Chapter 11 - A Sense of the World

Do you like to travel? Do you consider yourself "well" traveled? And when I say “travel” I mean for pleasure, not because you have to for work. If so, how many countries and cultures would you say you have visited? And what would be the total number of miles you have traveled in your lifetime, assuming you summed up the total amount of mileage you have covered on each trip? For example, let’s say you went on a trip from Philadelphia to London (a trip I would love to make). That puts you at about 3550 miles each way, for a total of 7100 round trip. Add in a few side day trips and you might add 7500 miles for that trip. Not bad. So, what would your lifetime total be?

Would you be impressed if I told you about a man that traveled a quarter of a million miles in his lifetime? Yes, 250,000 miles. And that he visited over 200 separate cultures? I doubt any of us come close to that. And what if I told you this man traveled without the help of airplanes, steam ships or railroads, instead traveling on foot, horseback, in carriages or on boats powered by the wind? Impressed yet? And what if I told you that this incredible world traveler was totally and utterly blind? Astonished? Amazed? Then read on!

The man I have described is James Holman, a British naval officer who lived in the early 1800s, who lost his sight early in his adulthood. His story is told in A Sense of the World: How a Blind Man Became History's Greatest Traveler by Jason Roberts. This is a quick, enjoyable book about this remarkable, if nearly forgotten, man. Talk about challenging yourself and not letting life’s obstacles slow you down! Besides losing his sight to an unknown illness, Holman also suffered great pains in his joints. Soon after becoming blind, he decided to travel south through Europe to get some fresh Mediterranean air. His doctors thought it would do his joints well and that he might be able to find some treatment for his eyes. While he never was to regain his sight, Holman discovered that traveling was a great thrill to him and invigorated his body and spirit incredibly. After returning to England, he couldn’t wait to be on the road again. He made a lengthy trip to Russia and eastward out into Siberia, attempted to complete a circumnavigation of the globe. When the Tsar’s personal messenger retrieved him in Siberia, brought him westward and exiled him in Poland, Holman’s circumnavigation plans had to be put on hold. But not for long. He soon left on what would become a wild, five-year journey westward that eventually took him around the entire globe, with memorable stops off the coast of Africa, in Brazil, Madagascar and China. His last major excursion was through Scandinavia. Although his books describing his journeys were often met with criticism ("How can a blind man possibly write a travel narrative? He didn’t see anything!"), Holman insisted that his sightlessness allowed him to experience and absorb his surroundings through the other senses in a more complete manner than if he was relying on sight alone. A very interesting concept. The author sums up Holman this way: "Alone, sightless, with no prior command of native languages and with only a wisp of funds, he had forged a path equivalent to wandering to the moon." Pretty remarkable!

I’ll stop here so I don’t give away the whole story. This is a really wonderful book and if you want to hear more about Holman’s unlikely travels, the interesting and often famous people he met, his deaf friend and traveling companion (could there be a more unlikely duo?), his knighthood or his unique method of tapping a stick to "see" his surroundings (echolocation), I recommend you Buy the Book! I don’t think you’ll regret it. And who knows, Holman may just inspire you to get out and add a few miles to your lifetime total!