Over the last few years I have developed hearing disabilities and need to wear hearing aids. Traveling can sometimes be a challenge due to poor speaker quality, accents from different areas, quiet, gentle speaking folks, etc.
Has anyone with these difficulties ever taken a RS tour by themselves? I would love to hear from you folks as I so much want to continue traveling and exploring, but haven't found the right travel partner as of yet. I might add that I am 61.
You don't need a travel partner for a RS tour. I've gone without one and I just turned 63. I too wear hearing aids. Sometimes it is difficult to understand everything even with the hearing aids. I am already planning my next RS tour.
I have been on 8 RS tours (soon to be 9) and I do believe that there were single people on every one of them. I have been quite pleased to watch the other tour members go out of their way to make sure that the singles are invited to join in with other members when they are doing things outside of the tour. Go for it.
I am 64 and wear hearing aids. aloha charlie
I've worn hearing aids all my life, and often struggled to hear tour guides. As soon as you know you want to take a tour, ask them if they will accommodate your disability with an assistive listening device. They're lightweight, reasonably priced, & work like a charm. You're welcome to private-message me for more info. (I don't sell them or get any kind of commission.)
Hi Olivia,
I am nearly 27, have been hearing impaired since birth, and have gone on 2 RS tours--first solo and second with my dad.
While I agree that traveling can sometimes be a challenge, it's certainly no reason not to go. Both of Rick's tour guides were extremely accommodating and helpful about my hearing issues and that's an excellent way to go if a tour interests you.
The biggest issue I ran into was when they used headsets which was in the Vatican Museum on the first tour, and throughout on the second. However, I figured out the second time that if your hearing aids have t-coils (for the telephone), look into getting a Music Link. It plugs directly into the headphone jack and feeds the sound into your hearing aid's t-coil. The only downside is you won't be able to hear people who aren't speaking into the microphone unless you switch back off the t-coil.
If that's not an option for you, try staying closer to the guide. With the smaller group sizes, I found it was fairly easy to stay within earshot and if I missed something, my fellow tour members were only too happy to help fill me in.
Thank all of you for your kind words for the hearing disabled. I've stumbled around trying to decide on this issue and now I feel much better hearing from others. Any other advise would be much welcomed.
Olivia
