Being Sick on the Road

By Lee | September 14th, 2007 | 8 Comments »

There is nothing more annoying than being sick on the road. It can really slow you down and bring down your spirits. The key to dealing with being sick is to not let it get you down (mind over matter), get plenty of rest and stop drinking for a few days. Also, don’t forget to bring all possible medicines from home just in case. You don’t want to be in a random country and have to trust some pharmacist who doesn’t speak English and take pills from a package not written in English, trust me.

I have been sick in many different countries. While it’s never fun, it is almost a feeling of accomplishment to overcome your ailments and illnesses while still enjoying yourelf and where you are. I have been hospitalized overnight alone in Singapore with massive ear traumas after flying from Bangkok with pneumonia (brilliant idea by me). I was dehydrated to the point of fainting and lost 10 pounds in one day on Margarita Island after playing basketball for 2 hours in 125 degree heat without any water (smart I know). My friends wanted to bring me to the hospital for an IV to rehydrate but I was too nervous to get a needle in Venezuela (for obvious reasons) so I just went back to my apartment and forced myself to drink about 6 gallons of water and Fanta and then 2 days later I was fine. Those were the two really bad times but there have several severe bouts with stomach issues in third world countries and of course many bouts with a bad cold and cough.

If you travel for weeks or longer at a time, you will get sick at some point. Constant travel, not much sleep and usually not eating as well as you normally do along with drinking will eventually catch up to you and make you sick. On my recent trip it caught up to me in Corfu, Greece and I was laid up with a terrible cough and just an overall exhausted feeling with a lot of weakness. I was obviously not thrilled but was prepared with medicines from home and the worlds greatest cough drops. I just took a few days off from partying with my friends and just relaxed both on the beach and in bed.

I also managed to still do everything I wanted to do in both Corfu and in Rhodes during the day and through dinner where I was also sick but I just didn’t go out at night and made sure to get at least eight hours of sleep a night with the help of Tylenol PM. Much like my climb of Kilimanjaro, Tylenol PM came in handy again and really helps you get some sleep which when sick is usually the most important thing.

A positive attitude is the key to getting better quickly, obviously everything else helps as well but if you really stay positive and view illness as just a temporary blip on the radar then you’ll recover quicker, I truly believe this.