Hello from a Blinkie

Hello, I'm David of DavidandJane, and we bought our Bailey ("Topsy") in 2010 as the solution to me not being able to go on long-distance holidays due to ill health. I'm not on dialysis anymore so we can venture further afield, and will be venturing to the South coast later this week.

We're loving caravanning, both having done it as children. Jane enjoys towing - she's always the designated driver as I'm registered blind and have virtually no sight. She admitted to being petrified of reversing the van, but has been on Club manoevering course at Myerscough College and her confidence increased considerably. 

So if you see a tallish, 50-ish blind man on a site charging along with a white stick in front of him, come and say hello. Because I can't make eye contact a lot of people think I'm ignoring them - but I'm not. That's probably compounded by the fact that once I'm in a familiar environment - such as in the immediate vicinity of our van - I don't need my stick, and as my sight issues are due to optic nerve damage I don't look like a sterotypical blind person. 'Blinkie' is a name Jane coined a long time ago for little cartoon character I use on web sites, and collectively myself and some blind friends have become 'Blinkies'.

I've wondered a couple of times whether this makes people wary of approaching me - are they afraid of the stick? Don't know what to say? Is the rest of the world shy? - as the friendliness and camaraderie on sites that I've heard so much about has been lacking so far, other than a very kind chap who came over to see what he could do when we had a flat tyre at Cliff Bank Cottage CL over Easter. 

We'll be in Sheepcote Valley, Brighton, from 30 May to 11 June so please do come and say hello, I'm always up for a natter (especially as we're inexperienced caravanners and always looking for tips and helpful suggestions).

Happy caravanning everyone, may the sun shine on you and your awning go up first time!

David