Five years ago, I was given some upsetting news. I went to the optometrist for the first time, and I knew something was wrong. Especially when my doctor said that he would take photos of my eyes for free, while he was talking to my mother. When I came back into the room, my mother informed me that I had something called Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP). A genetic disease that causes blindness.

I was just a kid back then and tried to push my family away. I couldn’t let them see the pain that I had shoved into a jar. I couldn’t tell them how annoyed I would get when I tripped over the rocks, that I couldn’t see, on a hike to see a beautiful waterfall. I loved to explore; I loved adventure, but I couldn’t go on any of the adventures I wanted to do.

Then we got the Hase Pino a tandem bike that allows me to have adventures with my family again. One day, while my dad was piloting me, we started discussing an idea. An idea to help me travel the world. What is this idea? I will ride from city to city on a tandem bike with new people piloting me each day. In each city I will meet with locals, try their favorite food and experience something they love to do in the city. This tour is called the Through Your Eyes World Tour and I want to invite you to come with me on this epic adventure. If I come to your city, I hope we can meet and go on an adventure. Sign up to participate using the Tour Participant Registration.

Through Your Eyes World Tour

The main purpose of the Through Your Eyes World Tour is to experience this world with all of you, and I hope that you can also help me prove that disability does not mean the inability to chase your dreams. 

This tour will feature me riding across the world in multiple stages. Starting with Utah, this first stage will be the smallest, as a test run of sorts. On the tour of Utah, we will be changing the riders and having multiple experiences in each city with locals; whether that is just eating some grub or maybe jumping off of a cliff into the water, that is for them to decide. We will announce another stage shortly after the end of the Utah tour. What will a day on tour look like? 

A Day on Tour

A day on tour will follow me meeting with a local in the city I am in and having breakfast with them. Allowing me to try out the food of their culture. Along with an experience with another individual from the city. What will the adventure be? Well, I have no clue. So if you do, please go to the tour participant registration page and tell me what you think it should be. 

After the experience in the first city, I will jump onto the Hase Pino with another local and make my way to the next city. I will have lunch with a local and another experience with another local in the second city. After that, I will take my final ride of the day to a third city. I will have my final meal for the day with another local. I’m not gonna lie, I’m kind of picky about food, so having three different people choose the meal kind of gets me a little worried but at the same time, I’m excited to try out new food!

In the final part of the day, I finally get some rest! Where am I going to sleep, though? Well, if you all are willing, I would love it if some of you could host me. If I am in your city, and if you have a fun game, I am all for learning and playing a game before bed!

So each day we will meet with around 8 individuals and learn their stories and a little bit about their culture. Everyone has a story that we can learn from. Along with the fact that there are over 3,800 different unique cultures in this beautiful world, if I could learn more about just one, it would be a unique experience. After all, everyone has a different perspective and combines that with their culture. Well, I guess what I am saying is that everyone is unique, and I want to know what makes you unique, I want to see the world through your eyes!

Invitation

As you can tell, this tour requires a lot of participation from you or those you think will enjoy it. Since I will be meeting with, on average, 8 people a day, not including the possibility of other bikers deciding to bike with us on their bikes. If you have an experience, meal, or interesting story you wish to share, you can ride a bike over a long distance or just have a room in your house. Please go to the tour participant registration page and apply! I can’t wait to go on this adventure with all of you and thank you. Have a good day or night!

Josh Taylor is signing off.