I don’t like sharing this news, but because we’ve always promised transparency in our stories, today I had no choice but to let our readers know what’s really been going on. It’s embarrassing for me, which is precisely why I’ve hesitated to share it sooner. As someone who was once intensely active, committed to health and fitness, and proud of a strong, capable body, admitting vulnerability does not come easily. In fact, it feels like swallowing a truth I’ve been avoiding for weeks.
For the last 42 days of our 47-night cruise, I said nothing. I kept thinking I would get better, that this would pass, and there would be no need to explain why we were doing so little, why I often disappeared early, or why I skipped excursions I would usually jump at. Instead of improving, though, I slowly got worse. And that’s still the case right now.
Since my open-heart surgery in 2019, my immune system has never fully bounced back. It feels fragile, easily overwhelmed. If I’m exposed to someone who’s sick, I almost inevitably get sick within a few days. While we were in Marloth Park, I had far fewer issues, most likely because of the low population and limited close contact with others. When I knew someone was sick, I asked for their understanding and avoided them until they recovered. It worked surprisingly well.
A cruise ship, however, is an entirely different environment. There is no avoiding coughing, sneezing, or close quarters—especially when so many people are curious about our unusual lifestyle and stop to chat. Add to that the fact that about five days into the cruise, I tripped over my own feet and injured my right knee badly enough that I could barely walk. I knew it wasn’t broken, so there was no need to see the ship’s doctor. I did exactly what they would have told me anyway: iced it, rested it, and stayed off it as much as possible. By the final week of the cruise, the swelling had gone down significantly, and I could walk better again.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, at the first sign of a virus, I started taking Tamiflu. Thankfully, it worked incredibly well. What could have been awful turned into a relatively mild case of coughing and sneezing. We stayed in the cabin for a few days and nights, and not long after, I was around people again. Still, I didn’t feel well enough to go on excursions, especially those involving a lot of walking.
When we saw Louise and Danie early on in Cape Town, and later Rita and Gerhard in Bali, I genuinely thought I was improving—even though I continued coughing a lot at night. During all of this, Tom was coughing and sneezing too, though thankfully, he’s doing better now.
Then, during the last few days of the cruise, I started feeling worse again. The worst moment came the night we drove from Auckland to Kaiwaka, a drive that should have taken 90 minutes but turned into three hours after a wrong turn. I was coughing so hard I could barely breathe, and I honestly don’t know how I got through that long drive.
Once we arrived at the house and got settled, I thought I was on the upswing again. We even attended a several-hour party at Dave and Eine’s home, our landlords, and I managed pretty well. But yesterday, everything flared up again, worse than when it first started. Why does it come and go like this? Today, I feel like I could spend the entire day in bed. I took a two-hour nap yesterday, something that is very unusual for me.
Thankfully, our grocery shopping is done, and we have enough food to last a few weeks. Hopefully, by the time we need to shop again, I’ll be on the mend. So there it is, friends. This is why we did so little on the cruise and why I don’t feel well enough to go anywhere right now. I need to get better so we can truly enjoy our time here in New Zealand, in this lovely, albeit remote, location.
And if you’re wondering why we keep traveling, it’s because we’re not done yet. We trust this is a season, not an ending, and we’re holding onto the hope that it will pass, allowing us to continue forward with joy.
Be well.
Photo from ten years ago today, December 16, 2015:
