老澳门六合彩开奖记录

Martha Lee from Devon, England, an avid traveler and hiker, explains to Sara Stewart how having long COVID has affected 鈥 but not stopped 鈥 her ability to move around in the world.

鈥淚鈥檝e been traveling solo and with friends since I was 17. I like to save up money and time, then head off somewhere for a month. I exclusively stay in hostels, because you can always find someone who wants to do the same things.

鈥淭he most incredible hike I鈥檝e done was the Tour du Mont Blanc, the 100-mile-ish route through France and southern Italy. I lived in Guatemala for just under a year, working with an NGO, which was amazing. I climbed Santiaguito, which is an active volcano there.

鈥淚 got back from a trip to Mexico the day before the stay-at-home order was announced for COVID. I had COVID quite a few times, but the one that triggered the long COVID was in August 2021. I wasn鈥檛 in the hospital, but I was very, very ill for a few weeks. It took months to be able to do stairs, or to actually socialize.

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Enjoying the sun in the Algarve, despite the long COVID symptoms 漏 Martha Lee

鈥淣ow I鈥檝e got to the point where I can walk on a flat surface for up to half an hour, very slowly. My 鈥榖attery,鈥 as they call it in the clinics, is much smaller. If you overextend yourself, you鈥檒l be ill for a week. Brain fog means I struggle sometimes to find a particular word. I was working as a management consultant but I lost my job, because I couldn鈥檛 manage a team. I can鈥檛 absorb information the same way; my memory is rubbish.

鈥淟ast September, I went on a family holiday to Spain. We all met up near Bilbao, in the mountains. I couldn鈥檛 do any of the hiking; I just stayed home. Then our flight back got canceled, and we had to spend an unplanned weekend in Madrid. I went to breakfast, dinner and spent half an hour in a gallery 鈥 and that was more or less my weekend.

Planning a trip with long COVID

鈥淚 did manage one solo trip so far, to Lagos, Portugal, about this time last year. The amount of planning when you can鈥檛 just absorb what life throws at you made this a very different trip. For instance, emailing the hostel saying, 鈥楶lease can I not have a top bunk,鈥 because of the ladder 鈥 and then you get there and there鈥檚 three flights of stairs to get to the room! That鈥檚 going to be a big activity.

鈥淏ut Lagos was a good choice, because everything鈥檚 within 10-minute walking distance. You could do a really nice slow walk, be on the beach for a bit, take a slow walk back. And a lovely fresh food market was three minutes from the hostel. It鈥檚 not somewhere like Rome, where there鈥檚 so much that you need to do 鈥 and if you can鈥檛, you feel that you鈥檝e wasted your trip.

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Memories of pre-COVID trips, in Lake Louise (left) and Andaluc铆a 漏 Martha Lee

鈥淚 think I鈥檝e met about two other people with long COVID. Maybe it鈥檚 because none of us are getting out very much! Everyone seems very unaware. [In a hostel], I had conversations with girls in the beds next to me, and they hadn鈥檛 heard of it. They were from the US and right now there are 20 million Americans, at least, who have it.

鈥淭here are so many invisible disabilities that people just don鈥檛 understand. There鈥檚 a lot of stigma: 鈥榊ou don鈥檛 look sick.鈥 Yes, that鈥檚 because you鈥檙e seeing me at my most energetic! It鈥檚 like living an Instagram life, because you鈥檙e always projecting the best bits and hiding everything else.鈥

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