No Risk in Sight

Once in awhile, I find that I meet someone incredible that changes the way I think. Two weeks ago at an AIESEC conference, I had that experience when I met a man from Lincz by the name of Thomas. Thomas is a remarkable man by any measure. He’s studying to be a lawyer, is incredibly intelligent, great conversationalist, speaks German and English like a native speaker, is good with the ladies, is an accomplished independent traveller and does all of this without being able to see.

What I find particularly amazing and inspiring is his ability to act without inhibition and accomplish what many us are scared to do even with the ability to see. He is completely independent and travels by himself. He participates in the couch surfing program which allows you to find a stranger’s couch anywhere in the world for a wear traveller to lay his or her head. He’s survived Vegas and China and has plans to travel to many new and exciting places.

I began to reflect on what I typically expect from a vacation and it usually starts with what I want to see. Maybe it’s the beach in Cuba, maybe it’s the historical buildings in Europe or the view from the tops of the alps. In either case there is always a camera involved and a map with a list of things that I need to see. Then the question popped into my head for which I had never given any thought to before:

What is the allure of a vacation for a person without the ability to see and how does that person experience travel?

Admittedly, this is a very narrow minded question but one that I really curious to find out the answer for. For Thomas, it’s 100% about the experience. It’s the feeling of the hot sun on his skin on that same beach in Cuba with a Cuba Libre in hand, it’s the people that he meets and how they receive him as much as it is about doing crazy things like sleeping outside and waking up on a rooftop in Vegas.

He can tell you that story though…

After learning this I get the feeling that our ability to see risk may in fact inhibit us from doing the things we really want to do. What do you think?