You could get sick while traveling. The people you’re traveling with may get sick too.
I traveled a lot while I was in Italy. One of the trips I was most looking forward to was Croatia and I was lucky enough to go on our tour twice. The first time the weather wasn’t great, but it was still gorgeous.
The second time, the weather seemed more promising…
FlorenceforFun travels to all of its destinations by bus, so the ride from Florence to Split is very, very long. I’m talking about 13 hours! If there is ever an empty seat on a bus, the tour guide gets the extra one so that we can sleep a little bit better since we have to be able to deal with logistics upon arrival.
On my second trip to Croatia, we were traveling on a full bus, so I shared a seat with my friend. We stopped in Venice for a quick snack around midnight and got back on the bus. I immediately passed out.
The next thing I know, I’m throwing up all over myself. (Luckily I had a huge blanket scarf around me so it only got on that). I felt so terrible, not because I was getting sick during a bus ride that wasn’t even halfway over, but I was sitting next to someone else.
Seth was a trooper and rubbed my back and got me a plastic bag and I only threw up a few more times on the bus. No one even knew that I had thrown up besides the tour guides. (I don’t know how I managed that as I felt like it was super loud!!).
I spent the next day in bed. I was supposed to be training my friend on the trip, and I felt so bad about letting him down, but I knew he would be fine. I ended up sleeping and watching Game of Thrones. I ventured out for some crackers and gatorade and water.
Thankfully I was okay the next day because we were headed to an Island Hopping Tour! I did not want to miss that as the first one I went on was cut short from the rain. I woke up and it was beautiful out. I was ready to go. I took it easy, because it’s important to know your limits. I didn’t want to get sick again.
One thing you don’t realize while you’re on a boat in April, is that the sun is still super strong!! We had to constantly remind the students to really sunscreen. Sometimes, when you’re reminding others, you forget yourself…
So fast forward to later that day… My friend is struck with sun poisoning. The real bad kind, where you’re shivering and getting sick and you can’t even begin to think about eating anything. Now it was time for us to switch places…I kept asking him if there was anything that I could do, something he had been doing for me the previous day. We had to take turns taking care of one another… Which does happen sometimes while you’re traveling!
Whether you get a virus, you have motion sickness, you get too much sun, or you drink too much, its important to remember that these things happen. There’s nothing you can do about it. If you’re on a backpacking trip and your dates are flexible, hang tight. Try to stay in one place for a few days so you can get better. If you’re in a situation like we were, where we were working, its just help each other out. If you need to step up and be the leader, thats fine.
Remember, being in a cool place doesn’t mean you can’t get sick there… Life isn’t always a perfect Instagram photo…
You will get sick at one point or another if you’re traveling for several months. You’ll probably have a travel companion be sick… Don’t worry! It happens to everyone!
