Getting hospitalized in India…
So, our trip to India did NOT go as planned haha. Let me rewind all the way back to the start of our two-week trip, when we were bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, and full of life, flying over to Qatar for our two-day layover in Doha.
As we were heading to the international airport in Atlanta, I noticed a small bump on my right arm and was casually bothered by how it was a bit itchy. I didn’t think much of it, since I’ve always struggled with sensitive skin and eczema, so I put a little dollop of anti-itch gel on it, and called it a day. By the time we landed in Doha, I noticed that single bump had multiplied to about a dozen different bumps, across my thighs, hips, and arms. The multiplication had me lowkey stressed out, but I tried to suppress that stress so that we could continue on with a trip we paid a lot of money to experience.
During our time in Doha, the bumps continued to rapidly multiply, and I cannot stress enough about how itchy they were. It took all of my mental strength to take my mind off of the itchiness, but I managed!
Qatar really blew our minds– it not only was one of the most well-managed countries we’ve ever visited, it was also one of the cleanest. The streets were so pristine and aesthetically pleasing, it felt like we were walking through a set or a staged theme park. Doha really came to life as the sun set, and the souqs glowed with warmth and charm. We enjoyed some really delicious and intriguing Qatari dishes, and one that particularly stood out to me was a dessert called balaleet. This VERY yellow dessert is made up of vermicelli noodles cooked with sugar, saffron, and cardamom, and ours came topped with SCRAMBLED EGGS (?!?!?). The shock factor of a bright yellow cylinder of funky noodles capped with a bright yellow pile of scrambled eggs sent me into a giggle frenzy, because everything about it screamed Big Bird to me.
Despite the unsettling bumps growing all over my body, we still had a pretty fun and memorable time in Qatar! Chad was trying to do all sorts of tricks with our dune buggy while we were flying across the edges of dunes in the desert, and we both got the chance to hold a falcon in the souq! We got to experience everything we hoped to experience and more during our 48 hours there.
Once we landed in India, things took an unfortunate turn. As expected, the bumps continued to spread, and it was to the point were locals were eyeing the massive, dark red rash setting up camp on my thighs. I was texting back and forth with my sister, who’s a registered nurse, and we were thinking that, at that point, it was either a bad case of eczema (from the intense climate changes) or stress hives (from the inevitable physical and mental stress of traveling long distances). We knew it wasn’t contagious, and it didn’t seem serious enough to stop our trip and go to the hospital…yet.
On our first full day in India, I woke up with a high fever, chills, body aches, fatigue, and a sore throat. I immediately thought that it was just the flu, especially because pretty much everyone and their mother was battling the flu back at home. It was spreading like wildfire in the States, and I thought I unfortunately caught it right before leaving for our trip. I didn’t think that these symptoms could be linked with the ginormous rash painting my thighs, hips, and abdomen with an alarming burgundy red.
We told the tour agency that I had a fever, and they insisted that we continue on with the trip, just at an easier pace. After a day in the bustling city of Kochi, we headed out into the mountains of Munnar and hiked a mile and a half to a stunning A-frame in the mountaintops. This location was one of the most beautiful and breathtaking destinations we’ve ever had the privilege of witnessing with our own two eyes. I kept thinking, “This is India?!” over and over again, because I could not believe what I was seeing.
This has happened several times in the past on our trips, where we inconveniently get sick in some of the most jaw-dropping locations in the world. This has happened in the Dolomites of Italy, in the Inside Passage of Alaska, in the Transylvanian countryside of Romania, in the vibrant cities of Spain, on the islands of the Philippines, in front of the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, and the list goes on and on and on.
The battle between my body and my mind never changes, and after talking about it with many other travel YouTubers, I know that I’m not alone in these struggles. Although my body might be telling me in every possible way to stop and rest, my mind is eager to film the list of videos I’d planned for the trip. It’s desperate to experience the destination I put so much time, energy, and money to get to, to push through the physical pains of the present so that I can make my future self proud by bringing home five full videos to edit. To be strong so that I can showcase the very best of a country, even if I’m not feeling all that great.
It can sometimes feel ridiculous trying to explain the logic and the emotions behind all of this to someone who doesn’t do the same job and understand the mental pressure of needing videos to publish, because it’s the source of our livelihood. Every job has its hardships, and this is just one of the struggles we face as content creators that I already know we’ll have to inevitably fight through again in the future. I share this not to defend my actions and certainly not to persuade others to do the same, but to share the very human emotions that happen when making decisions on a work trip.
On our third day in India, with a fever, cough, immense fatigue, and gigantic rash plastered across my body, I agreed to do the hardest hike I’ve ever hiked in my entire life. To be fair, the tour agency labeled the three and a half mile hike as “easy” on the itinerary, but as I pushed through the densest jungle foliage, already itchy rash being tickled to oblivion, ankles and thalassemia blood cells barely keeping it together on an incredibly steep, 45-degree “trail” going vertically up the mountainside, with FIRE in my lungs, head, and thighs, I deeply questioned why I was doing what I was doing in the condition I was fighting.
The answer came rather quickly when we FINALLY made it to the top of mountain, gazing out at a gloriously sunny, 360-degree view of tea plantations and the most magnificent mountains we’ve ever witnessed stretching farther beyond what our eyes could see. This was the one destination we got to see before I had to be rushed to the hospital (yes, hiking the mile and a half back down the mountain to the road haha), but I can say with full confidence that from the 33 countries we’ve visited so far, India is truly one of the most beautiful.
I’ve debated for nearly two weeks about how I should share this next part and whether I even wanted to share it. Our time in the hospital was unforgettable, eye-opening, and forever life-altering, to say the least. Some experiences are just too complex to explain to anyone who wasn’t present to physically witness what happened, without feeling like I’m over-explaining every tiny facet of the situation. We travel to experience different cultures firsthand, to get a better understanding of other ways of living, and to self-reflect on who we are as people and how we’re perceived by the people we encounter. We got all of that and more during our week in the hospital, and who we were before we entered those hospital doors is gone. I can confidently and positively say that our worldview is broader and deeper from the experience and that I will navigate life very differently from here on out. There are some travel experiences that leave a lasting imprint, but are best processed privately rather than dissected in public. This is one of them.
From a medical standpoint, we know that what I had was very serious, but the doctors were not able to find an exact answer on what it was. They did chop off a piece of my rash to study, so if they happen to find the answer, we’ll let you know. Obviously, our time in India did not go as expected, and maybe one day, we’ll find ourselves back there doing all the things we’d hoped to do. I’m disappointed that we weren’t able to document more of India, but it is what it is. The most important part is that I’m alive, and I’m slowly getting better and better in the comfort of my home.
What I will be frank about, though, is I’m navigating PTSD. This is one of the most complicated challenges I’ve ever faced, and I share this not because I’m looking for answers, but because it’s now a part of my journey. Healing will take time, and I’m giving myself the space for that.
The fear is something I didn’t know the human body could handle. I never know how I’m going to feel when I wake up, and any moment I get even a taste of who I might’ve been three weeks ago, I delight in it to the maximum. I have a newfound empathy for those journeying with PTSD, and I want to believe that this experience will build character and make me stronger than who I was before. For now, I’m taking things one day at a time, and I’m grateful to be home and surrounded by support. Thank you for being here as I navigate this tricky hurdle.
On a very different note– we’ve been invited to compete in the 2025 USA Jigsaw Nationals championship?!
At the start of this year, we received an intriguing email from Ravensburger, a world-renowned German jigsaw puzzle company, who is sponsoring the Jigsaw Nationals Championship in Washington D.C. like they do every year. We honestly had no idea why they chose particularly to reach out to us, but they asked if we’d be interested in (1) filming the event and capturing content for a D.C.-related YouTube video and (2) PARTICIPATING (???) in the national puzzle competition for 2025. Chad and I are by no means competitive puzzlers. I’d say we’re barely amateur puzzlers. But, we found ourselves replying with our rates, because when you’re randomly invited to attend a once-in-a-lifetime, national-level puzzle championship, you just consider it haha.
This is all to say, ya home girl and ya home boy are registered to compete in the couples jigsaw championship next month. That’s right, NEXT MONTH. The event is taking place at Awesome Con in downtown Washington D.C. on the first weekend in April. You can bet your bottom dollar that we will be spending every free moment we get in March, vigorously doing every 500 to 1000 piece puzzle we can find in our house and timing our speed haha. Obviously, we don’t plan on trying to win or anything, but we feel we should, at the very least, be somewhat acquainted with puzzling and working fast.
One of the best parts about our job is how it brings unexpected opportunities to the table. I never thought in a million years that we’d find ourselves competing in a puzzle championship, and frankly, this whole scenario is so wild and out of our comfort zones, I’m surprised we’re actually doing it haha. But, that’s kind of the point of our job– to say “yes” to new experiences and activities we’d otherwise never do! We’ll be at this competition to simply have fun and to be able to say that we’ve done it before!
New suitcases we highly recommend–
For our last two trips abroad, we’ve been using our new carry-on suitcases from Level8! I have the Grace Carry-On Luggage in champagne, and Chad has the exact same one in black. We know that there are SO many suitcase brands out there, but these are the reasons why we love these particular ones, and why we think you’d love them, too:
Affordability. We aren’t the kinds of travelers who are looking to spend $500 on a suitcase. We want suitcases that can handle the beating of cobblestone streets, and not beat the hard-earned money out of our wallets. These suitcases are priced fairly, especially for the high quality we feel they have.
Expandability. Once we land in a country, we always expand our suitcases. It allows us to be quicker with our packing when moving from city to city, and it gives us space to bring home gifts for friends and family.
Quality wheels. There is nothing more convenient than having wheels that glide through the airport and down the streets. It’s one of those small things that can make a travel day all the easier.
Laptop compartment. Having a designated place for our laptops in our suitcases has been game-changer. Not only has a literal weight been lifted off our backs, going through security feels like a breeze now. Rather than digging through all items in our backpacks to finally find our laptops, we can simply unzip the front compartment of our suitcases to find them neatly stowed away in the laptop sleeve.
Ability to lock. Even though these are carry-on suitcases, sometimes we have to check our bags due to the weight of the items we have in them. We carry expensive gear in our suitcases, and it’s just better to lock them when we send them off, in case anyone’s looking to steal.
We want to say thank you to Level8 for sponsoring this newsletter and for supporting what we do. If you’re looking to get a new suitcase for your travels in 2025, definitely consider getting one from Level8!
New travel videos on YouTube–
Romanian countryside vlog: We spent two days experiencing Romanian village life in Viscri and shared our first impressions of Transylvania. Here is the link to the video.
Northern Taiwan vlog: We learned how to drink oolong tea from a fifth generation tea farmer and discovered a side of Taiwan we’ve never experienced before. Here is the link to the video.
So, where are we heading next?
Well, like I said, at the start of April, we’re going to WASHINGTON D.C. for that puzzle championship, and we should be there for peak cherry blossom season! But before that, we’ll be going camping with some friends at the end of the month. Nature is one of the few things that really help my PTSD these days– hearing the gentle chirps of birds fluttering around in the trees; feeling the dirt between my fingers as I plant flowers and herbs for our spring garden; smelling the sweetness of the outdoor air as new leaves sprout from the branches.
If I’m not editing the few travel videos we were still able to capture in Qatar and India, next to an open window in our office, you’ll find me outside, prepping our raised beds and filling our window box planters.
Life is so unpredictable, and days can be so hard. But, this world is still good, beautiful, and full of magic. I hope your March is a sunny one. We’ll talk soon.
MOST SINCERELY,
Claire (and Chad)
