‘I SEE THE WORLD THROUGH SMELL AND SENSATION’
Close your eyes, cover your ears — now go and tour Rome on your own. It seems unfeasible, and yet voyaging the world solo while blind and mostly deaf is exactly what Tony Giles does, and he’s almost certainly better travelled than you are. The UK-based author, who turns 40 this year, was a baby when he was diagnosed with rare genetic visual and auditory impairment. At six, he was declared partially deaf in both ears. He could see in black and white until the age of 10.
And yet, he has visited 127 countries, including all seven continents. “I plan to continue travelling until I’ve visited every single country in the world, then keep travelling until I die,” he says.
Now he’s entirely blind and about 80% deaf. A hearing aid helps in certain scenarios. “It’s like having a phone conversation on a broken telephone line,” he explains. “I hear some sounds and words clearly but miss others.”
At schools for the visually impaired, Giles gained the skills needed to achieve independence, such as reading Braille, mobility training and how to use special computer software.
So without sight, and very limited hearing,
what is it like to navigate the world alone?
“I experience monuments by climbing them, as I have the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty,” he explains.
“I experience cities by walking them. I notice shifting gradients and the changes in surfaces under my feet. I sense the change in space when hiking the narrow trails of a forest, as they lead out to an open field when the fresh wind hits my face. I visit famous churches, mosques and temples, touch their crumbling walls and feel the textures that have been layered over the centuries.
“I enjoy the aromas of a marketplace — the grilling of meat, the frying of onions, the zesty spices, ginger and herbs. It’s the hustle and bustle of somewhere like Jerusalem’s Old City, or Zanzibar’s Stone Town that gives me the impression of a place.”
His favourite experiences are adrenalinefuelled. “I’ve bungee jumped 16 times and skydived three times. I’ve white-water rafted in Australia, New Zealand, Costa Rica and Zambia, to name a few. I love it because I can feel everything.”
He favours the richer sensations of trains and boats over other modes of transport.
To plan his trips, Giles uses a type of software called JAWS that allows him to read his computer screen using text-to-speech output. He travels with a digital device that stores his documents and research, phone numbers, directions, and ebooks. Hearing aids, spare batteries, and a spare cane to guide him are also on his packing list.
As for smartphones, it’s a firm no.
“Swipe technology drives me mad,” he says. “It may help me locate a specific place more quickly and independently, but I like engaging with the public to help me find places — and anyway, in places like Africa, the internet is hardly reliable.”
Asked what he does when he gets lost, Giles says: “I always have an address card with the place I’m staying written on it in the local language, so if I’m really stuck, I can shout, ‘Taxi!’, show them the card and return to my accommodation.”
As for languages, he always attempts to memorise the basics (“hello”, “thank you”, “water”) before he heads to a new place.
He funds his travels partly using the private pension his father left him, and partly with earnings from two books he’s written, the first of which — Seeing the World My Way — was republished as an ebook last year.
He keeps to a tight budget, uses public transport wherever possible, joins free walking tours, and makes use of couchsurfing. “It’s great for meeting and staying with local people,” he adds.
The one place he wouldn’t revisit? Armenia. “I found getting about difficult, and felt most people I encountered just wanted to make money out of me. There were only a few backpackers, so it was hard to network and get help with directions.”
And the best places he’s been to? New Zealand and Antarctica. “I turned up in Ushuaia [Argentina] and found a cruise ship willing to take me at the last minute,” he says.
“It was nine days of magic. I touched whale bones washed up on the shore, sat on huge chunks of ice, stroked glaciers, and listened to penguins all around.”
What simple things could others do, should they cross his path, to make his passage easier?
“Speak to me before offering to help, rather than just grabbing me,” he says. “A gentle tap on the arm or shoulder followed by ‘Do you need any help?’ will suffice. And please — don’t point when giving directions.”
● Visit tonythetraveller.com.
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LTony Giles is blind and partially deaf — and a keen globetrotter. He shares his remarkable story with Annabel Fenwick-Elliott