About Us!
We are Bryanna and Jason, a couple from Cincinnati, OH who loves to travel and see the world.
My husband Jason has a blinding eye disease called "Retinitis Pigmentosa". He was born with sight, but gradually loses a little bit of sight each year. He is currently legally blind, but can still see some things with his limited sight. We can't do anything about it and there's no treatment for it.
What we CAN do is travel while we're young and while he still has useful vision. We both love music, art, and food so traveling to Paris was a no brainer for both of us.
We went to Machu Picchu the year before, and if we can handle the rugged terrain of the Peruvian Andes, the streets of Paris should be no problem for us.
So Jason CAN see, but he cant' see well?
Yup, that's right! A lot of blind people have some sight, just not enough that the can see where tripping hazards are. Jason has some sight, but he needs his cane to make sure he doesn't bump into anything. He also read Braille and types on a Braille typewriter.
One of Jason's favorite things in Paris was actually Monet's water lilies. He said that the 'up close' look of the colorful impressionist brushstrokes was a close approximation of his sight. He says his sight is a bit like 'colorful static' in the areas of his visual field where his vision is being lost the most. He doesn't just see 'nothing', his brain actually tries to make up patterns where the sight has been lost.
When Monet was painting his big water lilies at the end of his life, he was also losing his sight. Monet was technically legally blind when he painted many of his famous water lilies. So it's important to remember that being blind doesn't have to be the end of enjoying art and enjoying life and travel!
What about you, Bryanna?
Well, I'm a theater kid at heart with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in animation, and I work as a professional artist.
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I also love travel and learning about art and art history. My 'bucket list' is basically going to every art museum I can. And I've been to many!
But I still have many left to go to, and there's a ton in Paris to see. So I was very excited to go on a Parisian adventure full of food, fun, and ART!!
As far as travel goes, I'm always down for a fun adventure someplace new. I'd never been to France before this trip so we were excited to go.
So how accessible is travel, and traveling with Rick Steves?
In general, my husband is able to travel independently for business if he needs to; he can check in with an airline counter and be wheeled to his gate if needed. There's people who can help him call a cab to his hotel, and so forth. He actually does a few solo trips each year! That said, it's a lot easier to travel with a 'sighted' person (that's me!) when you're visually impaired, especially to a new place you've never been to. I can read signs and menus for him better then his applications can with 'text to speech'.
But most things travel wise can be done via accessible smart phones these days, and many counters at museums and other places will offer accessible services. The louvre for example has galleries in the Islamic art space where you can touch the art! We didn't do it this trip, but we will absolutely be back to Paris to do that. Blind people (and their +1s) can also get into museums for free often in Europe!
Blind travelers can do almost anything a fully sighted traveler can do, and for things that are more difficult, like navigating a busy airport alone, there are often services available to make that easier for a visual impaired traveler.
