Let's enjoy ourselves even if things go wrong

Starting tomorrow, I'm taking time off work to go visit friends in another prefecture with my son. Tomorrow, I'm visiting A-chan, a cute younger friend who just had a baby last year. From the day after tomorrow until Sunday, I'll be staying with N-chan, a friend from my junior high school days. I'll be staying over at N-chan's house, and we'll be going out to various places together.

I have to take trains I'm not used to riding. I'm going to places I've never been to and don't know. For someone like me who has difficulty seeing and hearing, going to unfamiliar places still makes my heart race and makes me feel anxious, no matter how old I get.

I have a bitter memory from when I was job hunting, where I didn't know how to get back from a company in Tokyo, ended up crossing prefectural borders in a taxi, and paid over 10,000 yen.

I once told a friend with low vision, 'I'm scared and not good at taking trains alone to places I don't know,' and was told, 'Just do your best...'

On the other hand, there were times when I took action and traveled alone by train for five hours from Sapporo, Hokkaido, to places like Abashiri and Hakodate.

I'm always anxious, but it seems my personality is such that if I just give it a push and say 'Here goes!', I can take action.

This time, it's not that long of a distance. (1.5 to 2 hours one way). Still, since it's an unfamiliar place I've never been to, I do feel some anxiety.

But more than the anxiety, I have a strong feeling that if any mishaps happen, I'll just enjoy them too!

In the past, it was a struggle just to find the right train using a flip phone and a monocular.
But things are different now!

I can make an effort to find the train I need to board by enlarging the screen on my smartphone, and if I can't find it, I can just ask a station attendant. If I can't hear them, I have a transcription app, and above all, I have my second-grade son with me!

Useful tools: Smartphone, transcription app
People I can rely on: Station attendants and my son 👦 If I'm still in trouble, I'll just ask someone passing by ❕

Hoping this will be a fun spring break memory for my son as well, I'm off to enjoy myself °˖✧

#VisualImpairment
#LowVision
#HearingImpairment
#HardOfHearing