I cautiously peered through the glass window, and shuddered as I saw a pool of blood and dirty bandages littering the ground. As I looked up, I locked eyes with a small child. He was wearing rags, covered in filth, and stood next to a man who was wailing and bleeding.
I took a deep breath, turned to my husband, slowly shook my head and said “I don’t think this is safe. We’re better off at home.”
Home. This was a word I had begun to use with great liberties. You see, my husband and I were currently homeless. We didn’t have a permanent address. We had sold off all our belongings and were wandering through Asia, as free as birds. It was the best time. Except when it wasn’t.
I feared that we were entering into one of those “not great” times. And the home I was referring to was a beach hotel right off the Andaman Sea. For the moment, we were on Ko Phi Phi Island. We had spent some time exploring and zip-lining through the mountains near Burma and had found ourselves on this peaceful Thai island in need of some R&R.
We slowly, deliberately walked along the beach to our hotel. Once there, we both collapsed on our bed. Several hours later, we woke up and again asked ourselves – “Should we go back to the clinic?” Remembering the pool of blood and dirty bandages, the answer was a resounding NO.
For the past several days, we hadn’t been feeling well. Mild stomach discomfort turned into vomiting. At first, we just assumed our adventurous food experiences were catching up with us.
Then the fever came.
We were cold and sweating, exhausted and sore. All our muscles hurt. Our joints were achy and hot to the touch. The migraine that was throbbing behind the eyes. When the tell-tale red-dotted rash appeared on our skin, we no longer had to guess. We knew. Somehow, despite our best attempts to protect ourselves from mosquito bites, we had contracted dengue fever.
Our first inclination had been to head to the clinic. Once we had arrived however, one peek inside the window had us heading back to our rooms. As I often do, I turned to Dr. Google. I learned there was nothing a doctor could do besides ensure we didn’t suffer from dehydration. It was advised to avoid NSAIDs for the pain, and instead take acetaminophen. We sipped coconut water and tea and faithfully chewed on our Tylenol pills. And slept. A few days later, we started to feel better. A week later – we were back to eating questionable food and exploring the jungles.
I was reminded of this story as I was mindlessly scrolling through my Instagram feed. A friend, who had recently returned from Africa, was posting about how he was about to start his “de-worming process.” The comments on the post were those that I would expect – lots of condolences, and a few “OMG this is why you don’t go to Africa!” sprinkled in. I commented with a “Man, that really sucks. But it was totally worth the trip, am I right? You’d do it again, worms and all, in a heartbeat?”
His answer? “Sure would.”
Here’s the thing – My husband and I took a huge risk. We sold our crap. We quit our jobs. We adventured off, quite deliberately, to a part of the world that is so different from what we knew. And then experienced one of our greatest fears. And we’re stronger because of it.
Safety is a myth.
In the words of William Mather Lewis: The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it.”
pin me!
I for when ended up in a German hospital for 10 days having an operation to remove an infection from a cut I had received. I know Germany is 1st world compared to Thailand but it could have scared me from travel for life I guess. But not so I never even paid it a though and on I continue to travel
Sickness can definitely be a part of traveling- especially when traveling to a part of the world you are not familiar with or eating adventurously. But yes- it is almost always most definitely worth it. 🙂
yes, totally!
Wow, this is an incredible story!
Thank you!
Ha, Dr.Google. So true. But wow, what an experience. Your writing is very captivating.
Thank you so much for your kind words!
My brother in law came down with serious ailments as a missionary in Algeria. And yet, still kept coming back. Traveling the world can be very hard on someone’s body but that’s no reason to not travel!
I’m actually shaken by this story. You do have a way with words. x
thank you!
what an adventure… I’m not adventurous at all… I like to travel, yes! But in the comfort of a good airBnB or a nice hotel, and usually in big cultural cities filled with amazing museums and drowning in art! That’s why I admire both of you so much!
It really sucks to get sick in general but especially on your travels! I’m so lucky nothing like this has happened to me so far. Thank you for sharing your experience!
Thanks for sharing your story and the quote is so true. I agree, safety, for the most part, is an illusion. I had a crazy experience in Morocco years ago that included having a super bad case of the stomach flu while getting lead off a train at gunpoint. Crazy situation, but I’m glad I went.
oh wow! I’ll have to hear more about this story!!!
So fortunate you were able to recover without needing to visit a hospital. I’ve read about quite a few bloggers who’ve contracted Dengue fever over the past year or so, so it must be quite prevalent at the moment. Like you, I always do what I can to protect against mosquito bites, but they still seem to enjoy having a good old chew on me, and this does worry me a little, because I do tend to travel to areas where the healthcare hygiene standards are similar to those you’ve described in here. It would never stop me from travelling though 🙂
“Safety is a myth”- Fact.
I too witnessed an unfortunate incident in one of our trek. It was a reality check for us.
People who will only travel to places where there is zero risk shouldn’t even leave their homes in their own town, to be frank. There are risks everywhere and gosh how much of life and the world one would miss if trying to avoid them completely!
Wow your writing is stunning, I love these kind of stories. I’ll be reading more!
thank you so much!
This is such a beautifully wrote story! I love these kinds of stories. I wish that getting sick wasn’t part of traveling but unfortunately it is.
thank you so much for your kind words. I agree- but traveling is life, and life has some not great parts, but in the end, it’s the fun stuff we remember
Being sick on my travels is the absolute worst. I had to just ride it out and take it very easy – but it was hard when I had a tour to Angkor Wat booked…man was that an interesting experience! Love your writing by the way! I love the storytelling!
thank you so much!
I love the quote at the end, its so true we spend so much of our time preparing for the worst and worrying about what ‘might’ be, and forgetting to really live life to the fullest. Thank you for sharing, and I’m so glad you backed your friend up, I’m sure he appreciated it.
Getting sick on a trip is the worst…but dengue fever! That must have been miserable. Glad you got through it ok and are still up for adventures!
That sounds like a terrible ordeal! We travelled through SE Asia for 10 months and came out relatively unscathed. My wife got really bad food poisoning in Vietnam and I definitely know what you mean about the hospitals in that part of the world! It’s definitely one of the best decisions we’ve ever made though!
I always reference Dr. Google first. He’s inexpensive and knows a boat load, but some things are just better left to real doctors too. Glad it worked out well.
yes, totally true!
I never thought I’d use inspiring to describe a post about having dengue fever! But seriously, your perspective is fantastic. Sickness when you don’t have a familiar bed or doctor to come back to is definitely worrisome, but it sounds like it was completely worth it in the end, and great life lesson, too. Thanks for the inspiring story!
Thank you so much for the kind words!
Amazing website
Wow! This definitely makes you think about the “bad things” that can occur on a trip. I think, a lot of times, people block this part out of what could happen. It’s a lot better to be prepared for it though in the end!
I love the different and real perspective you gave on traveling. Some of our worse fears we have to face while traveling including death. Thank you for sharing and glad everything worked out well.
Whoa! This was an intense experience!! Dr. Google is always by our side 24/7! Loved reading about your journey. Team #noregrets
Yes, love it. Team #noregrets
Spot on with this write-up, I really feel this website needs a lot more attention. I’ll probably be back again to see more, thanks for the information!