{"id":1526,"date":"2022-02-04T15:56:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-04T15:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/?p=1526"},"modified":"2023-04-20T09:53:04","modified_gmt":"2023-04-20T08:53:04","slug":"each-of-my-sense-holidays-has-been-uniquely-amazing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/blog\/each-of-my-sense-holidays-has-been-uniquely-amazing\/","title":{"rendered":"Each of my Sense Holidays has been uniquely amazing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"is-style-intro\">From countryside cottages to sailing on a yacht, Catherine shares why Sense Holidays surpass expectations and match her needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2018Wow! I\u2019ve found it!\u2019 That\u2019s what I said to myself when I discovered Sense Holidays. As a person with Usher syndrome, I&#8217;d been struggling for years to find a holiday that matched my needs. When my Sense communicator guide told me about Sense Holidays, I realised it\u2019s what I\u2019d spent years searching for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube is-style-primary wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Sense Holidays: Catherine&#039;s story\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6G7CygiAjCw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">On the water<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>My first Sense Holiday took place on a narrowboat. It was amazing. I\u2019d found something at long last that was a perfect match for me. It was fully accessible with total support. I couldn&#8217;t believe such a thing existed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On another Sense Holiday, we sailed on a 45-foot yacht from Southampton to the Isle of Wight. We learned how to raise the sails up and down. I even got to steer the yacht.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Everyone was screaming and laughing because they thought I might crash the boat into the rocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The guide and skipper would tap my right shoulder if they wanted me to go right, my left shoulder if they wanted me to turn left, or tap both together for straight ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019d never steered anything before, not even a car. But I was told I was a natural. It was such a thrilling experience \u2013 and I\u2019ve obviously lived to tell the tale!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/catherine-sarah-holiday.jpg\" alt=\"Catherine and Sarah sitting on a bench laughing on a Sense holiday\" class=\"wp-image-1514\"\/ style=\"object-position: 31.37% 34.50%;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/catherine-sarah-holiday.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/catherine-sarah-holiday-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/catherine-sarah-holiday-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/catherine-sarah-holiday-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/catherine-sarah-holiday-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/catherine-sarah-holiday-350x233.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption>Catherine and Sarah sitting on a bench laughing on a Sense holiday<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Lots of experiences<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ve also stayed in a cottage in the Lake District, a farmhouse in Norfolk and a barn with a swimming pool inside, in a national forest. I\u2019ve been on steam train rides and enjoyed lots of art-based activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There was also something called snow tubing. You have a rubber ring around you and you sort of sail down the hill. There were four of us and we all held on together as we all drifted down the hill. We laughed all the way down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was a beautiful experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Switching off<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I feel I can switch off on a Sense Holiday. I don&#8217;t have to worry about anything. I can be wild spirited and feel free. Because I\u2019ve been on a few of them now, I\u2019m sometimes reunited with people that I&#8217;ve met on previous Sense Holidays. Along with meeting new friends, that&#8217;s a real positive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Every day is a different experience. I can try things I couldn\u2019t do on a family holiday. The Sense team don&#8217;t decide the activities: it\u2019s your choice what you do. That builds our confidence and independence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sense Holidays match my communicational needs. I always grab the opportunity for a good conversation with someone who has the same signing skills as me. It&#8217;s really good for your mental health because you have such a good time. I\u2019m so happy and relaxed. There\u2019s lots of humour; lots of teasing and banter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Not sure about Sense Holidays?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re not sure a Sense Holiday is right for you, check with Sense. We need more people, like me, who are deaf and blind that love to chat and have a laugh. Apply online if you think they might be for you. You can be yourself, so come and join us!<\/p>\n\n\n\n  <div class=\"wp-block  box  ctaBox    is-style-textured-primary-tint-10\">\n    <div class=\"ctaBox__row\">\n      <div class=\"ctaBox__content\">\n        <div class=\"acf-innerblocks-container\">\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Find out how to book your Sense Holiday this year<\/h2>\n\n<\/div>\n      <\/div>\n\n      <div class=\"ctaBox__cta\">\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/our-services\/meeting-people__trashed\/go-on-a-sense-holiday\/\" class=\"button  button--primary\">Book yours now<\/a>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n  <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/get-support\/holidays-short-breaks-and-activity-groups\/sense-holidays\/\"><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From countryside cottages to sailing on a yacht, Catherine shares why Sense Holidays surpass expectations and match her needs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":1514,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"display_author":[160],"class_list":["post-1526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","display_author-catherine"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1526\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1526"},{"taxonomy":"display_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/display_author?post=1526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}