Life Without the Internet
Life without the Internet? NO WAY!
I will start this entry by reminding all of you that the things that make my life so wonderful, other than my family and job, are reading, travel, gardening, and everything to do with food.
For the most part, the computer is a tool that helps me do the things I love best. I don’t get up in the morning thinking "GOODY GOODY, I GET TO USE THE COMPUTER TODAY!" In fact, after using a computer for decades I still have at least one moment a day where I wish I could throw the stupid thing right out the window.
I guess I almost have a personal relationship with the computer, kind of a love/hate sort of thing. On the other hand, I now have two computers in my house. I got one of those cute little net books that I can use while sitting on a deck chair, or the recliner, depending on the weather.
I recently had another love affair with the internet. Sometimes I really do wonder how I ever lived without it.
I have used the internet to plan several wonderful vacations. Although my husband loves traveling every bit as much as I do, he does not like the planning part. In fact, he hears the word "plan" and crawls into a shell. I have to be the planner and I can be pretty good at putting it off. A few years ago I discovered that all the travel books that everyone reads have websites. I used the Foders site to plan our trip to South Africa and we had an amazing trip. I used their traveler’s questions and answers section and got great answers to my posted questions. I found people who were actually excited about the idea of sharing what they knew with a blind person. We found someone who planned a wonderful forest walk just for me.
Well, we are going to Crete in the fall. We will spend one week on our own and the second week at a time share with our grown children. We booked the time share almost two years ago and got the frequent flyer tickets exactly 330 days before our return date. That is when the free tickets are released. Since there are really only a few free tickets on each plane you have to move fast. All the easy stuff was done. We bought several travel books that sat unread on our coffee table. Actually I think we had a house guest who read all of them but I only dusted them. A couple of weeks ago, I went back to www.fodors.com to ask the perfect question and to my surprise they had changed the website and I could not find my way around using my screen reader. Panic began to set in. I was supposed to be the great planner and I had done nothing. I remembered how much I enjoy the Rick Steves TV show and typed in www.ricksteves.com and my world became a better place. The site worked perfectly with my screen reader and besides that, the entire site made sense to a non surfer like me. I found their traveler's hotline and posted my question. I got a response saying they had my post. I also complimented them on their wonderful site. The next day I checked my gmail account and there was an email from my new favorite website stating that I had an answer to my post and a link I could click on that would bring me right to the post. Here is where the real magic began.
My question was answered by Janet Kroll, a woman with a special love for traveling in Crete and a gift for sharing her information. If you happen to be planning a trip to Greece or to Crete or you just like experiencing someone’s love of travel visit - http://www.techforecast.com/janet.htm
Janet has completely made our trip come together. She even found a tactile museum in Athens that we can visit to see models of all the historic statues and such before we hit the road. I will be able to touch everything and my sighted husband will where a sleep shade and touch as well. http://www.athensinfoguide.com/wtsmuseums/tactualmuseum.htm.
Janet helped us find bargain flights and rental cars and guided us through finding the best places for us to stay including who has the best garden and where we can get cooking classes.
I feel a bit guilty that I only post and don’t answer so my next goal is to give back and help other people travel to the places I love. I have kept good logs and have a lot of information to share.
If you are blind, and you post a question, tell people of your visual situation. This makes people think about what they love in a different way and puts you in touch with people who will love sharing with you. This is one of those times when you should play the blind card.
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