If you travel independently, planning is everything. It can make the difference between a memorable life affirming experience, or a stressful waste of time and money. Its also fun. Successful holidays begin in your imagination, and develop as you plan the trip. The more you invest personally in the trip, the more you should get out of it.

I have oriented my travel habit around a few themes. As a former art student I made a plan years ago to try to visit all of the world’s major art museums. Since I also studied history, I wanted to also visit many of the world’s most historic places. Additionally, nature itself offers endless panorama of majestic and beautiful sites to attract the eye. Finally as a movie fan, film locations have likewise been a major inspiration for planning holidays. Above all, I wanted to photograph my travels, partly to document the experience, but also for artistic expression, and more recently to provide material for social media. Fortunately for me, most tourist locales feature generous amounts of each, and it’s rare that I’ve ever gone to any location just to satisfy one interest.

Travelling with a vision impairment adds an added dimension. Many aspects of trip planning that a fully sighted traveller might not consider require extra thought and research. That being said, any independent traveller should benefit from taking those extra steps.