A common question I’ve gotten over the years is, “Don’t you worry about getting sick or hurt with nobody to take care of you?”. Well, the answer to that question is that I have a couple of times. I’m grateful for my solo travel experiences, but I have not always had the perfect luck. It started when I was 16 and got quite sick for a couple of days visiting the Netherlands with my dad, probably because it was one of the first times I was legally allowed to be out partying for days, so I was probably just hungover. I down two days of my trip down for the count. My father was a bit cheesed at me for wasting time like that. One of my friends later joked to me, ” Didn’t your parents teach you not to be sick for school, not for holidays”. Well, since then, adult Heidi has managed to fall quite ill when travelling more times than she cares to.
- Fell off a motorbike Lombok in 2016 and sustained a horrible infected injury that later required surgery
- Brief 24-hour mystery virus when I had a summer conference in Budapest 2017
- Week-long of feeling like death on the Colombian northern coast. Possible dengue fever. I will never know.
- I rang in 2020 in the fetal position on the floor of Vienna airport, coming back from Malaga, Spain, with the flu.
- I won’t even get into the number of hangovers. Yeah, I know a hangover does not count, but the way my body reacts to them, they feel as bad as these. That is pretty much why I nearly quit drinking.
How did I handle it? To be honest, one of the things that go with my hyper independence is that I like to be alone when sick. Having family/partner/ friends nearby does not make the world much of a difference. I prefer to self medicate and put on Netflix.
Always plan ahead
Certainly, getting sick or injured is not something we want to plan, but good to be ahead. Have a map app and a translating app downloaded if you are not fully comfortable with the language. This is also just helpful to have anyway. Keeping a little mini pharmacy with you when you travel can be helpful. Most pharmacies around the world have gotten to be pretty well stocked, but you never know. Some places make it difficult to get the most basic things. Also, sometimes you might be too remote in a location to get to a pharmacy. Trying to find the equivalent and translation for medication is too much of a daunting task when you have the plague.
Be up to date on vaccines. Don’t flake out on a tetanus vaccine or yellow fever or whatever is required where you are travelling to. Get your covid vaccine before you go if it is available to you already. Not being vaccinated is your choice, but subjugating people in other places with this choice is wrong. A fair number of countries insist you get certain vaccines anyway. It’s not edgy to skip the vaccines. If the vaccine is available to you, take it. Also, I was told if I did not have a tetanus shot, my injury could have been a hundred times worse.
Get travel insurance! I’ll be honest. I’ve flaked out on it quite a few times. I didn’t realize until after my horrible injury in Lombok how useful it could be and the things your travel insurance can provide. I just assumed it covers your hospital, and you have to wait months for your claim. In some countries, healthcare is cheap enough to where it does not matter. That’s not true. It can make a world of difference if you are in a horrible situation.
What to do once you are sick
Try to make sure you are somewhere comfortable. Try to get as comfortable as you can get, at least. If you are in a hostel, try to get moved into a single room. Really if you are sick, you don’t need to be around people. If you are injured, try to politely ask to be moved to a more accessible room if you are not already in one, like a place on the ground floor.
Kindly ask someone to look in on you. It could be the front desk at the hostel or BnB. It could be your Couchsurfing host. You can just tell them you are not well and would appreciate it if they could pick your delivery food up or something. Maybe they can give you some information about pharmacies or health clinics.
It can also be a good idea if you are completely alone to check in with someone close time to time. You don’t have to announce it to the world, but a trustworthy friend /partner/relative.
Don’t hesitate to see a medical professional. Sometimes sipping tea for a couple of days and watching Netflix is not enough. Go to a real clinic. Skip the homoeopathy. I know someone that nearly died of appendicitis because they kept taking these snake oil cures instead of seeing a real doctor. Don’t do that.
Always have a contingency plan
This partly stems from the first part. But it is important to have a back- up plan. That backup plan can be going home. It could be missing out on what point B is supposed to be. It depends on many variables. When planning a trip, you should know that the chance of things not working out is there. Make adaptable plans.
Always have a bit of money saved in case something happens. It does not have to be a lot, but don’t get to your last dollar/euro/tenge/whatever. I’ve almost learned this the hard way a couple of times. I’ve always been into budget travelling, but to be at the very seat of your pants is uncomfortable. It can also be very dangerous and put you in a vulnerable position.
So there you have it, folks, there is not much you can do besides be a little prepared and have some plan B/C/X. Don’t let people scare you with scenarios. I’ve not had the best luck in the world, but I would still do most of it over.
