This morning I woke up feeling a little tender around the sinuses, and felt a tad concerned an infection could be on the way. I find myself really hesitant to go to the doctor though, and am more inclined to just wait it out, just in case. It may not be a good idea, but we’ll soon see, and I know I’ll handle it because I’ve learned:
“What doesn’t kill you, only makes you stronger.”
Whenever I’m faced with a challenge in my life, I welcome it with this saying. My motto in life, gives me strength to see the benefits that come with life’s problems. I know that on the other end of the problem, comes a stronger me.
I never used to be a strong person. A clairvoyant once spoke those words to me, on a summer’s evening, in her Romanian gypsy caravan on Brighton Beach, England. She looked through my palm, to the world of my life, past and present, and with directness stated “You are not a strong person.” She was dead right, I wasn’t at all. I was at the start of my travels and was scared, very insecure, in a bad relationship, and yada, yada, yada. Basically I was a total screw up. The gypsy lady, however, went on to reassure me that I would find my strength and again she was right. I did. I blame it all on travel.
Travel is not always the easy and free life that we make it out to be. Like everything, there has to be a bit of yin with the yang. Travel brings challenges, lots of them. But get excited by them, because if you survive (which you will) it only makes you stronger. Here are a few of the ways travel has helped to make me stronger.
Sickness:
Tick bite fever, Bali belly, food poisoning, infected sores and coral cuts, swollen feet, and hangovers are just some of the maladies I have experienced on my global journey. I’ve been poked and prodded by strange doctors in hospitals in Europe, Africa, and Asia. You are going to get sick when you are traveling, it’s just
The beginnings of Tick Bite Fever
a part of life. Travel can present you with some unusual and sometimes severe sicknesses. Trying to deal with this in a foreign land, sometimes on your own, adds to the trauma. At home you can go to your family doctor and spend the day in bed, recovering, pumped up on antibiotics. It’s not like this on the road, you may be stuck on a bus traveling over the equator, trying to keep down the insides of your stomach, or forced to explain to a Vietnamese doctor, in universal sign language, just how you got that rash. It’s never easy.
The most horrendous experience I had was tick bite fever in South Africa. I was in Cape Town, the most beautiful city in the world, and I was lying dying in my tent at the hostel. My head pounded with every move I made, the vice of pain tightening with each breath. My joints swelled, hindering my ability to walk. I had only my feet to get me around, and a sweaty tent for a bed. It took a week of misdiagnoses and scrutinizing pain, before I began healing with the right medicine. Tick bite fever didn’t kill me, and now a sinus infection, otherwise pretty painful, seems so minute and manageable.
Transportation:
Just after the wheel fell off whilst driving
Craig and I always take the local transport wherever we are, and there have been many times we thought it would kill us. Seriously. Jam packed into a matutu (mini van) in Africa or on the back of a pick up with the whole village does nothing else but make you stronger. Third world country transportation is extremely uncomfortable and very dangerous. You often find yourself shoved on a wooden bench, made for children, with 20 other people, your knees up around your ears and a rooster with its head in your lap, threatening to peck your eyes out if you dare move. Not that you could anyway. If you can withstand that discomfort and fear, you can overcome anything.
My breath always left me on road travel in Africa, only returning once I made it safely to my destination. My most frightening experience however, was in Indonesia. Trapped on the back of a motorbike in the hills of Lake Toba, with a psychopath for a driver, who sings songs to you about killing you, stealing your passport, and then disposing of your body so no one can find you, does wonders for your strength. I survived it and I’m a lot stronger for it. Not much scares me now.
Relationships:
Craig and I have been living and working around the world for 8 years- the length of our marriage. It hasn’t killed us yet, s
o the only other result would be that we have a really strong marriage. We have our good and bad moments like every relationship, but we have a bond that is founded upon joyful memories and challenging times. It’s the memories of what we’ve been through together, that reminds us in the tough times, that we are an incredibly strong team that can make it through anything.
Traveling with others can be very challenging. You have to learn how to occupy a small space together, plan together, negotiate, compromise, have fun together, be tolerant of each others quirks, and to get over it when the disputes undoubtedly arrive. Traveling teaches you very quickly how to get along with people. Most travelers will spend some time on the road with other people; the results are always the same, either it kills your friendship, or it builds a strong foundation for a healthy relationship that will last forever. If your relationship survives the challenges, your bond will become unbreakable.
Self-Discovery
Alone on the streets of Dublin, no money, no job, and certainly no friends. I’d lost all of them. It was the lowest point in my life, but soon became the turning point to a stronger me and a better life. I was literally at the crossroads of ‘survive or die.’ Dublin took my hand and forcefully guided me out of the darkness. It brought people into my life who showed me how 
worthy I really was, encouraging me to find my feet and walk on. I would not have the strength I do now, if it wasn’t for this experience alone in Dublin. The vibrancy of the city and my challenges here, lit a flame of confidence in me that has burned a little brighter every day since. I survived that period in my life. I know that I can survive anything.
I can never say the individual experiences that each traveler will go through. But I know that travel forces you to look deep inside yourself. If you are brave enough to face the darkness, the light of your strength will be revealed.
While at the time of the challenges or terrors travel presented me with, I wished they were not happening, in hindsight I am grateful for the gift of strength each gave to me, to be more and do more. I hate to think what the gypsy woman may have seen in my future otherwise.
Well said. Traveling def makes you stronger and the experiences you have and things you learn helps to keep things in perspective. Tick bite fever sounds pretty nasty. Hopefully not as bad as Dengue Fever Karen had in Thailand back in ’99
Dengue fever! I’ve heard that’s really nasty.
You have certainly been through a lot and are clearly stronger for it. Great positive outlook on travel. The self-discovery note I think plagues many of us travelers. I went through the same thing last year in Italy, but now I just think how much that scenario changed me and made me stronger.on my travels today.
.-= Suzy´s last blog ..Traveling With Full Passion, Easier Said Than Done =-.
It can only ever make you stronger Suzy. Travel changes your life in so many way. And the challenging times always bring a great story to tell on the other end!
I really enjoy your blog and your posts. It seems traveling together has really strengthened your relationship. I can only hope to be in a similar situation some-day.
And thanks for the blog comments, as someone starting out, I have sooo much to learn, and appreciate any feedback.
Thank you Ian. And I’m sure you will. Once you have this passion for travel, you can only attract someone into your life who has the same. And then there is no stopping you!
I loved this post. Travel makes us stronger in all ways… both phisically and mentally.
“Wisdom is power” – Sheryl Crow
p.s. I’m a single but I think me and my husband will be a traveling couple too:)
giuliadventures recently posted..Climbing Mount Sinai (Jabal Moussa)
You always attract what you think about!! I like the quote ‘wisdom is power’ I’ve only ever heard it as being ‘knowledge is power’ which is wrong because knowledge is only powerful if you use it. Wisdom though has the implication of implied knowledge gained through experience. IT works! thanks for sharing
Travel does make you stronger, and I completely relate to your story about being in Dublin with no support at all. It’s a desperately lonely and difficult time, but it’s such an important element to your journey. The dark night of the soul, but there is always light at the end of the tunnel… thank you for sharing your experiences here and reminding me of that fact! Very much appreciated xx
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You are welcome Cynthia! Thank you for appreciating and I think you are absolutely right. I think we go through these dark experiences in order for us to be able to see and appreciate the light. When you are down and out you are looking for those rays of light to bring you back to a better way of living.
Thank you for this beautiful and honest post. Reading about your past and the experiences that brought you to where you are now made me teary and smiley at the same time. I’ve been in some dark and awful places too, and travel was such a bright spot in my life, giving me courage to start over, giving me strength to press on through whatever came up, showing me that I was worthy of love. Thank you for reminding me how blessed I am.
can’t speak to the relationship part of it, but certainly agree with the other three. Totally.
Michael Hodson recently posted..Interview with Wes Nations of Johnny Vagabond- Lucky 13 Questions
I love this post – and I couldn’t agree more. I’m at the beginning of my second experience with living long-term in another country and I can’t believe how different it is from the first one: no empty, horrifically lonely feeling on the long flight, no panic attack halfway into the first week abroad, no desperation to be back with family and friends. I’ve chosen this experience and I’m so thrilled that I’m living it now. My family and friends are my support network, and they don’t need to physically be with me for me to feel supported. The traveling that I’ve done between that first experience and this one has made me so much stronger and so much more aware of what I’m capable of. There’s nothing like travel for self-discovery!
And on relationships, I think you’re absolutely right, Caz: traveling with someone you care about will make or break your relationship, whether it’s platonic or romantic. I’ve seen relationships I thought were strong take a fatal turn for the worse on the road, and I have friendships that will never fade after being forged in travel.
Thanks for sharing such a great post!
Jessalyn recently posted..Snapshots- Inis Mór
The second trip is always so much fun because you know how easy it is to do. Those first time anxieties aren’t hanging around and you can just enjoy it. It is so liberating to understand just how powerful you really are. Life takes on a different meaning as you start to explore more of yourself and what you are capable of doing. Hopefully we can meet soon. Are you coming to the Feb travel tribe?
I am – no jet lag to worry about this time!
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I hope that when my fiance and I start our journey our experiences together are a strong indicator that we too will work through the high and lows of travel. Although I have learned 1 thing that I’ll place in my back pocket, 14 hour train ride followed immediately by a 16 hour plane ride is the breaking point for going bonkers…must plan a full day break between.
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Be prepared for that journey!
You will be bonkers after it. A great start to the relationship test anyway. You’ll laugh at it in a years time
Great post guys. I once had a relationship that only worked on the road, so weird and maybe it’s why I’m solo now!
ayngelina recently posted..Hare Krishna villages are not hippie ashrams
Some times relationships are only meant to work in certain situations.
I’m definitely discovering that travel makes you stronger. I’ve been gone from home for almost eight months now and have never been away this long. I’d never before heard anywhere that travel strengthens you in any way, but we’re dealing with unusual situations, discomfort and all kinds of other things that we don’t have to cope with at home, I guess it’s natural for us to strengthen as a result. If we couldn’t become stronger from the challenges we face while traveling, we’d probably give up and go home.
Travel definitely pushes out the barriers of your comfort zone and makes you more able to deal with challenges. Lots of people do give up and go home because they just can’t handle the pressure. If only they saw it through they would realize just how much they would grow in strength from it.
Great post Caz, self discovery is a massive part of travelling, i think travelling moulded who i am much more so that university or any of my early jobs. I’ve just written about how travelling can force you to face, and overcome some of your greatest fears and phobias. Travelling definately makes you a stronger person.
Thanks Neil! Travel has taught me way more about myself and life then Uni or jobs have ever done. Although uni helped prepare me for my travels as it taught me how to drink cheap beer!