Yes I guess I'll be doing that down the line today was my first session. im so looking forward to that type of independence!

I did my o&m a few years ago but I must admit I still can't find places I've never been to before. I know how it works in theory but in real life it doesn't work out for me. I remember my instructor showed me this app where you can type in an address and it will (supposedly) lead you to the correct place. However, the 2-3 times I've actually tried it on my own, I got hopelessly lost. One of those times I was in a city I had never been to before and I ended up wandering around for hours and almost getting hit by a car because I lost my nerves and angrily walked out onto a street without checking for traffic.

In my experience, there are two big problems with these orientation apps. Firstly, they work relatively well when the city is built in a grid-system with large blocks like it is usually the case in North America. Here in Europe, the cityscapes are oftentimes far more complicated. There are all sorts of small alleyways that makes twists and turns, go in curves etc. Unless you know the area, you oftentimes have no idea of knowing where you'll exit when you enter a small street or alley. In addition to that, the "blocks" or distances between two turns are often much smaller. The problem with GPS is that it can only give you your position with about 10m (30ft) of accuracy. But if you've got a right-turn and 15 feet ahead there's another right-turn and your phone tells you to turn right into XY street/alley, you've got no way of knowing whether you're supposed to take the first turn or the ones that's a few meters ahead of you.

The second problem - and I reckon this is a global one - is that the app can't actually lead you to the correct door or even the correct building. I remember my instructor gave me the task to find a specific building. But when I reached by destination, I was standing on a small residential street with four buildings around me (two on each side). My app simply sai: "You've reached your destination!" Well... cool. But which of these buildings is it now?? I asked my instructor this question and she said: "Yeah, that's the problem with these apps. They can be helpful but only to a certain point. If you were here by yourself, you'd have to wait for someone to pass by, so you can ask them which of the four buildings it is." I asked: "Okay, but what if nobody were to come past here for the next half hour? I mean, it's a quiet area and if I agreed to meet someone, I can't stand here forever, hoping some friendly stranger will pass by. Especially if it's job-related." My instructor said: "Yeah, in that case you'd have to either call them and ask if someone can come outside and pick you up or randomly ring one of the doors and ask for help there."

The whole thing left me pretty frustrated and disappointed. It seems like independently finding a place isn't actually possible; in the end I'll still have to beg people for help. So I might as well leave my phone turned off and ask a bunch of strangers to guide me there or tell me directions. It comes out about the same.

I wonder how other blind people do this. Overall, I was kinda disappointed with my o&m training because it made me feel like although I'm supposed to become more independent, fundamentally I'm still very dependent on other people. I now know how to use a white cane and I can walk down a street without hurting myself but I wish I had learned a little more than that.

Thanks! It was my first day so I can't wait to see what else I can do.