With small bank balances and full packing cells we were wholly unprepared to budget living costs for six months - especially starting in Bali were food was unreasonably low and set our expectations for $5 (NZD) vegan eggs bennies and $2.50 coconut lattes unrealistically high. After climbing waterfalls, cities, sunrises and temperatures, we encountered the expected South East Asian obstacles, missing luggage (RIP all our slides), bug bites, scams, inaccurate directions and traveler’s diarrhea.

All was going well 2 months into our tour - we were navigating our way through rural China, but then I got sick, really sick and the sickness episodes continued to return - always when I was in a rural area of a foreign speaking country, always struggling to access healthcare. Many insurance calls, antibiotics, misdiagnoses (Kidney stones, PID), random infections (including an unexplained cervix infection) and after a long stay with family in the UK, the battle was lost. We tried our best to enjoy the last moments and came home, feeling a bit sheepish and defeated.

Now I’m facing a different sort of journey then the one I anticipated - instead of finding myself in the snowy mountains of Switzerland or the smoky bars of Amsterdam, I have to try heal myself - because I didn’t get better despite the many reassurances. My souvenir home, amongst Chinese magnets and Vietnamese embroidery art, is chronic pain and a search for a clear diagnosis and treatment.

The first episode struck early August - 7 months later my body is still reeling from the aftermath of the foreign infection, I’ve made this blog to unload some of the painful realisations and some of the optimistic ways i’ve managed the fear, discomfort and pain of not knowing what’s wrong and having little choice but to wait.

Although I feel like I’m burning away the prime of my twenties stuck at home, I’m endeavoring to find a silver lining and allowing myself space to embrace that at times, it’s been pretty bloody stormy.

I hope that I might shed understanding or hope to another person that is suffering or knows someone who is suffering with pain and discomfort chronically, with or without a diagnosis.

See our abonded travel blog as evidence of our OE attempt “We are embarking on a trip around (some of) the world – Starting with a recuperating visit to Bali, (Going through Canggu, Sanur, Ubud, Tejakula and Seminyak)  then onto crazy rich Singapore, Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia, Vietnam (Sailing around Hanoi on a group tour taking us down to traditional Saigon/Ho-Chi Minh City, then to Cambodia (for some Tony-Tomb raider at Angkor Watt)…” https://takingonafairchunkoftheworld.home.blog/