A few weeks ago, we announced that Blind Travels was one of the three teams chosen to receive the Flight for Sight 2024 Travel Grant. Since that time, we have been planning and strategizing about where we will head on our first trip. The plan was always to go somewhere on the East Coast, somewhere on the West Coast and to some destination in the middle of the United States to take photos of beautiful locations and create tactile accessible prints. We asked you – our readers to chime in and tell us where we should go and what iconic locations you would like to experience in touch.

This week, we’re headed to California for the West Coast leg of our trip! Thanks to your requests, we’re kicking things off in San Francisco, where we’ll be snapping photos of the iconic Golden Gate Bridge and exploring the lively Fisherman’s Wharf.

Next stop: Santa Cruz! Natural Bridges State Beach’s stunning arch awaits our cameras.  Continuing down the coast, we’ll soak in the rich history of Cannery Row in Monterey, inspired by John Steinbeck’s novels. And no Monterey trip is complete without a scenic drive along the legendary 17-Mile Drive, where breathtaking coastal views are guaranteed.

But that’s not all! We’ll be catching a flight to Southern California for a very special event, which we’ll reveal later this week. Stay tuned!

California is our first destination, but we’re also planning an amazing visit to the middle of the country. Two frontrunners are Yellowstone and Arches National Parks. Deciding is tough! Share your thoughts on our contact page or social media (links below).

After capturing stunning photos of these places, we’ll turn them into unique, touchable experiences using 3D printing. This method, developed in partnership with The Andy Warhol Foundation and Redline Contemporary Art Center of Denver, allows us to transform any image into accessible art.

But that’s not all, we have another big announcement! The exhibition for our tactile prints will not be until the fall, but we are making it so one lucky person will win one of the limited run first edition prints from this new project. The winner will receive a signed traditional print, a tactile print and a tactile QR code that will give an audio description of the print. We will even include a wall hanger frame for the tactile print so you can display all three. What do you have to do to be one of the first to receive one of these cool prints? All you have to do is follow us @nedskee and Flight for Sight @flightforsight on Instagram and leave us a message telling us you would like to be entered to win the signed print.

While you are there, feel free to drop us a message letting us know where you would like to see us go in the central part of the United States, we will be deciding soon and would love your input!  Thanks for reading our update and follow along with us on this amazing adventure all summer long on our quest to make visual art more accessible for the blind and visually impaired.