3 Times I was Sick or Injured while traveling Pt 1
Singapore 2019
Sometimes things don’t always work out the way we planned. No one ever plans to get sick or hurt themselves while traveling but the risk is always there. The point of me sharing my experience with you is to let you know that I also have to deal with these things as a traveler. I also want you to know that this should not scare you from traveling. It’s okay to be sick or get injured because at the end of the day, if you’re still alive, then you can heal from your wounds, learn, and move on. I survived all of these experiences and more that I will talk about in part two.
1. Stomach Virus in Egypt
On my very first trip abroad, during college, I experienced being sick. I was with a group of 20 people including our trip leaders. Everyone but two people got sick at some point in time during the 2 weeks we were gone. We didn’t not all get sick at the same time which was weird and I’m still not sure why all of us had gotten sick. It was suspected that we were exposed to the native water when we went to eat with a local family right outside of Cairo. The worst part about being sick was that I couldn’t keep anything down and dry heaving is torture! I was only sick for two-three days so it didn’t hinder my entire trip but it’s definitely something I will never forget.
2. Sunburned while Topless in South of France
I heard that black people could sunburn, but I personally had never experienced it until this day. Me and a Canadian girl I met, decided we would go check out the beach. I wanted to go to the beach but hadn’t actually planned to do so that day. I was wearing a dress and didn’t have a bikini with me or sunscreen. I could have gone back to the hostel, got my things, and then met her at the beach but that would have just been too complicated.
We go to the beach and I decide I will just be topless with my underwear on. I didn’t want any weird tan lines. I take my dress off and We find a place to sit on the rocks (yes, the beach in Nice does not have sand) and we start talking to this American woman and her daughter. They were so sweet, we talked to them for maybe an hour. After that we decided to leave and get a snack.
When I returned to the hostel, I went to take a shower. I noticed my shoulders felt funny like my skin was tingling. After I got out of the shower, I looked at my face in the mirror. The pink part of lips was ruby red like I had eaten candy. My face was SO DARK except for the part that was shielded by my sunglasses. I looked SO WEIRD.
The days following my skin proceeded to break out and peel at the same time. My white friends had to explain to me what was going on. The funny thing is that this was not the last time I got sunburned so apparently, I did not learn my lesson.
3. Spiked Tree in Thailand
I went on a tour in Pai, Thailand and it was pouring rain. We had just left a cave and it was very muddy on the ground. Upon trying to return to the car, I decided to follow our driver and cut across the parking lot through some elevated grass instead of walking around like everyone else. What I didn’t realize is that there was basically a downward slopping muddy river of water going down. The driver just went down like it wasn’t a problem and I went behind him. I almost slipped and fell but I grabbed on to a nearby tree to catch myself. What I didn’t realize, was that the tree had spikes on it. FML! I had to pull one of the thorns out of my hand, but I had definitely been poked in several other places. I washed my hands at our next stop, so nothing got infected. Did I mention I also ruined my shoes that day? My white Reebok Classics were never the same after that. This was also the day I got pooped on by a bat but that’s a whole other story for another time. I lived to tell the tale.
