Naturally, most of our posts and pictures revolve around all the good things that happen to us. Sunshine and rainbows (literally). But there have been some not so great things and some very close calls that would have put a serious dent in our travels. That’s what this post is about. The bad or nearly really bad situations thus far.
Physical Stuff
Ian’s Butt - We wrote a whole post about it so no need to go into details, but having that poop bug hit me within the first couple weeks wasn’t ideal. I had to miss out on some excursions we’d already paid for, then look at Caitlin’s pictures and videos.
Caitlin’s Legs - We had just finished a hot and strenuous hike outside Barcelona when Caitlin started to get this rash thing on the back of her calves. Later that night and the next day, they became hot to the touch and painful. She of course looked on WebMD and diagnosed herself with a blood disease. It went away after a couple of days so no blood disease for the time being.
Caitlin’s Scooter Wreck - If Caitlin were writing this she would have made the title “Caitlin’s Scooter Wreck CAUSED BY IAN” but she’s not writing this so I am leaving it as is. The story goes that we were riding scooters in Warsaw and when I ride scooters I prefer to dangle a leg off one side. Well, these Warsaw scooters apparently don’t like that because when I went to dangle, my scooter lost power. It just so happened that Caitlin was behind me when my scooter stopped so she swerved her scooter out of the way and hit a bus stop (yes there were people inside waiting for a bus) and took a tumble. She sustained some cuts, swelling and bruising, but in the end nothing major. It did prevent us from going out in the Praga district and exploring some cool bars she’d looked up, but at least we didn’t have to go to the hospital. While we have had numerous laughs about this, it obviously could have turned out much worse.
Very Close Calls
ATM Scare - We had just landed in Spain and went to an ATM to get our new currency. I received my money and walked to where Caitlin was standing and looking up something on her phone. About 30 seconds later I hear this beeping which is not uncommon in an airport. For some reason I decide to actually look around and when I do I see that the beeping is coming from the ATM. I had forgotten to remove my debit card. That could have turned out poorly.
Passport Scare - We had just enjoyed an awesome day in Segovia and were headed back to Madrid where we flew out the following day to Ireland. Caitlin keeps our passports in a little wristlet she has and while we were waiting for our bus placed it down beside her on the bench. When we got on the bus to leave she asked if the passports were in our day pack to which I responded “Yea, I am sure they are. Where else would they be?”. Caitlin wanted to make sure so she double checked the bag. No passports. She ran off the bus back in the station and a lady had just picked up the wristlet and was holding it looking around. Caitlin nabbed it from her and ran back on the bus which just started pulling out. Crisis averted.
International Driver’s License - During our camping trip we had to move things to avoid getting wet. In this process I must have lost/misplaced my international drivers license. Luckily we still have Caitlin’s so it didn’t mess up our rental car in Poland.
Weather
The only really crappy weather we have had that has affected our plans was in Scotland. We were trying to camp, but it just wouldn’t stop raining and the wind was also very strong. In Barcelona, we stayed in an AirBnb that was the size and temperature of a tanning bed. It got pretty unbearable at times, and probably kept us out on the town spending more money than we would have if we’d have had comfortable living conditions.
As you can see we’ve been very fortunate up to this point. Are some days better than others? Of course, but that’s going to be the case wherever we are. We’ve had a lot of people ask if we are still on track for being gone 12 months and our answer is ABSOLUTELY.