Guadalupe Station

After an amazing end to my Thailand chapter, I hopped on a flight to the Philippines. After a short stopover in Manila I was supposed to arrive in Puerto Princesa in Palawan and start my Philippines adventure there.

However, upon leaving the aircraft in Manila, a sharp pain in my back suddenly brought me to the ground in the transit area. I couldn't move my body without experiencing extremely intense pain. As a result, I was taken in the airport's medical facility where they kept me for a bit before transferring me with an ambulance and sirens to the St Luke's Hospital in Manila.

The idea of spending my time in the Philippines in a hospital in Manila was definitely not appealing, but I had no choice as I couldn't properly move without pain and I had no idea what the issue was. Luckily, the hospital is said to be the 'best' in the Philippines and the room and support was indeed phenomenal.

Anyway, after a few tests the doctors were certain that I suffered from a painful version of muscle spasm (in German: 'Muskelkrampf') that required rest and would resolve itself.

And that's what happened. After 2.5 days in the hospital, I was cleared to be fit enough to continue my travels. So I left the hospital, went to the airport to retrieve my checked luggage and the following night took a flight to Palawan to properly start my adventures in the Philippines. And my first stop would bring me to Paradise.

Of course I was gutted to have missed a few days in Puerto Princesa, but at the same time, travel has taught me that things at some point can go wrong. If that happens, you can either give up and fall into despair or you accept how things are, adjust your plans and focus on getting fit as quickly as possible. After all, the highs of traveling wouldn't be as high if there were no lows. Things go wrong - accept it, deal with it and then move forward.

Plus, my travel insurance ended up paying for everything (c£800), which I was v grateful for.Read more