Rewind for a moment back to Borneo, where Mike and I practiced our body-surfing skills in the warm South China Sea at Damai Beach. It was one of those days where the waves were great, each set bigger than the last. I’m a pretty good swimmer; I took Red Cross swimming lessons as a young child, and grew up at a lake home where swimming and waterskiing were the main activities.

I’ve had my fair share of waterskiing wipeouts, complete with water up the nose and a fierce wedgie. Never-the-less, I was knocked down a couple of times by really big waves that caught me unawares. I got saltwater up my nose, in my ears and down my throat; at that point I decided to admit defeat and head back to dry land.

Fast forward through several bus, airplane and ferry rides where undoubtedly people were sick. Throw in a few snorkeling excursions where I did some free-diving, adding to the pressure on my ears. Then on Koh Tarutao I came down with a cold but didn’t think much of it. But by the time we reached Ao Nang, my condition had not improved. The sun and heat made me feel drained and dizzy, so I was forced to stay in the hotel room during the majority of the day. I was very frustrated to be sick for Christmas and then for Mike’s birthday (which consisted of a mini loaf of banana bread with two birthday candles stuck in it … the most I could manage in my weakened state). Luckily Mike took good care of me, and he didn’t mind a bit that we had to be cooped up in the hotel room - it gave him a chance to do some solid writing and upload pictures to the website.

By the way, some of you are probably thinking, “gosh, I didn’t think people in tropical climates got the common cold”. Well, the majority of tourists here are Europeans, so I have them to thank for bringing illness along with their Euro dollars. In fact, about 95% of the tourists in Ao Nang were Swedish, the remainder being German or Dutch. People were very surprised to learn we were from the US.

After that, we took a flight to Bangkok (and we all know that flying when you are sick is not the best idea), where my condition promptly escalated into a sinus infection. I have had them before, so I recognized the telltale symptoms. In the past, antibiotics have been the only way to knock out my sinus infections. Luckily it is very easy to find a pharmacy in Thailand, and the pharmacists are very knowledgeable (they might have nursing degrees or something equivalent). I was asked if I had any drug allergies, and was given my choice of brand name drugs. I chose Augmentin (amoxicillin) because it had worked for me in the past without an adverse reaction. The pharmacist gave me the dosage instructions, as I was on my way.

The irony in this story is that Mike and I had numerous vaccinations and immunizations at a Minnesota travel clinic in preparation for this trip (including Typhoid, Rabies, Polio, Hepatitis A and B, and Japanese Encephalitis). The travel nurse had even joked with us about having flu shots while we were at it, and we all had a good laugh. But it was something as silly as a common cold that ultimately took me down.