Travelling is not a high priority on my list. I’m a homebody and that only gets more so the older I get. But I do like travelling at least once a year just to be in a different environment and experience another place and vibes.

Being from Aruba and living in the Netherlands for the past 24 years I have travelled back home several times to visit my family, making a vacation out of it. During college, I also went abroad on study trips to Prague, Florence and Pisa.

Most of this was before I lost all my hearing and became chronically ill ¹. Since becoming late-deaf and chronically ill it took years before I took the courage to travel alone somewhere else that was not Aruba or Curacao where my family are.

In 2018 a serious health scare gave me the courage needed and I travelled alone to Manhattan, New York. Since then I have travelled a couple of times alone, always by train so far.

My own company

For most people I guess it’s not a big deal taking a train to another country alone. But for me being completely deaf and with a chronic illness that limits my energy among others — it’s a big deal. A deal that needs good planning.

The solo travelling part I like, I like my own company, I like moving at my own pace, doing whatever I want even if it is spending an afternoon at the hotel, eating food and watching TV with French captions, trying to follow what Gregory House is going on about. 

I will go all the way to Paris, walk around in some arrondissement, sit on a bench and watch people walk by. 

It would be nice though to once travel with a travel partner. But reading from others experience, it’s not easy to find a travel partner that is on the same wave lenght as you. As in what to do, how much to do, where to stay. I am a minimum 3-star hotel kind of person, do not come at me with a hostel. 

The hurdles

Travelling solo can be nerve-racking when you are deaf and trains get cancelled or flights are delayed, gate changes, and I need to figure out what is happening. Years ago I had to give up on a trip to Paris. I was stranded in Brussels and I had to turn back home. All because the communication in Rotterdam was awful during mass delays.

The chronic ill part adds to the limited energy and low simmering stress of I hope I don’t get sick. I’m cautious about what and where I eat to minimize my chances of getting food poisoning.

Due to the fact that, I don’t drive or bike, and I am a tiny featherweight woman. I’m limited to travel to places that are safe to be alone and with good public transportation.

Another thing that keeps spooking in my mind is; what if there is a fire at the hotel in the middle of the night? Will they remember they have a deaf person staying alone that needs to be warned? The chance of a hotel fire in the middle of the night is minuscule. But it could happen.

Some challenges to conquer still

What has helped me with travelling solo is that I plan my trips to coincide with when a friend of mine is in the same city. I know there is one soul in the city that I know, which gives me some peace of mind. Like a safety blanket. I travel, do my own things, and stay at a hotel, but I know there is a soul I know, also in the same city.

I do meet up with that friend for dinner which is always nice because we don’t see each other often. But I do not depend on them for getting around and the whole travel shebang. 

Hopefully, I will get the courage soon to travel somewhere I don’t know a single soul.

Footnote:

1. I never talk about my life with chronic illness, except for a podcast years ago. I do write about it sometimes in my newsletter where I feel more comfortable to write more personal.