Travel near and far
Hello lovely readers,
It has been a while since my last post. Things have been busy at work. I recently finished a Leadership Programme with Disability Rights UK. It was a wonderful course. I learnt about leadership and the type of leader I would like to be. I hope to bring what I have learnt to my current and future roles. It was the annual Visionary Conference in September which is held in Birmingham. The Conference brings together local and national sight loss charities to connect, learn and be inspired by each other. As my second Conference as a Visionary team member it was a more relaxed experience. We all seemed to find our groove and communicated well which was key to our success. Looking ahead, I am starting an events management course next year which is exciting.
Despite keeping busy with work, I have squeezed in a few holidays. I am so grateful to the people around me who support me to travel and enable me to enjoy the world and create memories.
My ultimate goal is to travel alone, and I keep a close eye on travel eyes the accessible travel company for people who are blind and partially sighted. I hope to be writing a blog post to share that experience soon.
This year I have visited some amazing countries with my son and with friends and family.
In France I visited Paris and stayed near to the Mouland Rouge, and we visited all the landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower, the Arch de Triumph and the Louve. Dylan also got a visit to the Paris football stadium; I don’t think we could have left without visiting that! Dylan had always wanted to visit Paris, so it was amazing to be able to give him that experience and be a part of it with him. Yes, it would have been nice to have been just the two of us but accepting what and where my limits are is part of my journey. We got to travel for the first time with his aunties which was great.
We enjoyed a family holiday in Spain in the summer and in Cyprus in October. On both occasions Dylan had me visiting and participating in water parks! He said there was no reason I couldn’t go on the slides as there were slides with double rings and I would be safe with him. He wasn’t wrong! We had the best time and not letting my disability stand in the way really added to the experience. My age stood more in the way than my disability when it came to the big slides!
I got to attend a close friend’s wedding in Bali. It was most definitely a destination wedding and with the support of my family, my colleagues at work and my friends I was able to join the celebrations. It was such a beautiful event with activities every day. There was time to relax in the pool and catch up with old friends who live on the other side of the world. After meeting these friends over five years ago they still were supportive and treated me the same as everyone else. I felt so included and had the best time dancing the nights away.
There was such an eclectic range of people at the wedding party, which reminded me that no matter where you are from, what you look like or what you believe people can come together. It was a bonus that it was in such a beautiful place and even though I couldn’t see it I could feel it, smell it, touch it and hear it. Proving to myself and those around me that to be in a moment you don’t just have to see it. This brings me to the concept of instagramming. There was a tour in Bali which followed the trail of instagramers and the places they visited and photographed. Surely it is better to be in the moment than live it through a lens and by someone else’s agenda? I appreciate it is nice to share moments but when the photograph becomes all people see they miss the elements of the moment that make it special to them individually. I believe that is one gift that losing my sight has given me. It has given me the time to pay attention to the other parts of a moment. I am grateful for that and the new way in which I experience things. I am not saying there are not moments when it is really hard because there are. I am sharing how we can look at a situation in another way and be positive. We only have one life and we need to live it!
After all the wedding festivities we had a day for sightseeing. My sister and I booked a private tour guide and off we went. We had lunch over looking rice paddy fields and visited waterfalls and an interesting coffee farms where they create coffee from the poo of a local animal! Apparently this intensifies the coffee taste!
We also visited a temple. Bali is mainly a Hindu country and many people follow daily rituals and offer offerings to their gods. Within this temple they had holy waters which you could walk through to cleanse. The waters ran from the mountains and through the temple coming out of several spouting pots. Each pot represented a different element of life such as love, health, family, work. The one I was intrigued about was the nightmares spout. The idea of the walk through was to say a prayer to the gods, we were told to pray to whomever we felt comfortable. Then we put our head under the flowing water spout which would cleanse and wash away the negative elements and bless the future elements. People pray for better health, luck at work, stronger families anything I guess that you hold close or want help with. It is a personal experience, and nothing is said out loud, so I won’t share with you what I prayed for but I did participate. When we reached the nightmare spout I was wondering what this meant? Was it to literally wash away the bad nightmares? Was that the nightmares in sleep or in wake? I prayed for the people who have Charles Bonnet Syndrome and have to face their nightmares in their hallucinations. I prayed for them and myself in the hope that some of it may wash away.
I drew comfort from the ritual. It brought some peace so was worth doing. It was an honor to learn about the rituals, traditions and religion of Bali and being able to take part of it away into my own journey is amazing too.
Well after a busy year we now look to the winter months and what that might bring but I will carry my summer experiences to keep the light bright. These are all my own thoughts and experiences. I appreciate all ways of thinking and welcome your thoughts.
Sending love
Nina xx