I have travelled a lot. I studied in Argentina, worked in Mexico and Spain. But in all of those cases I had my own room, my own kitchen, my own toilet seat. Weekend trips happened often, but at the end of the trip I always came back to shower in my own shower with no flip flops and then walk around the house in a towel. But for the last three months and six days I’ve been doing a different kind of travel. I have no house to come back to and no official employment. All of the things I own I carry with me. It has been an amazing trip, that is for sure, but it also has taken a bigger toll than I ever expected. Either that or I’m getting too many nose bleeds and not eating enough red meat…
Symptoms of Anemia (according to WebMD):
- Constant tiredness
- Dizziness
- Shortness of breath
- Headache
- Pale skin
- Insomnia
- Leg cramps
- Unusually rapid heartbeat with exercise
- Difficultly focusing
- Irritability
Symptoms of travel fatigue (according to me):
- Constant tiredness (will nap twice a day when given the opportunity)
- Headache and dizziness (especially due to plane, bus and car travel; even the thought of bus travel may induce symptoms)
- Shortness of breath (may be a result of carrying your own weight in worldly possessions)
- Sunburn
- Insomnia (due to anxiety about plane/train/bus times or incredibly hard mattresses)
- Leg cramps (especially with long distance travel)
- Overly emotional (may cry upon leaving cities or at the sight of baby stray kittens–watch out, there are a lot of these in Morocco)
It’s a difficult case to diagnose. All I know is writing this post took so much energy out of me I think I will now go take my second nap of the day.
Go get some hemoglobin tests, girl. It just sounds like travel fatigue but you gotta be sure.