i bet this issue hasn't yet come up here....
i want to take a solo trip throughout s.e. asia. i am a 30-something woman with a significant hearing impairment. in fact, in many situations, i am functionally deaf, although i wear a hearing aid. this alone presents some travel issues, what with insurance, batteries, etc. i can hear a good deal under ideal circumstances, i.e., a quiet room with one speaker. i have functioned pretty well overall, having completed law school and launched a successful career. but so many of the messages i read speak about meeting up with people on the road, how friendly everyone is, eyc. for someone on the periphery of the hearing world, i may be too isolated to realize my travel dream.
i am most isolated in groups of people. i can't follow "noisy" conversations. then, too, i so much want to travel alone and be independent, but if the train-ticket vendor is speaking heavily accented english, i will not understand a single word. what this means is that i will need the help of strangers for many more things that would someone without a disability. i cannot hear alarms. how would i know it's 6 am and time to get up to catch my flight? i can't hear boarding announcements. immigration clerks generally think i am stupid or just uncooperative. and i always have a frind or family member who jumps in and acts as my ears. are all these "nice" travellers i read about going to be willing to assist me in such situations? finally, it's hard to just shoot the breeze with other travelers sharing road stories.
ok. there's my dilemma. even good old american soil can be a scary, isolating and "lonely planet" for a person with a communication disability. maybe i am kidding myself thinking i can trek solo all over asia! what say you? thanking you in advance for any encouragement you can offer, including the encouragement not to go it alone if that's what you think.
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i really admire your courage. but honestly, i wouldn't go
it alone if i were you. i haven't been to asia, but have
travelled in europe, and found that it can be hard to hear
people even when you do understand the language and have
good hearing. there are most times partitions between us
and the ticket agent, info booth person, etc, which makes
communication difficult. plus not hearing alarms limits
you if the only bus is at 6 am and you can't be guaranteed
to catch it. much of your journey may be near misses. i
don't mean to be too discouraging, but a travel companion
who can do all those little things i take for granted may
mean the biggest difference between a quiet, lonely journey
and one of great times meeting new people. whatever you
decide, good luck, and have fun!
I am legally blind, and I have travelled alone in South America and S-E Asia, although I usually have a companion to help. I have found that such a handicap doesn't make travelling much different abroad than at home. If you can get around on your own as a traveler in your own country, I think you will be able to deal with any special problems that arise abroad.
!
One help might be to arrange in advance to have some cards printed in the languages of your destination countries saying "I am deaf---can you help me?", and when you ask for help (as all of us must do), the person will understand the kind of special assistance you might need.
!
Isn't there some kind of alarm clock for the deaf that vibrates against your wrist or something? If not, get the patent for it!
!
Traveling in strange countries is frightening at times for all of us, but everything always turns out alright, finally. Go for it!
If you have gotten through law school and have a successful
career, I am sure that you already have many great
compensatory strategies which help you in your daily life.
Many of these strategies should make things much easier
while travelling...for example, how do you wake up now?
There are many alarms for people who are deaf/hard of
hearing. I'm a speech language pathologist and so I spend
all day with people with communication disabilities and
never ever cease to be amazed at what people can do with
some adjustments. I would spend some time talking with
someone who understands the difficulties you face and who
has travelled and go over some specific scenarios that may
come up. Then you can plan out how to handle them in
advance. Also, consider travelling for the first portion of
your trip with someone, then "spread your wings" and go
solo. Good luck, I know you can do this!
As you already have thought about doing a trip like this,
you are probably a person who would manage it. I agree with
the others that starting out with someone else at first
might be a good idea. If this can help it's a fact that
even hearing persons can have a problem in understanding
one single word. When I was in China, that was quite often
the case, so often I just pointed at maps when buying
tickets, and had someone to write out "one single ticket
hard sleeper, please" in chinese on a piece of paper. A
little writing pad and a pencil was also handy to draw
pictures on. When I travel alone, I usually find smaller
places easier than the big cities to get in contact with
other travellers as the slower pace usually rubs off to
travellers and people get more relaxed and open to others.
I hope you make it and good luck!
having a handicapped younger brother, I have an interest in
seeing how he would be treated in the countries I visit and
what I can learn from them. I have found that while the
USA has enviable facilities, strangers seem less than
willing to help someone out when they are in difficulty.
In other countries, particularly in the Middle East and
South America the locals don't seem to have the same
embarrasment or indifference to helping others out and I
really don't think that you will have any more problems
than you encounter at home.
My problem is that I'm very shy, and it took me quite a
while to learn to take the first step to get to know fellow
travellers, but if you do this from the start there'll be
no end of people to help you out IF you ever need them.
There will be many people who you will hook up with who
will be more than willing to help you out and it's always a
good idea to have phrases written down in a local language.
and I've always found that hostel owners are more than
willing to write down the phrases I'll need.
Have a great trip.
I think you should go for it...perhaps as long as you can
get some sort of alarm clock. - the vibrating one or one
with lights to wake you up. That way you can be assured of
being places on time to make your travel easier. Otherwise,
in many ways, it would be (for me) like being in a place
where no-one spoke English and I couldn't communicate. It
makes a lot of sense to carry around cards, in the local
language, that explain that you are deaf and need
assistance. I also agree that small towns and much better
than larger cities in terms of meeting travellers and
connecting with people.
~
Rather than SE Asia, which can be very busy, maybe try
somewhere more laid back like Nepal. I did a trek there
where I had my own guide and porter (both females) and we
were out in the mountains - this would be quiet and make
communicating easier for you. There is also the chance to
meet people on a one to one situation or a small group in
that sort of environment. Plus, in Nepal it is very cheap
so it is easy to hire a guide to go trekking - I bet you
could even get an English speaking guide to take you around
in the cities for only US$10-20 dollars a day if you needed
that.
~
Are there organisations for the deaf in the countries where
you want to travel? You could maybe contact them for advice
and perhaps you could even meet up with some of the local
deaf people!
Most of the above sounds like good advice, and I'd like to add that when I was travelling in South America a couple of years ago I met a completely deaf American guy who had been travelling solo for several months and was having a fantastic time. He had made the theme of his trip to visit local deaf schools and that way he learned about how deaf people lived in those countries, and had a chance to interact with others in a similar position. He and I had a long chat (written down - difficult to keep up with one's thoughts!) which unfortunately ended when the light grew too dim and we couldn't see to write any longer and he couldn't lip read. Anyway I suppose what I'm trying to say by relating this is, that it's not impossible and I'd encourage you to give it a go, taking on board the advice above. Good luck!
Alicia
Hi,
I'm a 24 year old girl whose travelling to Vietnam and Laos
in July/August. I know some sign language (Auslan), and
would actually really like someone to travel with for a
while. If you're going to be in the area at that time,
perhaps we could meet up for a while...
Melissa
hey mags...thx for your reply. i'd be interested to hear about your independent trek in nepal. might you e-mail me?