Blind travelling

[loreley]

I recently came across a German travel agency called tour de sens that offers trips for blind, visually impaired and sighted travellers. The concept is quite clever: Sighted travellers pay up to 50% less and function as a 1:1 guide for a blind person during the trip. Visually impaired customers who do not need any guidance pay a reduced price and blind customers pay the full price and receive 1:1 guiding.

Sighted people get an introduction before the trip how to properly guide a blind person and describe the sights, every day the teams change so all group members get to know each other well. The tours are mainly city tours across Germany and Europe and hiking tours worldwide, including India and other exotic destinations. All trips are designed to meet the needs of visually impaired people, such as museums offering tactile tours, visits to local farms to taste the produce, concerts etc.

I think it is a brilliant idea, especially for people who travel on their own.

[AlrightyAphrodite]

There is a British agency called Traveleyes that works similarly. I have been on a couple trips and will go again in January, met some great people!!

[raindrop]

I was looking into that a few months ago.
Tell us more!

[devogirl]

OMG, I had no idea this was a thing! Please tell us more about your trip. Was it a devvy experience or did that part just fade into the background?

[loreley]

Devogirl, if you want to have a look at the German site, this is it, all available in English as well if you click the language button at the top.

tourdesens.de/

[feelsunshine]

loreley that is a wonderful concept. I had no idea a thing like this existed.
I wonder if there's something similar around for wheelers. I'll definitely check out the website.

[AlrightyAphrodite]

Dec 7, 2019 10:37:36 GMT -5 feelsunshine said:

loreley that is a wonderful concept. I had no idea a thing like this existed.
I wonder if there's something similar around for wheelers. I'll definitely check out the website.

I would love if something like this existed for wheelers and have discussed this...but the care for a person using a wheelchair can be much more technical and personal than guiding a blind person? I would still love to see more agencies that specialize in accessible travel though I think this does exist.

[loreley]

Dec 7, 2019 10:37:36 GMT -5 feelsunshine said:

loreley that is a wonderful concept. I had no idea a thing like this existed.
I wonder if there's something similar around for wheelers. I'll definitely check out the website.

there are a number of travel agencies that offer different types of travel for wheelchair users, such like Runa Reisen in Germany. People can either just book the infrastructure, like an accessible hotel and transfer from and to the airport, or book different levels of care that they need up to specialized accomodation for vent users etc. From what I know, if any assistance is needed, they provide it either with freelancers they employ or with professional care providers, depending on what is needed. 

[AlrightyAphrodite]

Since there were some questions... I've had great experiences with traveleyes. At first I was worried that people were going to be like..."so what are you doing here???" But no one seemed to really care. You rotate partners every day so... Hiking with a handsome, smart blind British guy through the jungles of Guatemala?? Super devvy. Kill me, I'll die happy. We're still in touch. Guiding a crotchety Scottish lady through an Icelandic gift shop??? Uh...not devvy. But still, I enjoy guiding and describing and got some comments that I was good at it so obviously that's super rewarding. Also the trips are to very cool places. I have usually traveled like sleeping on my pack in a chicken bus, so it was great to have posh accomodations I recommend y'all check them out!!

[blindLeap]

When I first saw the premise of this topic I was a little wary, but this actually seems like a pretty cool concept. Obviously I have no idea how well this works in practice but it sounds to me like there have certainly been some positive experiences already :-)
Over here in NL we have a few organizations that organize trips for the blind, Twin Travel comes to mind, but at least in the circles I frequent they don'treally have a good rep at all, so I'm glad to see organizations out there that actually seem to be doinga lot better :-)

[erikajulia]

Dec 9, 2019 4:06:07 GMT -5 blindLeap said:

Twin Travel comes to mind, but at least in the circles I frequent they don'treally have a good rep at all, so I'm glad to see organizations out there that actually seem to be doinga lot better :-)

Why do they have a bad reputation?