Megan: Hello and welcome to Travel Radio Podcast. Today I am privilege to have Kevin Lowe on the podcast for the first time. Kevin will you take a moment to introduce yourself?
Kevin: Absolutely. I'm the owner of Better Days Travel where I get to help make people's dreams come true through the design of Bucket List vacations. In addition I'm an avid blogger and host of my own podcast called The Lowe Down on Life and Travel. And of course I should mention the one characteristic that does set me apart from the majority, and that being that I am completely blind.
Megan: Well, belated Happy International Podcast Day! Will you share a little about your podcast?
Kevin: I'd love to. So, my podcast, The Lowe Down on Life and Travel is a place where I am able to combine my love for traveling with my passion for enjoying life in a way that I can only hope will be of some sort of inspiration to those listening.
Megan: Where can people find you online?
Kevin: Well, my travel agency's website is a great starting point, www.BetterDaysTravel.com. But then I'm also on Facebook and Instagram... @BetterDaysTravel
https://facebook.com/betterdaystravel
https://instagram.com/betterdaystravel
Megan: Before we get started into our formal interview questions... I want you tell me how someone should approach or talk about blindness or a bling person in a framework that causes as little offense ad possible.
Kevin: Well, I'll preface my answer by saying that I can only speak on my behalf. Everyone is different, so just know that I am answering for myself, not particularly for the entire blind community. But with that said, I will ask you to please not worry what so ever about saying something offensive or saying the wrong thing. I am completely blind, which I use to describe my blindness in a way to explain that I do not see anything. So, I do not have any light perception what so ever. Many people are actually not completely blind, the majority still have some degree of vision and that is where the term, Visually Impaired comes into play.
Megan: Let’s dive into today's topic a "Blind Review” of sorts. (Is this offensive to blind people?). Lot’s of businesses claim to have blind reviews on products but you are the real deal. Let’s talk about your strengths and senses that have heightened since you became blind. Can you describe those to us?
Kevin: A "Blind Review"! I love it! So, yes, it is actually quite amazing how our other senses take over when one is lost. Sometimes people think that we have some type of extraordinary hearing ability, but that's not really the case... It's just that my brain is now focusing all of its attention to the senses I have left, making them much more in-tune than someone with say all 5 senses. One thing that is pretty interesting is that as of about 3 years ago I developed a new ability, and that is to see through the use of echo location. So, my brain, the visual cortex, has been retrained to see not with sight, but with sound. (I can go on to explain this if you would like during the recording).
Megan: I would assume going on vacation is a very different experience for you. I would like to know, capitalizing on your sense of touch, what is it in a resort or cruise ship that makes it stand out above the rest in terms of a level of luxury?
Kevin: I will answer by comparing and contrasting various resorts and cruise ships that I have been on to help explain the way in which I "see" the destination. With my answer I will touch on noticing how clean or not clean the room is, how plush and comfortable the bed is, does the shower have a nice rain shower head, carpeting verses tile, etc.
Megan: Now,
