See The World Thru My Eyes

Accessibility: Antonia standing in front of a green tile wall. She is wearing a mint blazer and white lace top. I want to start by saying that I realize this is a contentious issue in the disability community and that there is no right or wrong answer. I think everyone should do what they feel comfortable with. That being said, I have an opinion that has changed over the years and I have experienced everything from not disclosing at all to being open from the get go. When I was younger, I was of the opinion I should not disclose my disability to a potential employer -ever. According to the Americans with Disabilities Act, I am not required to disclose and potential employers, or employers, cannot ask. Of course, if I didn't disclose, I could not expect any reasonable accommodations. When I worked all my part-time jobs in college, I didn't ever share I had a disability. I didn't want to get a 'black mark' on my application and, what's worse, I fel...

Accessibility: picture of a beach, cliffs and the ocean taken from  a moving train. On Tuesday I woke up bright and early so that I could board Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner to Santa Barbara. I had never taken an Amtrak train in the States -let alone by myself. I will discuss how accessible it was at the end of my post. For now, I want to focus on the trip itself. The train was extremely comfortable and one of the conductors told me which side to sit on to get the best views. In the two and a half hour journey from San Luis Obispo to Santa Barbara we went through mountains and a gorgeous shoreline. The sea was roaring and some of the passengers got to see whales as they were migrating -I didn't, because... blindness. However, I certainly appreciated the beautiful scenery! Accessibility: street lined with trees and buildings in the Spanish-style architecture. I arrived to Santa Barbara at 9:30AM. Since I was just spending a half day there and didn't re...

Accessibility: Antonia sitting on a park bench on a sunny day. Her cane is leaning on the bench. If you are blind or legally blind, you become very comfortable with awkward. The fact that you can't see or pick up on someone's nonverbal cues can get you in some really sticky or embarrassing situations... You can do two things: 1) You can hate yourself for that (not too healthy!) or 2) You can laugh it off and decide that this is what makes life interesting. I decided to do the latter. I laugh at this situations, usually once I realize what's happening. However, that being said, not everyone is like me. Please, don't assume that if a visually impaired person gets themselves into a similar situation as me it is Ok to laugh -it's not! Wait for a cue from the person so you know how to react. So, I hope you will join me for some laughs in what certainly are cringe-worthy situations I have gotten myself into because I am legally blind. Is this not the girls...

I love traveling, always have. I am fortunate that I was able to travel so much from a very young age. For me, traveling is about so much more than just seeing new places and trying new food. For me, traveling is a chance to immerse myself in a new culture, learn new things about that place's history and gain a new perspective on the world. Accessibility: mountainous landscape with wooden houses reflected in the crystalline waters of a fjord. Norwegian Fjord. NORWAY: Some may say this doesn't count because I had the privilege of living in Norway for two years. However, in that time, I got to explore so much of the country. If I had to describe Norway in one word, I would say magical. Albeit seemingly cold, Norwegians are welcoming and eager to help in any way they can. I was impressed by how clean cities like Oslo and Bergen are. I loved to see the wooden buildings and the country's rich history. However, I think we can all agree that fjords are the most ...

Accessibility: Antonia walking down a pedestrian street using her customized Ambutech cane on a sunny day. I started using a white cane about six months ago. I am legally blind, which means that my best corrected vision is 20/200 or less. I am not totally blind. In fact, more than 90% of white cane users aren't; we have varying degrees of vision loss. I was never taught how to use a cane growing up (even though I was born legally blind) and I don't even remember it ever being a discussion. It might be because in Spain we don't have as big a culture of white cane use like in the United States, or perhaps it is because I have pretty good functional vision. In other words, I don't generally bump into stuff. So why did I decide to start using a white cane? There were many reasons that pushed me to make this decision and I wanted to share them for those adults that might be wondering whether they should get a white cane and parents of visually impaired children t...

Accessibility: Antonia and David are walking in the center of a  desolate road amidst the desert mountains. Accessibility: picture of red rock mountains. Red Rock Canyon. Three months ago my husband David and I packed up all our worldly possessions into our mid-sized sedan and made the seven hour drive from Las Vegas, Nevada to the Central California Coast. We changed the desert winds for the sea breeze. We traded desert dust for luscious sand. We swapped impressive red mountains for endless green rolling hills. It was a bitter-sweet day. We had to say goodbye to so many things. Las Vegas was where we came straight out of college and got our first jobs. In Las Vegas we grew, both personally and professionally. It was in this city that we moved into our first apartment together. Sin City witnessed our proposal and our I do’s. We met wonderful people and made life-long connections. However, it was time. We had been thinking about leaving Southern Nevada for quite ...

Accessibility: Antonia in a flower dress and  sunglasses is holding her white cane  and smiling in front of the Paris Hotel. My name is Antonia and I am a 29-year-old woman who happens to be legally blind. I was born with albinism, a condition that affects the production of pigment in my body and affects my vision. However, I have always known something: my albinism doesn’t define me, but it makes me who I am. My hope for this blog is that in sharing my life, I can show you that nothing stops me, not even my vision. I look forward to sharing visual interests like traveling, fashion, makeup and literature, and not so visual interests such as music. It is my goal to shed some light into the life of the blind and visually impaired (pun intended) and advocate for a more accessible world while, at the same time, discuss my interests. Some of my posts will be low-vision and blind specific, but many others will not. Whether you end up in this corner of the internet be...