TR:
What’s good fine people.
I have a lot to say about this episode so I’m just going to get right into it.
Well of course after the intro…
The best way to kick this one off…
[Audio: Been Around the World, Notorious BIG]
[Audio: RMMRadio Theme]
JP:
By the way what I’m about to tell you is true and I don’t give a damn if you believe it or not!
TR:
Any story that begins like that, well, you know it has to be good. whether it’s true or not, that’s for you to decide.
That voice you just heard is Jim Paradiso.
you can call Jim, a nomad!
A modern day nomad refers to people; often those with an online virtual business, where one’s income isn’t tied to a brick and mortar location.
Earning 60K for example and living outside of the US on various continents can really stretch that dollar.
That’s not exactly Jim’s situation. He’s been living a version of this lifestyle for over a year now and is currently in Loja, Ecuador.
According to Jim;
JP:
The adventure is the journey
TR:
With that said, let’s begin with the journey that lead Jim to Loha Ecuador.
JP:
I was talking to a friend, he was moving to Vilcabamba and I’d never heard of Vilcabamba and I said it sounds like a good name so I left to go to Vilcabamba. Which is a fifteen hour ride on a bus from. Manta to Vilcabamba. So it took me four weeks to get there.
I get into Cuenca and of course with me now I’m traveling alone for the first time. And I’m up in this Hostel, I said well OK, so I posted on FB { I’m in Cuenca, what’s there to do for a blind man traveling on his own?
TR:
Ok, , the fact that Jim is blind for most people probably makes the idea of him living a life as a nomad and traveling in unknown places, is maybe;
Very frightening?
Unbelievable?
Well, then let’s pause on the journey through Ecuador for a moment and hear what some may think is an unbelievable adventure of Jim’s vision loss
and the series of preceding events .
JP:
I had an aneurism Thirteen years ago on my left eye. And they tried to fix it and they screwed up the eye entirely. Then three years ago I woke up one morning and I had an aneurism in the other I. And I went through ocular injections and everything else that went with it and I had a bad reaction to the ocular injections which caused me to have a stroke.
so I was living with a girlfriend who decided she didn’t want to be with a blind man.
I ended up homeless. I was a month from being blind enough to qualify for Social Security. I was unemployed and Basically I was living on the couch of a motor home
that belong to a friend of mine who was in a retirement community.
So I get a phone call from my brother who was living in Ecuador and he said Well Linda is looking for a manager for a B&B would you like the job? I said, well what’s the pay. Room and board and fifty dollars a week.
Ok, I could be homeless in a motorhome in Florida or I could be homeless on a beach in Ecuador?
kind of a no brainer to me.
TR in conversation with JP:
and I’m sure fifty dollars is different in Ecuador than in Florida.
JP:
It doesn’t make any difference as long as you got food and shelter who cares about the rest of it. I live very inexpensively because that money doesn’t mean anything to me anymore.
I went for a pedicure because I couldn’t see my toe nails and I was catching them on my socks and when she cut the calluses off the bottom my feet so when I went for a walk on the beach I ended up getting third degree burns on the bottom of my feet.
I picked up a flesh eating bacteria and I had to be medivac the act from Ecuador to the United States after two operations down here and five days in the hospital.
The flesh eating bacteria that I picked up is usually fatal within seventy two hours and the only cure for it is amputation; actually they call it debridement which really is amputation. They have to remove all of the bacterial growth because it doubles in size every nine minutes.
Once I got back into the United States they put me in the teaching hospital in Shands of which this was the second case they had in fifty years of this particular virus. They amputated two toes and debride most of my foot and then they had to regrow it in an oxygen rich environment.
This took ten weeks and then they put me in a nursing home for a month. Rehab they call it but it actually was a nursing home.
While I was there I had an abscess on the back of my head so I went to the doctors when I had my foot looked at and they slants the abscess and said this isn’t right so they sent me to a Dermatologist.
Well when they slants it they gave me MRSA – which is another flesh eating bacteria. While I was at the doctor’s they said oh I don’t like these moles on your back let me have them biopsied. Well as it turned out I had skin cancer. They had to operate on my back and removed the skin cancer. Which I thought we were just going to remove a mole but they ended up doing 19 stitches on each side and trenched both sides of my back. Then they had to put me on different antibiotics in order to kill the MRSA they gave me and then when they removed that they discovered it was a tumor. Then they had to remove that. And that was in six months.
At that point I was afraid of dying.
When I finally got settled with Social Security Disability, I Flew back to Ecuador.
TR in conversation with JP:
Why?
JP:
Because my kids wanted to put me in a retirement villa.
TR in conversation with JP:
How many kids do you have?
JP:
Again that’s an odd story…
I have four kids but they’re not mine.
TR in conversation with JP:
Oh Ok!
JP:
My ex-wife’s two kids from her previous marriage.
And I have her ex-husband’s two kids from his previous marriage.
TR in conversation with JP:
OK that’s a new situation!
You have her ex-husband’s kids? (laughing!)
JP:
They all consider me dad and I was always there for them.
By the way, have you ever heard a story this ridiculous?
TR in conversation with JP:
so many people stories that I have heard of do have like one thing on top of the other you know but this flesh eating viruses and tumors, yeah… you’re winning!
– laughs!
TR:
Now, returning to Ecuador Jim met up with a friend.
JP:
He didn’t have any money and I said OK I need someone to travel with because blind people can’t travel alone!
Well I spent three weeks in the Andes and then two weeks in the Galapagos. Then we came back and we went up to Colombia – we spent three months in Colombia. Then we took a cruise and went from Cartagena through Panama, Costa Rica, Jamaica and Grand Cayman. And then circled around back and then went hiking in the mountains and Colombia
TR:
That friend Jim was traveling with was 42 and at the time Jim was 60.
Plus he was still recovering from flesh eating diseases,
multiple cancer surgeries and newly adjusting to blindness.
He learned a valuable lesson.
JP:
There are some things that are worse than traveling alone and that’s traveling with somebody else!
So at Christmas I flew back to Manta.
TR in conversation with JP:
So Jim can I ask you… you just
shared all of that … I mean you talked about a cruise and
flying to the Galapagos and stuff so you’re financing that on the Social Security?
JP:
Yeah!
TR in conversation with JP:
OK! And at this point you’re not paying rent or anything like that just traveling so you’re a Nomad.
JP:
Right, I’m a Nomad, I’m homeless.
I’m doing this on $1,127 a month.
So anyways when I got back to Manta I had infected my foot again and I had to stay off it for six weeks which drove me nuts.
So I was talking to a friend he was moving to Vilcabamba and I’d never heard of….
TR:
That brings us back to Jim’s journey.
When we left off, he was on his way to Vilcabamba
and stopped in a Hostel in Cuenca
where he posted the question
JP:
In Cuenca, what’s there to do for a blind man traveling on his own?
One guy suggested why don’t you head up to Ingaperka which is a Aztec ruin in the Andes which would be Eastern Ecuador.
TR:
So off he went to Ingaperka to find the ancient Inca Ruins.
Now if you’re thinking Jim is probably fluent in Spanish
or of course everyone speaks English,
well you’re wrong.
In fact, most people in the town of Ingaperka speak a dialect of the Incas.
JP:
The bus let me off in the middle of this town. I have no clue where I am I finally find somebody that speaks about four words of English.
And she asked me what I was doing and I say I was looking for the ruins. And she says ruins Cinco. I said Cinco kilometers. She says no Cinco minutos. I said where and she say aqui and pointed me to a road and so I walk up the road. I walk into this beautiful state park.
TR:
After receiving a tour of the ruins
well, it’s time for Jim to begin making his way to Vilcabamba.
He catches one bus to Cuenca and another to Loja.
Which is where he of course posts to Facebook:
JP:
What’s there to do for a blind man travelling alone through Loja?
Well this woman posts back well I have these two. English students who
are blind and would like to meet you. They’re sisters. So I meet them for coffee they come in on the arm of somebody crab walking because they don’t travel alone they’re in their thirty’s and they’ve been blind all their life.
They sit down and we’re talking and one of them looks at me and says who are you traveling with? I said nobody.
She Says Do you speak Spanish? I said no she said you can’t do that! I said yeah, I can!
TR:
By now you probably get the impression that the response, yes I can,
that’s something Jim is quite used to saying!
JP:
I’m here!
She takes me over to the elementary school which I’ll tell you is like a prison. Two meter high concrete walls surrounding it with broken bottles over the top of it and they’re all concrete bunkers and it’s just… it’s got mold it’s just… it’s a horrible place.
TR in conversation with JP:
Is that specifically just for blind children or is that…
JP:
Yes, it’s specifically for blind children. And there are residents there and there are day people that come from the city and this is the only blind school for elementary school children in the area. And she tells me that they don’t teach mobility there because they had to cut they cut their budget and the person they cut from the budget was the mobility trainer.
Now my experience with mobility training is I am blind
and I am mobile. There are my qualifications for the position… so now I’m the mobility trainer.
TR:
See what I mean by saying yes…
Jim not only said yes to teaching others who are blind to use the
white cane and more, but he has a pretty packed schedule.
JP:
I’m working four days a week from eleven to one at the elementary school. I work five days a week teaching conversational English at a college and I work two nights a week teaching mobility and technology at the high school.
I’m starting a nonprofit… We’ve got a doctor. Who is volunteering his time services to do prosthetic eyes on the kids that have missing eyes plus I have the Go Fund Me going…other than that I’m not really that busy!
TR:
That Go Fund me is a campaign to raise money to purchase white canes,
iPhones or iPads to provide children with GPS capabilities
in order to improve their mobility.
You can find more at:
http://GoFundMe.com/3noxfco
If you’re wondering what are the living conditions for a blind nomad
in Ecuador
Jim says his apartment in Ecuador
would probably rent for several thousand in New York City.
JP:
It’s the studio penthouse with a balcony view of the mountains. Glass all the way around its fully furnished. It has a hot tub, a walk in shower. The bathroom is ten by twenty and I pay $350 a month for it including utilities.
TR:
Jim’s a volunteer! He’s not paid for any of his work.
Well not in the traditional sense!
JP:
What I get from a kid who comes up and hugged me. You know – I’ve got children that actually… they don’t speak the language that I speak and they cannot express themselves on how much they really appreciate me.
I get people hugging me all the time. That’s what I get paid in!
While I still have work to do here I’m not leaving. It’s just different it’s a different lifestyle I found a place where they need me so I’m staying. When they don’t need me any more I’ll go somewhere else.
TR in conversation with JP:
How do you feel today about everything that happened? That whole crazy story you told me.
JP:
I will tell you something that you will very seldom hear from a blind person.
Going blind was the greatest opportunity of my life! Without that none of this would have happened. And that’s how I look at it.
TR:
And isn’t that what it boils down too!
How we choose to look at it!
Jim is actually looking for an assistant volunteer
to join him in Ecuador.
He needs help with some of those things he’s doing like
teaching mobility and technology.
He can provide room and board, but
the candidate needs to pay for their own travel.
Oh, yes, and the candidate must be blind.
Jim can be contacted directly through his Facebook page titled:
Blind Jim Can’t do That!
(Yeh, I can!)
I’m Thomas Reid
for Gatewave Radio,
[JP: I don’t give a damn if you Believe it or not ]
Audio for Independent Living.
TR:
I have never described myself as a journalist.
In fact, I make sure to say, I’m not.
I am a self-described Advocate who uses audio to make a point.
I don’t hide my opinion,
I choose the stories I want to tell and have a real solid perspective.
The idea of a journalist is that they supposedly don’t have that bias.
I don’t believe that at all!
However, A journalist would have done some real fact checking of Jim’s story.
They would have contacted various sources to try and confirm
his account of the events.
I am a New Yorker,
I instinctively don’t believe you!
It’s something I am really trying to rid myself of but it’s so ingrained in my being it’s really hard to separate.
I know there are some who will listen to this and not believe him.
Some will assume he has some residual vision – and say
that’s the reason he can do it.
Jim does have a bit of light perception which allows him
to see shadows out of a part of one eye.
Some will think it’s his nature.
Well, it’s probably fair to say Jim is something of an adventurer.
Before losing his sight he was a professional scuba diver diving throughout
the US and Caribbean.
That included salvage work for insurance companies, body recovery,
owning his own diving school and treasure diving in the Caribbean.
So here’s the thing…
I do believe Jim.
Jim is 100 percent telling the truth about the fears of a blind traveler.
Those fears are not just contained within the person who is blind.
You know that because as you were listening you felt uncomfortable.
You know you did.
I don’t care if you are sighted or
any degree of blind, you felt it!
I felt it! And feeling that way upset me.
I travel alone to different states but I had a fully planned itinerary.
Jim’s story made me challenge how I look at the world
and what I really believe is possible.
During our conversation a woman interrupted Jim and I asked him to explain what happened.
JP:
some woman just walked up to me and said You’re an inspiration to the people down here. I overheard your conversation.
I have people walking up to me on the street constantly doing that.
TR in conversation with JP:
How does that feel?
JP:
I don’t think I’m anything special.
I think everybody has it within themselves just that I choose to do that my question to people is Why don’t you choose to do it.
There are so many people out there that don’t want to leave their house and it bothers me.
TR in conversation with JP:
Why?
JP:
I’ve met so many blind people in my. Limited time being blind. And most of them tell me that they have limitations on everything they do.
You know they tell me it’s OK that you can do this but I can’t and then they give me a list of reasons why they can’t.
TR in conversation with JP:
What are some of those reasons?
JP:
Oh I could get hurt I could fall down. I could get lost.
So what’s the big deal you don’t think I get lost you don’t think I fall down you don’t think I get hurt?
TR:
I think it’s fair to acknowledge that the emotions behind these thoughts are real. But Fear you may have heard
is an acronym for False evidence appearing real.
You know what else is real!
Our perspective!
And we can actually control that!
JP:
I survived cancer. I’m blind. I survived the flesh eating bacteria What are you going to do to me that God hasn’t done already? It’s true! What fear do I have now. They told me I was going to die on three different occasions.
TR in conversation with JP:
you know you’re going to go at some point.
JP:
Right, we’re all gonna go some time!
I’d rather go out swinging then go out crying.
There is nothing holding you back but yourself.
I was at a Blind I Can meeting I can do is what they call it…
And they were talking about having an outing and they were talking about going out to lunch.
I mean, what is going to lunch proof for a blind person. Everybody eats!
They asked me what my idea of a good outing was…
There’s a place in Florida in Orlando called Machine Gun America. It’s automatic weapons… what the hell could possibly go wrong!
TR in conversation with JP:
Laughing!… I love it!
JP:
Make yourself feel alive.
You’re dead, nobody’s told you!
TR:
Jim, like many who lose their vision later in life, especially over the age of 55, never even had real mobility training.
JP:
My mobility training consisted of twenty minutes.
I learned everything on the internet and by myself reading books so when
they finally picked up my paperwork they put me through … they put me in front of a mobility trainer who told me that in familiar surroundings I was Ok, but I needed work in unfamiliar surroundings.
So I was hiking staying at an Echo lodge called Ukuku in Columbia it’s outside of Ibagué.
It’s a two kilometer hike up a mountain across three rivers. To get to this and the last river you crossed There’s a log and you got to balance on a log to cross the river.
Now do you know the proper caning technique for crossing a log bridge?
TR in conversation with JP:
Laughing… No I do not!
I think mine would be to straddle the log and then slowly go across. That would be my technique.
But that’s just me!
JP:
So I had to call back to the person who was in charge of the mobility training and I said, hey Tom what’s the proper caning techniques for crossing a log bridge?
TR in conversation with JP: To the avenue.
Oh my gosh! Did they have any advice for you?
JP:
Oh hell no.
TR:
But don’t get it twisted,
Jim isn’t some sort of blind Evel Knievel.
(If you’re younger than 40 Google him!
Jim is practical about his travel.
JP:
I have a theory. It’s really simple when I get to a town if I check into a Hostel I get the business card of the Hostel, put it in my wallet.
If I get really lost I take the business card and I give it to a cab driver and I ask the cab driver donde esta aqui… where is this? And he takes me there.
TR:
That practical advice goes beyond travel…
JP:
I’m trying to convince people that just because you have a problem doesn’t mean you can’t get your ass out and do something.
I listen to people tell me they can’t get a job. Well, go volunteer and get some experience!
TR:
I’m hoping to speak with Jim again.
And who knows maybe that will be in person, in Ecuador.
There are links on Reid My Mind.com to both the Go Fund Me and his Facebook page if you want to communicate directly with Jim.
I usually close with my reminder for you to subscribe to the podcast…
well today, I’m closing out with part of a favorite quote taken from Jim’s Facebook page.
Maybe someone will find it helpful… I think Jim may have.
Falling down is a part of life, getting back up is living.”
Peace
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