Thursday, January 30, 2014

Random Thursday. Worst travel experience.

Hallo meine Lieben,

welcome to another Random Thursday and thanks for reading and participating! I hope you are having a fantastic week!



I have to say that one of my worst travel experiences is connected to one of the best vacations I ever had....if that makes any sense. 

David and I decided to go for a road trip to Colorado and Utah. We drove all the way from Ohio and things were fine the first 1,5 days. The evening of the second day I started to feel really bad but I thought it would be better the next day and there is no reason to worry. 

I climbed an arch. Surprisingly,  I did not fell down. 


I spent a pretty painful night in a hotel room but was positive that I would wake up feeling fine. At that point I did not know what was wrong yet.

The next morning I woke up feeling even worse than the day before but I did not want to say anything since I did not want to ruin the vacation. Plus it was my birthday. 

We got ready to drive to our next destination and I felt so miserable in the car....still pretending that things are fine. 

We wanted to camp the following night and David was excited to do some hiking and see some fantastic places. When we arrived at the camp site I felt as miserable as never before but I thought that I had to be brave and fight against the pain so I helped setting up the tent and collecting fire wood. I could barely walk but as I said, I did not want to admit that anything was wrong. It was our first real vacation together and I wanted it to be memorable.

I already had a feeling of what was wrong because I had these problems before...but I think I wanted to suppress the thoughts of it because that would definitely ruin the vacation. 

I tried to look completely healthy. Sunglasses help.


But yeah, the next day I woke up even worse and I was not able to deny it anymore. I admitted how bad I felt...I guess it was obvious. But I did not admit how terrible I really felt. David had planned a hiking trip for that day but there was no way I could participate. But I told him he has to go anyway and I would stay there and read. I am sure that was really disappointing for him (and I am sure he thought that I was a pussy but as I said, I never felt so bad I my entire life and that means something because I already had some really nasty and painful stuff). I wanted to be brave...to not ruin the trip. I did not think about ruining my health at that point. Which was probably stupid...

But yeah, when David came back in the evening I knew that I needed some help. I knew that something was wrong with my kidneys again. But I did not say anything about it. In case you don't know, I have a stupid kidney disease so I have problems with my kidneys all the time. Infections, kidney stones and so on. 

So we went to a pharmacy and I tried to explain my problems to the pharmacist without saying anything about my kidneys (stupid, I know). He thought I have altitude sickness and some other diseases I did not have. He told me to see a doctor but as I said, I did not want to go to not ruin the vacation.

So I got all kinds of stuff you don't need a prescription for. Herbal teas, cranberry pills and so on. I also bought a thermometer....I took my temperature and was shocked to see what it was more than 104 degrees but did not admit it. 

I have to admit that it was kind of relieving to have to crawl trough tiny holes since it gave me a reason to spend some time on the ground which made me feel better. 


So yeah, I still don't know how I managed to survive this vacation but I went to all the places we wanted to see...even when I had to sit down every 100 meters and it took forever to get to places. I stayed in the hotel rooms when David went for an adventure that I could not take part in....I refused to go to a doctor and I just thought that I have to be brave. I even went rafting. I just had to sit there and try not to fell into the water.

As I said, I have never felt so sick in my whole life. But I made it. Is it stupid to feel proud? I guess it is. It was definitely stupid not to admit how bad I feel. I risked my health. 
(If kidney infection is not treated promptly, there is a risk of serious complications, including kidney damage and blood poisoning (sepsis). It is usually treated with antibiotics. In many cases, patients with kidney infection are hospitalized. Found here.)
I mean, I know my health problems. 

When we got back from vacation I finally went to see a doctor and of course, I had a really nasty kidney infection. If you ever had a kidney infection that you know how that feels. If not, I read on the internet that people describe it as the worst pain they ever felt. I agree. And I had a whole in my eye once. 

So yeah, I finally got treatment and it took me a while to recover but gladly I did.
I know that I will never be so stupid again and will run to the doctor as soon as I experience that pain again. 

But yeah, the vacation was fantastic because I saw some awesome places I had never seen before. But I do admit that it would have been even better without the nasty kidney infection.

How can you get sick at such a fantastic place?


(And a recent one: the stupid Parisian woman who decided to crash into my car definitely helped me to have another bad travel experience. You can read about it here.)

So now tell me....what was your worst travel experience?


29 comments:

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  2. I am so sorry to hear about this. Its bad when these things happen. I am happy that you sent him for the hike. You are brave :)

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    1. Thank you, I tried to be brave! :) Thank you also for your kind words!

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  3. Oh that's a really terrible travel story - I'm glad you're okay after that infection but next time, be careful!

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  4. Ay yi yi!!! You're lucky you made it through and didn't keel over at the campsite!! You'd better take better care of yourself from now on! Although, I can't talk--I have a bad habit of trying to act like nothing is wrong when really I need to rest or go to a doctor. I always hate to look weak!

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    1. Yeah, I was really lucky! Stupid but lucky! :) I would not act like that again. It was really dangerous! But yeah, I hate to look weak too! I always act like nothing is wrong!

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  5. What a pretty photo of the arch! I’m so sorry to hear about your painful evening (and birthday) during your road trip to Colorado & Utah, I feel for you! And kidney infection is serious! I’m so glad that you received treatment as quickly as possible! In the end, you guys had an amazing road trip and what a cute photo of you guys! I have had plenty of worst travel experiences…one of the worst was being duped by an Italian taxi driver, he seemed to overcharge slightly (he hid one of our big notes and pretended that it wasn't the total). We ended up on the street with all our luggages in the center of Rome in the middle of winter, waiting hours for our host to arrive. It was a weird Italian rental agency based in Rome before the whole “airbnb” happened (so happy it existed), and the host arrived on a scooter, did not apologize and said it was a holiday for her. Fucking brilliant!!!!

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    1. Glad you like the picture, Rika! And thanks for your kind words. Your travel experience sounds so horrible! I can't believe it! I am sure you were really frightened! I hope everything was fine in the end!

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  6. I'm glad you're doing better. and that you were able to see a lot of places you wanted to see. sorry, you had to suffer through it though.. that's scary.

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    1. Yeah, I am glad I am not having any kidney problems right now. I am glad that I got to see all the places but it would have been nicer without the infection! :)

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  7. Glad you are okay despite the scary moments you went through! The images are beautiful and I'm sure it made you feel so strong! Hope you have a great weekend. ~Sierra of http://ragsexchange.com/ and http://styleactuallyblog.com/

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    1. Thank you so much! I am glad you like the pictures! Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend!

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  8. Ugh, I'm so sorry. That sounds positively awful. I don't think I would have been able to be as tough as you were. I mean, rafting with a kidney infection?!? I just couldn't even...

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    1. Thank you, Sarah! It really was painful and I have no idea how I did it in retrospect. I guess the kidney infection made me forget about my fear of water though. Haha.

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  9. Our worst travel experiences always involve low-cost airlines like Ryanair! They're the absolute worst! Boo!

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    1. Oh yeah, you can definitely have bad experiences with them! :)

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  10. Sorry you had a bad vacation. Good luck to you and your partner.

    Thank you. Love love, Andrew. Bye.

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  11. well, I guess live and learn but I'm glad you're okay. I doubt I would have managed as well as you did. I'm such a wimp when it comes to pain. and hey, you can always go back and do all the things you didn't do on this vacation.

    hope you have a sweet day.

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    1. Thank you, Lissa! I am glad I am fine again too. It was a bit scary!I really hope I can go back to the places again and enjoy them even more!
      Have a great weekend!

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  12. Oh goodness! I can't believe you made it through vacation like this!!! I'm glad you did get treatment once you got home!

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    1. It really was a great vacation! It would have been even better without the sickness though. :))

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  13. As someone who is prone to kidney infections and kidney stones, I have to say, you are one tough cookie!!! I never would have been able to get through it like you did! xo

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    1. I am sorry you have to mess with that kind of crap as well, Sara! I really have no idea how I did it...kidney infections are so awful!

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  14. OMG, Katrin! How come you didn't see a doctor during this trip?! :O I hate going to the doctor, too, especially because of how price a visit can get, but no, no, no, you can't risk your health like this! I'm glad you got proper treatment right after, though. It must have been such a relief to start taking those antibiotics!

    As for my worse travel adventure, like yours, it was bad and good at the same time. It was my last trip to Japan when I had to go bring my dad back to Argentina, 6 months after he got the stroke. It was sad because my dad was in really bad shape and has never been the person he used to be, naturally, and it was good at the same time, because he did survive after all and I feel I was privileged to have the chance to be the one to go there and bring him home :).

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    1. No, I did not see a doctor at all. I only went to the pharmacy. I know that was stupid. I really hate going to the doctor and I knew that there was no way I could finish the trip if I go. So yeah, that was really stupid.

      Miki, I can imagine how exhausting and sad that trip must have been. I am so sorry that you had to go through this but I am glad that you were able to be there for your Dad when he needed you!
      Hugs!

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  15. Oh my gosh, I would have never guessed from those pics you went through this!!! How did you do this? I'm so relieved to know you recovered all the way after!
    I so hope you don't have to deal with any problems too often and that you'll never ever have to suffer a pain like that again. You are one brave woman to not want to spoil the vacation!

    I think my worst one was like 13 years ago when I went on vacation with a boyfriend I broke up with during the first few days and then I had to spend 2 weeks with him ... LOL ;)

    Ich drücke Dich soooooo feste :) Wann sehen wir uns? :D

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    1. Yeah you can't really see it in the pics, I am surprised too. I really tried to be brave although it really was stupid. I do have some pictures where I look really sick though. I guess having a tan helped not to look so sick, I am usually pale and then you see it immediately.

      Oh no, that sounds so horrible! How did you do that? Did you have to share a room? I am sure that was a terrible situation to be in!

      Hope to see you real soon, sweetie! Ich drueck Dich!

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