Globetrotting - By Kimberly Blake
Travelling wasn’t always a dream for me, but after a million years at school and a few more at uni I decided I wanted to be free for a while although with CF following me around it wasn’t going to be that easy. Plus with a protective dad on side it wasn’t going to be feasible to do it alone.
My name is Kimberley Blake and I turned 25 this year. I’m one of two girls (lucky dad) and I have CF (diagnosed at 18 months). I’ve had more hospital admission then I’ve had birthdays although I am reasonably healthy. My regular treatment is daily physio, lots of exercise and a large diet and like most, enough pills to make you rattle. I studied Nursing at uni and have been enjoying part-time work since. This brings me to the desire to be free and travel.
It started with an idea, which was then scrutinized by Prof. Bye, Carmel and of course Dad. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy but once I get an idea I have to do it. Next was finding a partner in crime to travel with me. Luckily, it was one of my nursing colleagues, Alison. Perfect, a built in physio. Ruth (head physio at RPA) was kind enough to teach Ali the ins and outs of physio and also tips to make me have it when I was using diversion tactics. My pep mask was also going to be a very useful toy.
Our plans were to backpack through Europe on Busabout for a possible 3 months providing I didn’t get sick. After researching many travel companies, bus seemed the best as it was so flexible. You hop on and off when you want to depending on what countries you want to see and how much time you have. This worked perfectly for us as I could then plan for rest days. The next big hurdle was medication. Getting the medication wasn’t a problem it was carrying three months supply on my back. To paint the picture for you, I’m just 5 foot tall and 50kgs on a good day so getting a pack I could carry was extremely difficult. We eventually found one and then came the challenge of fitting all the medication and my clothes in. Being a girl it was extremely hard to give up clothes for pills. This was later the core of many jokes as Ali and I were labelled the walking chemists.
Departure day, June 12 2005 soon arrived. Leading up to this day was extremely stressful. Alison and I had been told things over and over again -do this, do that - what if this happens, what if that happens. We were like, “Look, we’ll deal with it when it does”. Travelling is stressful enough when you only have to worry about passports, tickets and money. Our major worry was that if I lost my pills or my bag got stolen so we planned for a second bag of clothes ands meds to stay in London with friends just in case.
The excitement on departure day was unbearable. I was off. We were in London for a week then hit Europe. You name it I did it. Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Chesky Krumlov, Vienna, Budapest, Salzburg, Munich, St Johann, Venice, 5 of the Greek Islands, Rome, Florence, Siena, Pisa, Cinque Terre, Nice, Barcelona, Madrid, San Sebastian, Biarritz. In total 10 countries. We absolutely had the time of our lives. I always get asked my favourite country but I cannot decide. They are all so different and beautiful for their own history. Major highlights though were walking 668 stairs up the Eiffel tower. The war history in Berlin blew me away. Beautiful little city in Czech Republic called Chesky Krumlov which had bears in the moat around the castle, The labyrinth in Budapest, ice caves in Salzburg, sky diving over the Austrian alps. The Greek islands were magical. Rome for the architecture and history, Pisa the leaning tower, Cinque Terre the picturesque 15 km walk between the 5 villages. I could go on and on.
So you’re wondering about my health. Well the weather helped - hot hot hot and dry. Plus Al and I made a ritual of doing the bike tour in every city which made for great exercise and orientation. Plus some days it felt like all we did was walk and walk. Another major part of each country is sampling the food and wine. Well you don’t have to ask me twice, and of course gelato -so many flavours - how can one choose?
My health remained so good that I actually didn’t come home. I stayed in London for a year, worked as a nurse and continued to travel. Plus the shopping was unbelievable.
I had the most amazing adventure. I learnt so much about myself and life in general. My advice to everyone, live your dreams, have a go. We may have dodgy lungs but it makes it that much more rewarding in the end.
