CONCLUSION: BURN SURVIVOR TRAVELS | facetofacewithshell.com

Hi, you are “face to face with Shell”.

I hope you have enjoyed my travelling stories. I really hope that they helped you get through the Covid lockdown, whether you were isolating because of the virus or because of your burn injuries. I also hope that you are now starting to get back to a bit of normality.

Please have a look at the video below and/or read on:

I have loved telling you my backpacking adventures. It really was an awesome time and we are very grateful that we got the opportunity to do so, and grateful to everyone that we met along the way, and to those that made our travels so memorable, they are all part of our story.

I was thinking about how, if you are at the start of your burn journey, you might not think that you will be able to do anything like I have but remember that I was once where you are now and I never thought that I would do what I have done.

I hope I am proof that there is “life after burns” or indeed any trauma. I was well into my burn journey when I first travelled but you can do it at any time, as long as you are healed and have checked with your health professionals (if you are still receiving treatment) and of course, if you are ready. I suppose, though, you don’t know if you are ready until you try something…as like most things.

Everything can be a little different for a burn survivor; there is a lot to think about if you want to go travelling. Do you think you are ready to go outwith your comfort zone? Can you physically do it? Do you have a lot of medication/creams to carry? How long can you go for without interfering with your hospital appointments/treatment (if you are still attending for treatment)?

You might be thinking; ‘do I have the confidence to go travelling, to let more people see me’? You are going “out there”, outside of your comfort zone, which can be scary.

When we were on Workaway, I would explain to the others what had happened to me. I have always been like that. I would rather people know and it is out in the open, rather than people making up their own stories or maybe be frightened that they will offend me? One Workaway said that he was glad that I told him, as there was no way that he would have asked me anything.

It is the way I deal with it. Once it is out there, no one is wondering and we can all just get on with getting to know each other and having fun. Sometimes I find that others open up about what has happened to them, either at the time or at a later stage.

As a burn survivor, remember you might have limitations that others don’t; for me, it is my hand. Remember that you have to carry your backpack, therefore, don’t carry too much. Remember your skin is different now and needs more attention and care.

We didn’t have a real plan, so we had to take all different types of clothes. A couple of tips for travelling as burn survivor; sunscreen (a very high factor or sunblock). Think about clothes for protection (enough cool or warm clothes, depending where you are going) and remember again, that you are going to have to carry everything, don’t put extra strain on your body and scars.

We travelled from very hot to very cold countries and these two extremes really affected my skin differently.

In the very hot temperatures, my skin would go more red and obviously I had to protect it from the sun. A high factor sunscreen and light, baggy clothes, that would not make me overheat and protect more vulnerable areas.

When it was really cold, I wore multiple layers and protected the areas of my body that were exposed. Hats, gloves, sunglasses too. I found that tights were great worn under jeans, which was another layer of protection. It was way cold. We would only spend about half an hour out in the cold and then would find a warm place to “shelter” (this was when the temperature was -27!…wow!).

There were some people who told us that we should be travelling in a camper van but we wanted to have a “real experience”; meeting locals and other travellers (some of whom we are still friends with today). By taking the local transport, we got to see the “real” people.

Again, I hope that I have showed that there can be a full life after burns/trauma – when I was in the hospital/house recovering, I never thought that I would be able to do these types of things.

If you want to do Workaway; as always, do your research properly. I do things differently now but it doesn’t mean that I can’t do them. Make sure that you are able to do the tasks that will be asked of you – just like any job.

Everywhere we went, people were so friendly and helpful. The world is a great place, full of lovely people, and it is that that you have to concentrate on and look for.

Travelling was a great experience and I hope that we can get lots more done, after it is safe and the virus has gone. It can be tiring though; the first year we travelled, we were moving every 3 to 4 days, depending if we liked a place or not, that was the beauty of not planning. If we liked somewhere, we would stay longer, if there wasn’t much to see, we moved on. Before we left there were people who hadn’t backpacked telling us that we needed to have a plan; we are glad that we didn’t.

Getting back to it being tiring; we were moving on average every 3 to 4 days and it took a lot out of us. First up, we had to find where we were staying, Chris was amazing at getting us places though. Once there; we had to find food, have a look around the place, decide if we wanted to stay longer (if we did, either had to arrange to stay longer in the place we were staying or find a new place) and then plan where next. When planning the next stop, we had to find out if we could get there and was there accommodation within our budget? This sometimes could take a bit of time.

We moved around a lot because we were trying to see as much as we possibly could with the money we had but also, it is important to take a “down day”, where you just chill and re-charge.

Above all, you are a burn survivor and you have to look after yourself and take care of your skin; it needs extra special attention.

Everyone will have an opinion on what you should be doing but you do what YOU want to do, this is YOUR journey, not theirs and I don’t just mean travelling.