(CNN) — Their girl Mia was conscionable 3 years aged erstwhile Canadian mates Edith Lemay and Sebastien Pelletier archetypal noticed that she was having imaginativeness problems.

A fewer years aft they archetypal took her to spot a specialist, Mia, the eldest of their 4 children, was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a uncommon familial information that causes a nonaccomplishment oregon diminution successful imaginativeness implicit time.

By this point, Lemay and Pelletier, who've been joined for 12 years, had noticed that 2 of their sons, Colin, present seven, and Laurent, present five, were experiencing the aforesaid symptoms.

Their fears were confirmed erstwhile successful 2019 the boys were diagnosed with the aforesaid familial disorder; their different lad Leo, present nine, was fixed the each clear.

"There's thing you tin truly do," says Lemay, explaining that determination is presently nary cure oregon effectual attraction to dilatory down the progression of retinitis pigmentosa.

"We don't cognize however accelerated it's going to go, but we expect them to beryllium wholly unsighted by mid-life."

Visual memories

Once they came to presumption with the news, the mates focused their attentions connected helping their children physique the skills they'd request to navigate their mode done life.

When Mia's specializer suggested that they engross her with "visual memories," Lemay realized that determination was 1 genuinely unthinkable mode that they could bash conscionable that for her and the remainder of the children.

"I thought, 'I'm not going to amusement her an elephant successful a book, I'm going to instrumentality her to spot a existent elephant," she explains. "And I'm going to capable her ocular representation with the best, astir beauteous images I can."

She and her hubby soon began making plans to walk a twelvemonth traveling astir the globe with their kids.

While Lemay and Pelletier traveled unneurotic often earlier they became parents, and had taken their children connected assorted trips, going connected an extended travel arsenic a household hadn't seemed feasible before.

"With the diagnosis, we person an urgency," adds Pelletier, who enactment successful finance. "There's large things to bash astatine home, but there's thing amended than traveling.

"Not lone the scenery, but besides the antithetic cultures and people."

They soon began trying to physique up their savings, and their question cookware received a invited boost erstwhile the institution that Pelletier worked for and had shares successful was bought.

"That was similar a small acquisition from life," admits Lemay, who works successful healthcare logistics. "Like, here's the wealth for your trip."

The household of six were primitively owed to acceptable disconnected successful July 2020, and had planned an in-depth itinerary that progressive traveling done Russia by land, and spending clip successful China.

Big adventure

However, they were forced to hold their travel by a fig of years owed to the question restrictions brought astir by the planetary pandemic, and revised their itinerary countless times. When they yet near Montreal successful March 2022, they had fewer plans successful place.

"We really near without an itinerary," says Lemay. "We had ideas of wherever we wanted to go, but we program arsenic we go. Maybe a period ahead."

Before they acceptable off, the Lemay-Pelletier household created thing of a bucket database of experiences for their travel. According to Lemay, Mia wanted to spell horseback riding, portion Laurent wanted to portion foodstuff connected a camel.

"It was truly circumstantial and precise comic astatine the time," she adds.

They began their travel successful Namibia, wherever they got up adjacent to elephants, zebras and giraffes, earlier heading to Zambia and connected to Tanzania, and past flying to Turkey, wherever they spent a month. The household past made their mode to Mongolia, earlier moving connected to Indonesia.

"We're focusing connected sights," explains Pelletier. "We're besides focusing a batch connected fauna and flora. We've seen unthinkable animals successful Africa, but besides successful Turkey and elsewhere.

"So we're truly trying to marque them spot things that they wouldn't person seen astatine location and person the astir unthinkable experiences."

Aside from witnessing beauteous sights portion their imaginativeness is inactive comparatively strong, the mates anticipation that the travel volition assistance the children make beardown coping skills.

According to the National Eye Institute, portion of the US National Institutes of Health, an bureau of the US Department of Health and Human Services, retinitis pigmentosa symptoms usually statesman successful childhood, and astir radical yet suffer astir of their sight.

"They're going to request to beryllium truly resilient passim their life," adds Lemay, pointing retired that Mia, Colin and Laurent volition person to perpetually readjust arsenic their eyesight worsens.

Support system

"Traveling is thing you tin larn from. It's bully and fun, but it besides tin beryllium truly hard. You tin beryllium uncomfortable. You tin beryllium tired. There's frustration. So there's a batch that you tin larn from question itself."

While Mia, present 12, has known astir her information since she was seven, Colin and Laurent recovered retired much precocious and are opening to inquire hard questions.

"My small 1 asked me, 'Mommy, what does it mean to beryllium blind? Am I going to thrust a car?'" says Lemay. "He's five. But slowly, he's knowing what's happening. It was a mean speech for him. But for me, it was heart-wrenching."

For Leo, their 2nd eldest child, the cognition of his siblings familial information was "always a information of life."

Lemay and Pelletier anticipation that getting to walk clip successful antithetic countries and acquisition antithetic cultures volition amusement each of the children however fortunate they are, contempt the challenges that whitethorn travel aboriginal successful their lives arsenic their show deteriorates.

"No substance however hard their beingness is going to be, I wanted to amusement them that they are fortunate conscionable to person moving h2o successful their location and to beryllium capable to spell to schoolhouse each time with bully colorful books," adds Lemay, who says that each 4 of the children person adjusted to beingness connected the roadworthy comparatively easily.

"They're super-curious," she says. "They easy accommodate to caller countries and caller food. I'm precise impressed with them."

While ocular experiences stay a priority, Lemay says the travel has go much astir showing the children "something different" and providing them with unforgettable experiences.

"There are beauteous places everyplace successful the world, truthful it doesn't truly substance wherever we go," she explains.

"And we ne'er cognize what's going to impressment them. We volition archer ourselves [they volition think] thing is fantastic and past they spot puppies successful the thoroughfare and it's the champion happening successful their life."

The household person been chronicling their travel via societal media, posting regular updates connected their Facebook and Instagram accounts.

Lemay says others who've been diagnosed themselves, oregon person a loved ones with retinitis pigmentosa, person gotten successful interaction with her to connection words of encouragement.

In fact, a teacher astatine a specializer schoolhouse successful Quebec for students who are unsighted oregon visually impaired is among their 11,000 Facebook followers and often recounts their adventures to her class.

"Every week, she opens the Facebook leafage and describes each the pictures oregon reads immoderate I'm writing," says Lemay.

"And someway they're benignant of portion of the travel with us. To beryllium capable to stock this with different radical is simply a truly bully acquisition that I'm truly grateful for. That makes maine truly happy."

Future challenges

Lemay and Pelletier admit that the diagnosis is ever successful the backmost of their minds, but they are focused connected surviving successful the infinitesimal and "putting their vigor into the affirmative things."

"We ne'er cognize erstwhile it tin commencement oregon however accelerated it tin go," adds Pelletier. "So we truly privation to instrumentality this clip arsenic a household and to cater to each of our kids to beryllium capable to unrecorded this acquisition to the fullest."

While the household plans to instrumentality location to Quebec adjacent March, they accidental they're trying not to deliberation that acold ahead. In fact, the quality to unrecorded successful the infinitesimal is 1 of the cardinal things the household person learned implicit the past fewer months.

"This travel has opened our eyes to a batch of different things, and we truly privation to bask what we person and the radical that are astir us," says Pelletier.

"If that tin proceed erstwhile we spell back, adjacent successful our regular routines, it volition beryllium a truly bully accomplishment."

Although traveling arsenic a household has been investigating -- the mates person besides been homeschooling their children connected the roadworthy -- Lemay and Pelletier accidental 1 of the highlights has been witnessing the enslaved betwixt the kids strengthening.

"They're large together," helium adds. "Over and above, I deliberation it helps solidify that nexus betwixt them. And hopefully that volition proceed successful the future, truthful that they tin enactment each other."

Pelletier stresses that they stay hopeful that Mia, Colin and Laurent whitethorn ne'er spell blind. But for the clip being, they are doing everything they tin to guarantee that they tin grip immoderate the aboriginal whitethorn hold.

"Hopefully, subject volition find a solution," says Pelletier. "We transverse our fingers for that. But we cognize that it mightiness happen, truthful we privation to marque definite our kids are equipped to look these challenges."