So, we had arrived in this gorgeous European city, we were with great company, and I celebrated my birthday by spending a great day on the beach in Lübeck, Germany.
But remember how I mentioned I woke up on my birthday morning, and had a little upchuck? Well, it wasn’t a one-time incident, and it wasn’t because of the chocolate brownies I ate for breakfast. After arriving back home from the beach, it became clear that I had simply been blessed with a small hiatus in my illness while I had a great birthday, because the sickness immediately overtook me once again–BIG TIME.
In fact, I spent the next nearly 36 hours in bed! I haven’t had a sickness take me out like this in such a long time, and I am immensely grateful for such fantastic hosts who took care of my family while I was out of commission. It reminded me slightly of an experience with our friends, the Dennings from Discover Share Inspire, who likewise arrived to our home in Mexico almost a year ago with a terrible stomach bug. It’s never fun to be sick when you’re traveling, but being taken care of with the hospitality of friends certainly eases the pain! Thank goodness we had that comfort and compassion given to us…or else my family may have starved! 😉
Others we know have much worse stories, such as throwing up on buses while on a 12 hour crowded ride, or missing a trip to Paris because they were sick in bed. Even my parents have story after story about sicknesses that have hit them while traveling.
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All in all, I think it’s still worth it. Heck, our kids used to attend preschool, which is basically a breeding ground for illnesses to get swapped around from family to family. It’s not like we weren’t exposed to that kind of risk at home!
So, if I have to take a day and a half of running back and forth from the bedroom to the bathroom, because I recently explored Mexico or Hamburg, Germany, well…then…I guess it’s a sacrifice I’m still willing to make.
Is it going to stop me from traveling? No way!
And what about you? What’s your worst traveling sickness story? I’m dying to hear it!
(but only figuratively…)
There must be something about Hawaii. We went with our extended family (11 people) and only TWO of us didn’t get the most horrible stomach virus EVER. And the 2 that never got sick were ones that never took care of the children.
But our sickness came on due to a baby sucking on a shopping cart. Not due to travel stuff…
Glad you’ve recovered and are back on your feet and photographing and exploring Europe!
Really? All that from a shopping cart? I admit…I’m guilty of mixing a photo of me having MORNING SICKNESS on our trip to Hawaii with a post about being sick in general while traveling (hey–I usually don’t have a camera handy when I’m throwing up). That trip to HI was a fun adventure of trying to figure out what to put in me for two weeks that would still taste good coming up (yogurt and smoothies). It was awesome!
I didn’t care for HI…but maybe I just need a do-over!
Mine was recently–last month when we were returning from China and in the Seoul airport. I left my 7 year old at the gate and ran for the bathroom and started throwing up in the sink (they still didn’t part the line for the toliets…) but worse, I got diahrea so when I would vomit that would also be the result. It was awful. I was crying and asking if anyone spoke English. Finally a lady from Canada came to my rescue and got my son (luckily I had a carry on with a pair of pants but no undies) so I had to wash every thing the best I could and head to a 14 HOUR flight to Dallas/FW. I wouldn’t eat or drink on that flight in fear of the result…once back my son got sick, etc. It was not pretty. Hope you are feeling better soon!
OH–Krista! That sounds DREADFUL! Thank goodness for that Canadian woman…but what a horror! I can’t even imagine throwing up in the sink with everyone standing there. I feel your pain! Seriously…I’m thinking extra underwear should potentially be a necessity in a carry-on bag. You NEVER know what can happen in those hours!!
Ugh, the worst. So glad you and your family were in good hands while you were out of commission.
Our worst experience BY FAR was in Bangkok, when Mark picked up a malignant case of food poisoning right before our overnight-train trip to Chiang Mai. Rather than cancelling, he decided to tough it out, so I shoved him on the train, where he spent the next 14 hours moaning and clutching his stomach, when not dragging himself to the WC. The rocking of the train made Mark’s stomach slosh around, and he thought he was going to die. During the night I popped awake every hour or so, terrified I was going to find a corpse in his bunk. It was awful, but he survived!
OH–that’s awful! Food poisoning IS the worst! I can’t imagine that ride…and I’m VERY glad he survived!