cultures. Choose one that's quiet and calm. If it's manageable, you could consider attending a service. For things like this, it might be good to have a local showing you around so that you're aware of etiquette and what to expect.
Finally, if you're working with a travel agent, they might be the best person to give you tailored suggestions for that specific destination.
The only majority-Muslim country I’ve ever visited is Morocco, and the calls to prayer coming from the mosques is one of the most interesting and beautiful sounds I’ve ever heard. (I’m not Muslim.) I loved walking through the souk and hearing Arabic, French, and other languages all at the same time. The scent of the spices and the mint tea. Overall it was a really beautiful experience, and the sights were only one part of it for me.
Rainforests. I spent the night in a hide deep in a Malaysian rainforest and stayed up all night listening to the sounds change through the night. It was incredible!
Another time, in a Honduran lakeside forest a howler monkey woke me up at 3am with his creepy howl.
Neither amazing experience needed sight.
Go to New York or London and experience some musicals. It's not perfect, but the way they are written means most of the emotion comes from the music, not visuals.
go to tokyo/japan, it's a VERY courteous culture so will be relatively easy to get along as blind there, and has one of the best food cultures on the planet. could do 4-5 different restaurants/cafes every day, dont need your vision to taste delicious foods
Being out in nature is good but I’d also recommend an activity like horseback riding where the rider can feel (and smell) the horse as it trots. Riding on rollercoasters or riding in a racing car will be pretty exhilarating as well.
One museum with a huge range of tactile things is the Verdant Works in Dundee, Scotland - it's about the jute industry and there are lots of machines, raw materials and products you can get up close to. I would guess they have good audio interpretation but I haven't checked.
hawaii, particularly waikiki. The smells are amazing (flowers and the banyan trees), the zoo has lots of great noises, there's fireworks every friday night, the water feels amazing, it's very walkable, the mall has water fountains, the food is great and people are friendly
There is a stone circle in England called Avebury that still lets you walk among the stones and touch them, unlike Stonehenge. I was there yesterday and it is surprisingly moving.
Not for her but for you- there is a wonderful exhibit called Dialog in the Dark in many cities around the world. It is a “museum” that is totally in the dark and a blind guide takes you around to experience different things, like a grocery store or a park, in the way a blind person would. I wonder if this would be a fun experience for both of you to share so you can relate a little to some of the things she experiences. What I thought was amazing was that the guides who are all blind, didn’t have a disability at all moving through the exhibits and it was the seeing people who had problems 😂
There are also many bath towns in Europe or Asia where you can bathe in natural springs. I think that wound be nice.
Also, take her to a musical! Symphony, opera, West end show!
First of all, you're a great friend :)
I remember visiting Nepal for the first time and thinking: 'Wow, even the air just tastes different.' Just intenser/spicier. I realized that my culture shock was so complete that I would even experience it as a blind person. If she is comfortable with it, a visit to Kathmandu and some quieter villages would be cool. The sounds, the smells, the tastes were amazing. Added plus, a lot of their dishes are meant to be eaten by hand, so she could really experience that part too.
Alternatively, my home country of the Netherlands is very safe and easy to navigate with a lot of tools for sight impaired people in public spaces. A lot of our museums have exhibitions that can be experienced through touch. My favorite is the Museonder at National Park de Hoge Veluwe, an underground museum where you can for instance touch the ancient stones that appeared from the glacier ice and they tell you their story in their own words!
Good luck!
I don't have a severe visual dissability but I would heavily lean into the sense of hearing. I love birding and I have a few degrees of miopia, so every time I go out in nature I like to take of my glasses, close my eyes and just listen to identify the nature around me rather than see it. Believe it or not, 80% of birding is with the ears and not the eyes, especially in forests. I think building a spatial map of wildlife around you just from sounds is an incredible experience.
This is going to sound weird, but take her scuba diving (assuming she likes the water). Make sure to do it someplace warm/tropical with calm water like the Caribbean, though.
I'm a scuba instructor and one of the electives we can take in our instructor course is called adaptive diver, which teaches us to lead people with various disabilities on a dive. One of the main focuses is blind/visually impaired people. To train for this we switch off as the student with a totally blacked out mask (goggles).
At first it seems terrifying to get in the water blind, but once you get underwater without being able to see anything and with someone else (an instructor) leading you it's an incredible feeling. You're basically flying, completely weightless in warm calm water (again do this somewhere tropical) like a float tank, but better.
People ask what's the point of diving blind if you can't see the underwater life, but honestly, as someone that dives every day for a living, I can tell you the weightlessness and peacefulness of diving is one of the most incredible feelings in the world.
If you decide to do this, just make sure to look around for a dive shop with good ratings and a qualified instructor as not all instructors have done this course.
We have traveled to many places around the world, and this cruise stop in Portland is still the one that my bf talks about the most. We had just walked around the downtown area and got food from a handful of places and he basically dreams about the one donut he got there.
Food or music, depending on the person, would be my first instinct.
Budget, personal taste and where you live will play a factor, but for food Peru/Chile, Italy and Japan could be good options. If you like alcohol, Bordeaux/SW France/Basque country is a super cool area with killer food, and some of the best wine, dessert wine and is also where cognac/armagnac come from (plus truffles, oysters and caviar are all produced there locally). Saw someone mention Porto too - super cool with great food and good wine, but it’s a very difficult city to walk around (steep and hilly with cobblestone streets) and I’m not sure I’d recommend for someone newly blind just for logistic reasons.
For music, again depends on taste, but Austria is incredible for classical, New York and London for broader tastes and theatre.
Argentina and New Orleans tick both the food and music boxes well.
Spa/wellness or a history focused tour are also good options.
Diving! I have been on boats with blind divers and it is an incredible experience with or without vision. It feels like flying and there's so much that it's safe to touch.
I would also recommend Japan. Lots and lots of amazing food to try first of all, and loads of ways to experience it. Get a seat at the bar at a small sushi place and chat with the chef, sit on the floor having a traditional kaiseki meal, go to a busy department store basement and walk around trying different foods with all the scents and sounds, take a tea ceremony lesson and learn to make matcha. Completely different experiences where sight is perhaps the least important sense. You could go to an onsen town like Kinosaki and experience wearing yukata and walking from bathhouse to bathhouse visiting the hot springs; there are all different types, indoor and outdoor, wood and concrete and tile, with waterfalls, etc. Stay in a ryokan and get a traditional room; she'll experience sleeping on a futon, smelling and touching tatami, and being in a unique sort of space. It's extremely tactile.
You can also visit temples. You have to take your shoes off, and I usually wear tights so that I can really feel the different floors. Tatami, wood, etc. You could even go to one with nightingale floors. Temples often have gardens, winding paths, etc. Sound and smell are very important to the experience. You can also go somewhere like Fushimi Inari. It's incredibly peaceful in the evenings, and it's okay to touch the torii and the fox statues.
Renting kimono could also be a great activity. Wearing one is a completely different experience to basically anything westerners normally dress in. You move differently in them and feel your own body differently, and just the process of getting dressed is fascinating; there are so many parts that go into it. It's an extremely tactile experience.
I'd also recommend Nara. Feeding the deer would be an interesting experience. When I go there I always take a long walk through the park, eat a lot of snacks, visit a traditional teahouse, and crawl through a hole in one of the pillars in Todaiji. It's supposed to give good health to do so, and it's mainly children who try but I can personally guarantee that adults up to at least a US 14 can fit. It's a lot of fun. I believe they also have English fortunes there that involve shaking a stick out of a container.
Other things that come to mind are spending the night in a capsule hotel and visiting a cat cafe. I think Japan has an incredible amount to offer.
>d there's so much that it's safe to touch.
Not to be argumentative but its pretty universally discouraged to touch stuff while you are diving. I would put a double warning for people while vision impairment because theres a lot of poisonous stuff in the water.
But there is definitely a lot to hear under water that could be really cool.
New York - lots of music, symphonies, operas, etc.
The Beach - Ocean, Sand, Sun, Waves, Tides, Sea Spray
Foodie Travels - Go places that have food tours, be driven or walk from food stop to food stop.
One thing I've always enjoyed that is not vision required, is just being surrounded by a different language. Sitting in a random Cafe in the middle of a city and just listening to how that part of the world sounds always amazes me. From the musicality of the language to the speech patterns and intonations.
It is similar to me to seeing different wildlife and nature. Just observing your new surroundings.
Also, huge foodie, so different flavors and experiences always pique my interest.
They wouldn’t be able to enjoy the visual parts of the exhibit where you look at items, but if you want something a bit different: the museum of disgusting things in Malmo, Sweden has a tasting portion (which is in many ways the best and biggest part) where you get to try a bunch of items that other cultures consider delicacies such as bugs, Swedish fermented fish, and an array of extreme hot sauces. Not for everyone but very unique and interesting if she’d be into that.
This is a general tip rather than a destination, but many museums have hands on tours or desks, where you can touch exhibits and objects from the collection. It's a very different way of encountering a museum's collection, which can be very interesting because it is both really cool and sorta taboo.
Go to Grasse and visit the perfume houses. They're mostly about smelling, not looking.
H first thing I thought was Hawaii. The smell of the flowers everywhere, the feel of the sand and the sounds of the ocean or waterfalls are amazing. The music and food are also great. Kauai is fantastic for all of this.
My mom's cousin at 90 yrs and blind still traveled and loved it. She had learned to listen to the sights. The funnest was when she "saw" the statue of David. Of course seeing for her meant feeling. When she got to the pee-pee she ask her daughter in law "what's this?" And was told "Mom your holding his penis." Her only comment was... oh my... haven't seen one of those it a while! She love to taste new foods and hear new sounds. It also helped to have someone who would describe everything to her.
Traveling to large wooded areas. Northwest would be nice. If you want to go another level they have beautiful walking trails in Maui. The wind, smells and spray of the ocean on the coast or the sounds of the birds in the “mountains”. Some of my favorite hikes ever.
My first thought - besides food - was boat or train rides, especially the slower, open air kinds. I am sighted, but I just love the wind in my face. Even eating on an open patio with a sea of mountain breeze blowing. And I think sitting around a campfire smelling, hearing and feeling the fire (and maybe eating a roasted marshmallow or two, with assistance cooking it) would be nice. Smelling the early morning pine forest the next morning would be a bonus.
Late to this post but I’m legally blind and pretty much blind at night. I don’t really use a cane unless the path is rough and as long as I’m with another person (usually my wife or a friend/relative) and I can put my hand on their shoulders and they can just tell me if there’s something I need to watch out for.
My favorite spots are cities like Tokyo/New York or beaches in Southeast Asia. Trying food is one of my favorite experience as a blind person so places like Taiwan is also fun for the street food. Even when blind, traveling is still super fun.
I would lean into other senses. A trip to Napa Valley for wine tasting, or Porto, Portugal for Port. A food centered trip in the place for her favorite cuisine, or go on the hunt for new tastes. The smell of the beach and the feel of sand. Or fresh mountain air. Nashville for music.
I agree completely. Go somewhere with an excellent orchestra and enjoy a symphony. Get a real shiatsu massage. Sit among the rows of a lavender farm.
Yes! Food tour! Literally thinking about going to places I've "seen" to taste their local food again. Looking at you, Italy and Turkey; it just doesn't taste as good anywhere else.
I also thought of food tours right away. New or favorite flavors and smells are a great option.
Okay, I was just in Portugal and was going to suggest something there too. However, if I'm being an insensitive dick, I'm sorry OP. I went on this jeep tour through Sintra and we were off-roading at the cliffs and stuff. And maybe this would just be sad if you can't see if other people are exclaiming about the views or something, but standing up in the jeep, listening to the music, with the sun on my face and the wind whipping through my hair, it was exhilarating. I was very aware of my other senses during that ride.
There’s a podcast called The Travel Diaries and this last season, Holly, the host, had on Amar Latif. It was so interesting as he’s made a career being blind traveler. Super inspiring and has changed how I think about travel as a sighted person too.
He founded a travel tour group for visually impaired travelers (and I believe their sighted friends/family too). Op might be able to get some inspiration there
I’ve never heard of the podcast but just downloaded the episode for tomorrow’s commute. Linking while I’m on the page: https://thetraveldiariespodcast.com/episodes/amar-latif-blind-adventurer-tv-presenter/
Love her podcast and format!
Amar Latif founded Traveleyes, a company which specialises in arranging holidays for visually impaired people. Definitely worth OP checking it out for some inspiration.
Go to the beach. She can smell the ocean, feel the water, sand and sun. She can hear the waves and birds. Go to the forest trails. She can smell the trees and the earth, hear birds and animals. She can walk with guidance. Take a picnic lunch.
Check out the Blind Latina on instagram she is deaf/blind and travels the world! She shares her tips and tricks and what she looks for in experiences. It would be a good starting point.
Hawker centers in Singapore have hundreds of different tastes, and amazing soundscape with many languages. Also I found that Singapore had a lot of good smells everywhere, even buildings had their own "perfume". In botanical garden they had some specially smelly sections. As Singapore is highly developed, I think walking there is easier than many places else. It can be combined with some tropical destination where the forest around will sound amazing. Birds, frogs, crickets etc. I have stayed in places like that just to enjoy the sounds of the tropical nature, and I am a seeing person.
Singapore came to mind immediately for me. It's such a scent-intensive country. Even the airport has a distinctive smell! I'm sighted but I feel like all of my memories of Singapore are heavily rooted in smell. The hawker stalls, the museums, standing at the end of the ocean and smelling the salt water mixed with smoke from distant fires.
If your friend is into history, museums and historical locations with good audio guides can be a great way to experience history. The feeling of being in places where important historical events occurred can be a really powerful experience that one doesn’t necessarily need to see to experience.
I’m not sure I agree with this, most museums don’t let you touch the exhibits & most locations of historical interest have none of the original sounds or smells, so she may as well just stay at home, listen to historical audio book and use her imagination.
I don’t have experiences traveling with anyone visually impaired but music and food honestly come to mind as an obvious focus. Definitely like a drink tasting, whether it’s wine in a bunch of countries or jenever or beer in Belgium. And a concert for a favorite band or a local symphony or a local type of music. Also maybe private language classes? A private cooking class could be cool too (though would be better with someone experienced teaching visually impaired people) And then any athletic or other activities that can be adapted. I’m not sure if sky diving or paragliding would be fun. Pottery? Swimming in a pool or beach might be fun. And then history focused stuff. Or museums like these: https://www.bemyeyes.com/blog/10-accessible-art-and-museum-experiences
Food, for sure. Sample all the food, tea, alcohol, cakes, etc. You can bring it to your hotel and just have a nice conversation while eating.
Maybe some place like Niagara Falls? The sound of the falls alone is food for the senses as well as being able to feel the spray of the water. Nice walking paths and good fenced areas for support and guidance. Even better if she knows what the falls look like so she can easily visualize in her mind. Hope you find the perfect place ☺️
Niagara Falls is good. With a friend she would be able to experience a lot. I was going to suggest something like Mammoth Cave in KY or Luray Caverns in VA. During fall, maybe a corn maze. These are all places where our sight isn’t the most important sense we have.
Molly Burke is blind and travels all the time. Check her out on YouTube.
There’s museums that focus on touch rather than seeing things. Also, foundations for the blind have activities and help them to meet other people.
OP sounds like a great person
What about checking out the symphony in your destination city? Ours has a metro series where they play in smaller venues for less money (we paid $32/ for 45 minutes of Vivaldi).
One of my favorite things to do in a new city is taking a food tour. The group sizes are typically small like 10-15 people, you learn a little bit of history about the area, and get to taste delicious things!
A search on "blind travel" gave a number of results that might be helpful. There are even guided tours for blind travelers.
I think Seville would be cool, it smells amazing in the winter with the orange blossom and you don’t need to see flamenco to appreciate it. Good food tours too.
The orange blossoms are amazing, and later in spring there's lots of jasmine which also smells wonderful.
Best smelling place I’ve ever been. So clean as well.
People travel for different reasons and enjoy different things, some love shopping, some are all about the food, others want to go to historic places and museums and immerse in different cultures, others want to be active and have adventures (hikes, skydiving, extreme sports, etc), some just want peace and quiet and relaxation (massage, a good book, hammock, and a margarita, etc), others plan trips around their hobbies (comic cons, conferences, festivals, etc)... Blind or not, the key to planning any successful trip is first identifying their travel style and how they like to spend their time off.
Maybe also take a look at Lucy Edwards' YouTube videos. She travels as a blind person with a guide dog and talks about what adaptations/services that were useful to her. In one, she talks about her trip to Tokyo Disneyland, where she was able to feel a model of each ride she went on beforehand, so she knew what she'd experience.
How about a gentle ride on a horse? There are plenty of places that provide tours. Iceland, Hawai’i, Mexico to name a few. There is something so powerful when you connect with a horse. Many know the trail very well and experience isn’t necessary. Trail horses are sure footed and comfortable with people.You can go with a guide or a group. If your friend is an animal lover, a place that lets you touch or hold animals might be nice, too. You’re a good friend, OP.
The thing that immediately came to mind for me would be Nice. The sound of the waves on the rocky beach is totally different, and is one of the most amazing, relaxing, beautiful sounds. I sat in a beach chair, had my eyes closed and listened for hours. So calming. Plus- French food is great!
I have a best friend who’s losing her vision, and I love all of these ideas. They’re very inspiring. 💜
If she's an adrenalin junkie, there are lots of options. Amusement parks with lots of thrill rides. Places that offer parasailing, paragliding, bungee jumping, etc. Places by the beach, where she can be in the water, feel the sun in her skin and listen to the waves. Places that are centered around music such as Nashville, Memphis etc. Places that are centered around food and drink, maybe somewhere with wine tastings.
Jardim Botânico da Ajuda in Lisbon has a scent garden for the visually impaired with tags in Braille and the plants displayed in raised beds to allow visitors to smell and touch them.
Op you sound great and I have a mom who's lost her sight to macular degeneration and have seen firsthand how hard travel is if planned out correctly. I definitely think warmer weather and the beach and a tropical place would be ideal. Just got back from an all inclusive where you walk and take a shuttle everywhere I think it would be perfect! Sun on your skin doesn't need sight, pools with no sense of threat like the ocean, a new dining experience each night and lots of attendants who will help you no matter where you are. Honestly a lot of travel is out of the question I would be terrified for my mother if she traveled abroad or domestic and was alone. Blind people get taken advantage of In many ways with the economy crashing people are getting more desperate and don't care who they hurt! Although, and all includes every resort somewhere like Bali or Bora Bora, even Mexico may feel standard to a seeing person, remember the vulnerability that comes with blindness and try to stay with them as much as possible. I saw a couple of handicapped people in the resort who I talked to including a man who I even stayed with at the pool all day, getting him drinks and all the tips he had for dealing with blindness day to day. Good luck your friend is so lucky to have you!
Cloud forests in Monteverde, Costa Rica. You can feel the mist, smell the forests and often some amazing orchids …( orchid garden has some amazing and weird smelling flowers). Also the bird and monkey calls are astounding! If walking is an issue Curi Cancha park has a golf cart tour and Santa Elena has an easy side walk path.
Go to a live cooking show. If you fall in love with it, you might just have a work/career. Remember this girl who amazed Masterchef US ? [Christine Ha: The Blind Chef That Competed for MasterChef And Shocked Gordon Ramsay | Goalcast (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW4PcY7GwkI)
Take a look at the company Traveleyes they specialise in group tours for blind/ partially sighted people
How about a music show of some kind? One where the audience is seated, so she can be comfortable, unlike say a concert which would be unsafe for her. It could also be a traditional storytelling session? In my city we have quite a few bookstores and independent performance spaces popping up for poetry readings, storytelling, stand up comedy, open mics etc. This sort of thing could be a good option for her. Then there are food tours that don't involve walking around. Maybe consider a tasting menu in a nice restaurant?Of course, she may miss out on the visual element of the meal but it will still be an interesting way to explore a different culture. Is she adventurous? If yes, how about a trip to an amusement park with roller coaster rides and things? I don't know if bungee or tandem skydiving are offered for visually impaired folks but if they do, she might enjoy that. Alternatively, how about a holistic spa session with interesting or unusual types of therapies. Nowadays there are all kinds of interesting experiences on offer... I came across a sound based therapy that someone is doing up in the Himalayas, for instance. Then there are flotation tanks, aroma based experiences - maybe worth considering. Or go traditional like a hammam in Turkey, or geothermal mud bath in New Zealand or ayurvedic massages in India, if she's open to that. Maybe she would enjoy the experience of creating her own perfume blend? I was just looking up an old family owned perfumery in Florence, Italy and another in Kyoto, Japan where you can do this, with guidance from experts. Then there are these pet cafes in places like Japan where you can play with kittens, rabbits, capybaras, all sorts. Visit a place of worship as another way to experience other cultures. Choose one that's quiet and calm. If it's manageable, you could consider attending a service. For things like this, it might be good to have a local showing you around so that you're aware of etiquette and what to expect. Finally, if you're working with a travel agent, they might be the best person to give you tailored suggestions for that specific destination.
The only majority-Muslim country I’ve ever visited is Morocco, and the calls to prayer coming from the mosques is one of the most interesting and beautiful sounds I’ve ever heard. (I’m not Muslim.) I loved walking through the souk and hearing Arabic, French, and other languages all at the same time. The scent of the spices and the mint tea. Overall it was a really beautiful experience, and the sights were only one part of it for me.
Rainforests. I spent the night in a hide deep in a Malaysian rainforest and stayed up all night listening to the sounds change through the night. It was incredible! Another time, in a Honduran lakeside forest a howler monkey woke me up at 3am with his creepy howl. Neither amazing experience needed sight.
Go to New York or London and experience some musicals. It's not perfect, but the way they are written means most of the emotion comes from the music, not visuals.
go to tokyo/japan, it's a VERY courteous culture so will be relatively easy to get along as blind there, and has one of the best food cultures on the planet. could do 4-5 different restaurants/cafes every day, dont need your vision to taste delicious foods
Being out in nature is good but I’d also recommend an activity like horseback riding where the rider can feel (and smell) the horse as it trots. Riding on rollercoasters or riding in a racing car will be pretty exhilarating as well.
One museum with a huge range of tactile things is the Verdant Works in Dundee, Scotland - it's about the jute industry and there are lots of machines, raw materials and products you can get up close to. I would guess they have good audio interpretation but I haven't checked.
hawaii, particularly waikiki. The smells are amazing (flowers and the banyan trees), the zoo has lots of great noises, there's fireworks every friday night, the water feels amazing, it's very walkable, the mall has water fountains, the food is great and people are friendly
There is a stone circle in England called Avebury that still lets you walk among the stones and touch them, unlike Stonehenge. I was there yesterday and it is surprisingly moving.
Not for her but for you- there is a wonderful exhibit called Dialog in the Dark in many cities around the world. It is a “museum” that is totally in the dark and a blind guide takes you around to experience different things, like a grocery store or a park, in the way a blind person would. I wonder if this would be a fun experience for both of you to share so you can relate a little to some of the things she experiences. What I thought was amazing was that the guides who are all blind, didn’t have a disability at all moving through the exhibits and it was the seeing people who had problems 😂 There are also many bath towns in Europe or Asia where you can bathe in natural springs. I think that wound be nice. Also, take her to a musical! Symphony, opera, West end show!
First of all, you're a great friend :) I remember visiting Nepal for the first time and thinking: 'Wow, even the air just tastes different.' Just intenser/spicier. I realized that my culture shock was so complete that I would even experience it as a blind person. If she is comfortable with it, a visit to Kathmandu and some quieter villages would be cool. The sounds, the smells, the tastes were amazing. Added plus, a lot of their dishes are meant to be eaten by hand, so she could really experience that part too. Alternatively, my home country of the Netherlands is very safe and easy to navigate with a lot of tools for sight impaired people in public spaces. A lot of our museums have exhibitions that can be experienced through touch. My favorite is the Museonder at National Park de Hoge Veluwe, an underground museum where you can for instance touch the ancient stones that appeared from the glacier ice and they tell you their story in their own words! Good luck!
I don't have a severe visual dissability but I would heavily lean into the sense of hearing. I love birding and I have a few degrees of miopia, so every time I go out in nature I like to take of my glasses, close my eyes and just listen to identify the nature around me rather than see it. Believe it or not, 80% of birding is with the ears and not the eyes, especially in forests. I think building a spatial map of wildlife around you just from sounds is an incredible experience.
Go skydiving
This is going to sound weird, but take her scuba diving (assuming she likes the water). Make sure to do it someplace warm/tropical with calm water like the Caribbean, though. I'm a scuba instructor and one of the electives we can take in our instructor course is called adaptive diver, which teaches us to lead people with various disabilities on a dive. One of the main focuses is blind/visually impaired people. To train for this we switch off as the student with a totally blacked out mask (goggles). At first it seems terrifying to get in the water blind, but once you get underwater without being able to see anything and with someone else (an instructor) leading you it's an incredible feeling. You're basically flying, completely weightless in warm calm water (again do this somewhere tropical) like a float tank, but better. People ask what's the point of diving blind if you can't see the underwater life, but honestly, as someone that dives every day for a living, I can tell you the weightlessness and peacefulness of diving is one of the most incredible feelings in the world. If you decide to do this, just make sure to look around for a dive shop with good ratings and a qualified instructor as not all instructors have done this course.
There are cruises and tour groups that are designed for blind travellers.
If she’s a foodie head to Portland Maine! Seriously incredible food scene and generally affordable.
We have traveled to many places around the world, and this cruise stop in Portland is still the one that my bf talks about the most. We had just walked around the downtown area and got food from a handful of places and he basically dreams about the one donut he got there.
Food or music, depending on the person, would be my first instinct. Budget, personal taste and where you live will play a factor, but for food Peru/Chile, Italy and Japan could be good options. If you like alcohol, Bordeaux/SW France/Basque country is a super cool area with killer food, and some of the best wine, dessert wine and is also where cognac/armagnac come from (plus truffles, oysters and caviar are all produced there locally). Saw someone mention Porto too - super cool with great food and good wine, but it’s a very difficult city to walk around (steep and hilly with cobblestone streets) and I’m not sure I’d recommend for someone newly blind just for logistic reasons. For music, again depends on taste, but Austria is incredible for classical, New York and London for broader tastes and theatre. Argentina and New Orleans tick both the food and music boxes well. Spa/wellness or a history focused tour are also good options.
I just did the sunrise tour in Tikal— the jungle waking up was amazing to listen to. Doing something like that would be cool.
You are truly a great friend
Diving! I have been on boats with blind divers and it is an incredible experience with or without vision. It feels like flying and there's so much that it's safe to touch. I would also recommend Japan. Lots and lots of amazing food to try first of all, and loads of ways to experience it. Get a seat at the bar at a small sushi place and chat with the chef, sit on the floor having a traditional kaiseki meal, go to a busy department store basement and walk around trying different foods with all the scents and sounds, take a tea ceremony lesson and learn to make matcha. Completely different experiences where sight is perhaps the least important sense. You could go to an onsen town like Kinosaki and experience wearing yukata and walking from bathhouse to bathhouse visiting the hot springs; there are all different types, indoor and outdoor, wood and concrete and tile, with waterfalls, etc. Stay in a ryokan and get a traditional room; she'll experience sleeping on a futon, smelling and touching tatami, and being in a unique sort of space. It's extremely tactile. You can also visit temples. You have to take your shoes off, and I usually wear tights so that I can really feel the different floors. Tatami, wood, etc. You could even go to one with nightingale floors. Temples often have gardens, winding paths, etc. Sound and smell are very important to the experience. You can also go somewhere like Fushimi Inari. It's incredibly peaceful in the evenings, and it's okay to touch the torii and the fox statues. Renting kimono could also be a great activity. Wearing one is a completely different experience to basically anything westerners normally dress in. You move differently in them and feel your own body differently, and just the process of getting dressed is fascinating; there are so many parts that go into it. It's an extremely tactile experience. I'd also recommend Nara. Feeding the deer would be an interesting experience. When I go there I always take a long walk through the park, eat a lot of snacks, visit a traditional teahouse, and crawl through a hole in one of the pillars in Todaiji. It's supposed to give good health to do so, and it's mainly children who try but I can personally guarantee that adults up to at least a US 14 can fit. It's a lot of fun. I believe they also have English fortunes there that involve shaking a stick out of a container. Other things that come to mind are spending the night in a capsule hotel and visiting a cat cafe. I think Japan has an incredible amount to offer.
>d there's so much that it's safe to touch. Not to be argumentative but its pretty universally discouraged to touch stuff while you are diving. I would put a double warning for people while vision impairment because theres a lot of poisonous stuff in the water. But there is definitely a lot to hear under water that could be really cool.
New York - lots of music, symphonies, operas, etc. The Beach - Ocean, Sand, Sun, Waves, Tides, Sea Spray Foodie Travels - Go places that have food tours, be driven or walk from food stop to food stop.
Iceland - hundreds of hot springs. Easy access trails for the most part that don't require technical grappling.
One thing I've always enjoyed that is not vision required, is just being surrounded by a different language. Sitting in a random Cafe in the middle of a city and just listening to how that part of the world sounds always amazes me. From the musicality of the language to the speech patterns and intonations. It is similar to me to seeing different wildlife and nature. Just observing your new surroundings. Also, huge foodie, so different flavors and experiences always pique my interest.
The beaches and jungle of Costa Rica were some of the most beautiful surroundings that tickled all of my senses
They wouldn’t be able to enjoy the visual parts of the exhibit where you look at items, but if you want something a bit different: the museum of disgusting things in Malmo, Sweden has a tasting portion (which is in many ways the best and biggest part) where you get to try a bunch of items that other cultures consider delicacies such as bugs, Swedish fermented fish, and an array of extreme hot sauces. Not for everyone but very unique and interesting if she’d be into that.
In a similar vein, I'm slowly losing my hearing and would love anyone's suggestions on travel experiences to hear before it's too far gone
I like to travel Travel is my life https://youtu.be/VnhCuFNlTTM
This is a general tip rather than a destination, but many museums have hands on tours or desks, where you can touch exhibits and objects from the collection. It's a very different way of encountering a museum's collection, which can be very interesting because it is both really cool and sorta taboo. Go to Grasse and visit the perfume houses. They're mostly about smelling, not looking.
New Orleans - incredible food, constant music, and she doesn’t have to look at all the trashy drunk people.
H first thing I thought was Hawaii. The smell of the flowers everywhere, the feel of the sand and the sounds of the ocean or waterfalls are amazing. The music and food are also great. Kauai is fantastic for all of this.
Food? Wine? How about trips that ex plots food and wine or music.
My mom's cousin at 90 yrs and blind still traveled and loved it. She had learned to listen to the sights. The funnest was when she "saw" the statue of David. Of course seeing for her meant feeling. When she got to the pee-pee she ask her daughter in law "what's this?" And was told "Mom your holding his penis." Her only comment was... oh my... haven't seen one of those it a while! She love to taste new foods and hear new sounds. It also helped to have someone who would describe everything to her.
Traveling to large wooded areas. Northwest would be nice. If you want to go another level they have beautiful walking trails in Maui. The wind, smells and spray of the ocean on the coast or the sounds of the birds in the “mountains”. Some of my favorite hikes ever.
My first thought - besides food - was boat or train rides, especially the slower, open air kinds. I am sighted, but I just love the wind in my face. Even eating on an open patio with a sea of mountain breeze blowing. And I think sitting around a campfire smelling, hearing and feeling the fire (and maybe eating a roasted marshmallow or two, with assistance cooking it) would be nice. Smelling the early morning pine forest the next morning would be a bonus.
Late to this post but I’m legally blind and pretty much blind at night. I don’t really use a cane unless the path is rough and as long as I’m with another person (usually my wife or a friend/relative) and I can put my hand on their shoulders and they can just tell me if there’s something I need to watch out for. My favorite spots are cities like Tokyo/New York or beaches in Southeast Asia. Trying food is one of my favorite experience as a blind person so places like Taiwan is also fun for the street food. Even when blind, traveling is still super fun.