Ah Travel

I love travel. Places to go and people to bother. Whether it is travelling in my own country or province or over seas, I love to travel. I like to go and do things. The beauty of travelling is you meet people and some of them are quite the characters. I met a couple in Scotland from Portland Oregon and we had a wonderful time touring Edinburgh castle. And some not so good like the representative who said that I could not climb the harbor bridge in Sidney because I was Alone. You get to meet them all. If you have a guide dog and you choose to bring it, you sometimes can have even more fun, both good and bad.

How do you travel

Very well, thank you very much. I do have work around(s) and I will pass some of those on but, for the most part it is fun to travel even if you are alone. The funny thing was, I was not alone in Sidney, but, all of the other members of my party were either afraid of heights, or not willing to partake.

The first thing you do is a lot of research be it on the net or on the phone or by meeting people. Do you research. Do I take my dog to england or Australia for a two week vacation? No, you do not. Part of your research is your transport. Because you cannot just get in to a car and go, transport becomes a major issue. How do you get around in a certain city. Where is my hotel in relation to public transport? Do they have tours that provide Transport? If I cannot afford to stay in the fancy hotel where the tour picks up passengers, can I afford one not so far away or get to the main location by public transportation option? Do I know someone in that city or country who has a car? All of these questions have to be answered before you leave. Never mind the usual stuff like travel documents such as visa's passports, etc. Travelling and accommodations are the two biggest things you have to worry about.

If you are travelling on business, you usually have something to do. When you get to your destination and you can work the rest of the trip around that bothersome activity. Like everyone else, if work was paying for me to go somewhere, I usually stayed a couple of days or a week after to do some touring and get to know the place. Or, arrange things to do in the evening when you are not at work.

Things I usually look for

I am a little weird in that one of the things I like to find is a local library. Usually they have material on their city and they are usually helpful to tourists. I also like libraries, they are quiet places to go and you can take a nap if you are tired with them not throwing you out right away. I also like all forms of public transport. Trains, planes and automobiles, boats etc. I love trains and I spend a good part of my trip just riding public transport. First of all, it lets you ride with the people who actually live there. You can hear the every day things and gripes from living there. Second, it gives you an idea of what it would be like if you lived there yourself. It is also a cheap way of getting around the city.

Bus tours and walking tours are one way of learning about the city in a structured format. If time is limited and you don't have transport, this is a way to see the sights in 25 words or less. Lately, care must be taken especially in these days of liability concerns. You as a blind person may be denied things if you are alone. But you never know, one time the guy would not let me go on the submarine in San Francisco because I was alone. The next day I brought someone from the conference I as at and they were fine with it. Mean while, I did not know this woman from a hole in the ground but she said she was going and would be willing to go with me. On the other hand, I was in spring hill nova scotia and touring a coal mine and they handed me a hard hat, rubber boots and coat like every one else and never said anything about being blind and not allowed in alone. It all depends on who you get that day and on your approach to the issue.

I love museums. However, going to a museum alone can be problematic. Sometimes, you can arrange a volunteer to take you through, and some times you have to use the hand held audio device. There are advantages to both. The personal touch of the volunteer is lovely. If you can do it great. I was in a small maritime museum in nova scotia and they found someone to go through it with me. However, in the railway museum in York England they game me an audio device and said here you go. I enjoyed both trips but the personal touch was better.

Where have you been

I have been many places in my own country. In fact, I have Newfoundland, North west Territories and Nunavut left to cover in my own country. I have been to several major cities in the US such as, new York, san Fran cisco, Seattle, Minneapolis, Phoenix. I have been to small towns such as Kerry in North Carolina, and Grand forks North Dakota which is only 3 hours from here. I couldn't resist taking a picture of me beside a Woodland main sign as my last name is woodland. I have also been overseas so to speak. I have been to Australia, Rio de Janeiro, and England and Scotland.

I do not do much travelling any more. The main reason being that I bought a house and do not have any more money to travel. I do go to the Grey Cup every year no matter where it is. This year it is in Toronto and next year it is in Regina. Even though those are in my own country and the tours are no longer necessary, in Toronto, I ride the subway because Winnipeg does not have one. But Regina, I just go to the game. The same amount of research is still necessary especially in terms of transport and accommodations.