I Have a Disabled Nomad Friend. He Can Also Be Fairly Annoying.

And I have what I hope is an interesting reason for pointing this out.

For the audio version of this article, read by the author, go here.

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A couple of years ago, Michael and I met a fellow nomad, “Lewis,” who happened to have a speech impediment: a stutter so severe that he often couldn’t finish a sentence. So he carried around a dry-erase board to supplement thoughts he couldn’t express vocally.

I loved the contradiction of this guy having this fairly major disability but that he hadn’t let it prevent him from leaving home and continuously traveling the world as a nomad.

At the same time, Lewis had this weird habit of never carrying any cash — of charging everything to his credit card. This is a big travel mistake in countries where many businesses only take cash — like the country where we met Lewis.

Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash

Michael and I spent a lot of time with Lewis, and he frequently found himself unable to pay for certain things. So we’d always step up and cover him, and then we’d have to keep track of all these little expenses so he could pay us back later.

But sometimes, we also let it slide — it was just easier that way.

Lewis wasn’t particularly appreciative. This whole side of him was, frankly, pretty annoying.

Still, he had many other good qualities: he was young and energetic with an amazingly positive attitude, and he was always up for anything — great characteristics in a travel companion.

And yes, he knows how I feel about him: I teased him often enough.

Lewis was a good reminder that folks with disabilities are, first and foremost, individuals — with strengths and weaknesses just like everyone.

I’m okay with saying that. I think it’s a good thing to treat people with disabilities like the three-dimensional individuals they all are — not pitiable charity cases.

Lewis is also a great reminder of how complicated people can be.