Travel for a whole year can get pretty dangerous after a while, especially when you are with 40 other people who also share your love for adventure. So, for all of your reading pleasures, I wanted to write down some of the ways this year that myself and other squad mates could have either died, got extremely injured, or just some crazy things that we’ve experienced. Because, why not? God is good! We’re all alive, and some of it is pretty entertaining!
So, without further adieu…. 1000 ways to die on the World Race… 🙂
-Picking up a snake, to later be bit in the hand by it causing sheer pain, and realizing “oh crap! This thing is extremely poisonous!” (This person fortunately made it out alive, just with his pride hurt slightly..lol)
-Getting knocked off a huge rock by a wave, and falling head first down towards the crashing waves. Luckily these people only suffered scratches. But it could have seriously been much much worse.
-Getting into a head on collision in a car crash, when the driver fell asleep. Again… seriously these guys could have died, but God really wasn’t ready for them yet. (Read “kirstymarshall.theworldrace.org” to find more information on this day. It was crazy folks!!)
-Several people getting Malaria (2 strains)
-Dengue fever (sucky part about this one is there is really no treatment. You just have to ride it out, and also there is no vaccine).
-Getting attacked by a pack of insane monkeys! (Yes, this one was me.) Note to self: never walk around the jungle with food in a bag. Monkeys are thieving gremlins, and I no longer think they’re cute..lol
-Getting weird skin rashes that apparently “come from the bugs in the lights that shoot toxins out” (this is actually what the SKIN DOCTOR told me in Myanmar. Lol) ie; I don’t think she really knew what it came from.. This one, I just basically had to wait out, and treat the itching.
-Bug bites that grow infected, (the size of a golf ball under the skin, full of pus…mmmmm..) that then require antibiotics, and a lovely popping session.. fun times. The bugs don’t play out here!
-Blood infections from walking barefoot in muddy water, that almost caused someone to go septic. Simply because she is a power house and decides to wait until she was literally almost dying to go to the doctor.
-Several people getting caught in riptides in the ocean on several different occasions, and almost drowning! Just keep swimming..just keep swimming…what do we do we swiiiiiiim!
-MAZIS! (or in other words… mosquitoes..the bug nazis that we all loathe! They just bring death and destruction), and they need to diiieee.. nope.. not bitter at all. Lol
-Being stung by jellyfish. (Yes someone did pee on it.. lol)
-Being peed on by a “fire beetle” that causes your leg to swell up in a huge blister, that later needs to be popped and ends up making your leg look like it’s just acquired a third degree burn. (No joke, this is a real thing…and all that from its PEE!)
-Almost breaking my leg while surfing, and having to limp around for a week due to my leg swelling up. But hey, I stood up on my board! I’m practically a pro now! So, it’s all good. 🙂
-HEADLICE! These things…literally are the most terrible annoying creatures, and they were the cause of horror for several of us on the squad. It got passed around like a torch, but hey..it turned out to be a great “monkey picking” bonding experience for us. Bright side.. there’s always a bright side..lol
-Diarrhea, and constipation. This may seem like a no brainer, and it kind of is the inevitable whilst traveling. However, this doesn’t take away from the sheer pain and impending doom that it brings on you when you feel like your bowels are a revolving door that hold nothing in, or like they are the equivalent of your overstuffed day packs. No exaggeration, prepare to be defeated by your digestive system at some point.
-Parasites, and dropping about 15 lbs in a week!
-Slipping off rice paths, and falling into a bunch of rice patties (fields of rice that were full of water, with high up pathways).
-Projectile vomiting after being carsick
-Heat exhaustion and dehydration on several different occasions. One time, even passing out because of it. Yeah…water is a necessity.. especially during manual labor.
-Someone falling out of a pickup truck and landing on their feet after literally back flipping off! Then running after the truck like a boss.. honestly, she could be a stunt artist, or a super saiyan. One of the two!
-Someone’s toe almost falling off due to a bacterial disease. This may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it did get super infected.
-Voluntarily choosing to stop eating because Indian food is so spicy, and it feels like your stomach is having a hole burned into it, so your only option is to lay on the ground and hope you don’t die… “only 3 more weeks…” is what this person had to tell herself to get through.
-Being homeless for a night in Singapore and Myanmar, and using a Pringles can for a pillow, and our packs, or the ground for beds for the night. (You learn to adapt real well, and sleep anywhere after a 3 day travel day.. and you can’t get a hold of your host for the night).
-Getting stuck at a shady hostel, while being pestered by men.. THAT one is never fun.
-Taking the wrong train in the opposite direction of your destination into the jungle… on someone’s birthday!
-Almost having a heart attack, when you wake up and forget where you are in the middle of the night.. or.. when you wake up and feel pressure on your chest from a demon.. just kidding… not really… sorry yall. It’s real. (Ask me about it later)
-Witch doctors banging on drums right outside your tent in Swaziland.. yuuuppp.. don’t get much sleep on those nights.. ie; every night -.- (so much for beauty sleep) lol
-Camel spiders!!
-Poisonous centipedes the size of my hand. One bite will apparently kill you in less than 30 seconds. You wouldn’t even be able to make it across the field where we had a doctor’s office.
-Being potentially struck by lightning, because that’s the second leading cause, next to Aids in Swaziland. Basically every night there were huge thunder storms..
-Snakes and scorpions outside the shower area in Swaziland…
-“Death bushes” … also in Swaziland, (there seems to be a theme here.. lol everything in Swaziland wants to kill you.) They have needles that poke out about 2-3 inches long everywhere.. literally everywhere.
-Almost dying of embarrassment while some people sang “amazing grace” in a church super off key, and someone crying due to laughing so hard. Breathing may have been an issue as well here..
-Kathmandu and it’s lovely air quality.. (cough cough). Think of that Sponge Bob episode where he is crying out for “waaaaterrr”. That is how we felt, only with clean air. It was non existent! (Face masks needed..)
-Someone having an allergic reaction to tomatoes, while also getting food poisoning.. all from the same dish! Double wammy, knock out! Seriously though, it was pretty bad, she had to go to the hospital.
-Someone literally blacking out, while receiving a tattoo. Scared the crap out of me, because I thought she was having a seizure. But hey, she got chocolate out of it.
-Being left at a subway station in Kuala Lumpur, when you didn’t see the rest of your team go in until it was to late.. bye bye birdy! #welostanotherone
-Walking by while witnessing domestic violence. No comment.. it really just wasn’t cool. (We did end up talking to the woman after it all calmed down).
-Having to pump water into buckets and drag back home, and ration water out due to the government turning off water for a week..
-Becoming infested with WORMS! We all know how that story ends…
-Someone getting bit on the nose by a spider and it swelling up, to the point of looking like a boxers nose. It seriously got pushed to the side!
-Indian driving. Period. Lol..or shoving 8 people into one tuk tuk made for 4 people, while avoiding cows in the road.
-Being chased down by a very angry water buffalo, and having to hide behind a car. Thank you car!
-Trying to jump on the back of public transport in Madagascar before it drives off. But seriously though…they start moving before you get the chance to jump inside most of the time.
-black widow eggs, and spiders in Swaziland ! Literally there were like over 20 all throughout the house we stayed in..
Soooo, yeah. We’ve encountered some pretty crazy things out here, and these are just things off the top of my head. Hope you enjoyed reading this ! 🙂
Please also donate to help me from coming home in debt to this trip. I am still short, and really would love if you could help me out. It’s all tax deductible too, so that’s pretty cool! 🙂
