Grand Plans

The following is the first entry of the travel blog I kept as an independent study. The date it was written is not important, it is the beginning of the story.

In preparation for my semester abroad I was told I should go to my doctor to request enough antibiotics to last the semester. When I sat down in my doctor’s office and told him about my trip, he strongly recommended a series of vaccinations to ensure I stay in good health. The only problem with his suggestion is that I have a crippling fear of needles, which isn’t a fear; it’s more like a triggered panic attack.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve had this condition. Every time a doctor gives me a vaccination using a hypodermic needle, I go into shock and pass out for anywhere from thirty seconds to five minutes. This means that when my doctor recommends three vaccinations for my semester in China, I have to go through the hassle of passing out potentially several times in order to satisfy my doctor. I also have to find someone to drive me to and from the clinic because I’ll be incapacitated for a few hours after the injections while my blood pressure goes back to its normal measure. All to prevent me from getting some disease I might not ever encounter.

As the doctor pulls out his computer to check the Internet for health warnings in China and the surrounding areas he asks me where I plan on travelling. The travel seminar was scheduled to go to Yunnan and Sichuan provinces and I told my doctor I wanted to travel to Cambodia and Vietnam in my week off. He gave me prescriptions for Malarone and Ciprofloxacin as a precautionary measure and recommended getting the following vaccinations: Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Pertussis (TDAP); Hepatitis A; and a live oral vaccine for Typhoid.

Shortly after arriving in Beijing, I find out that in order to travel abroad to Cambodia and Viet Nam I need to get a new passport that allows for a reentry into the country. A bunch of us in the study abroad program caravan down to the passport office at 8:00AM to get our Visas renewed but a necessary condition is that we have to have a blood test. Nothing big for a normal person, just a small vile of blood. The office is nice as anything you would expect out of an American clinic, very clean and a couple sheets of paperwork and incredibly long lines. The lines gave me time to think. I thought about how I wasn’t prepared for the blood test and had a minor panic attack on the line, ensuring that I was no longer taking a trip through Southeast Asia.

Several classmates tried to convince me that it would be worth it; after all how many opportunities will I have to travel to Viet Nam and Cambodia after this? I could probably have sucked it up and gotten the blood test ensuring a wonderful trip through Southeast Asia but instead I began to rationalize that the trip would be far too expensive and I probably wouldn’t be able to afford it anyway. The others were spending a thousand dollars American on the plane tickets and living accommodations. I was financially limited. Besides that I was in China and there was a lot to explore. Another idea came into my head making the blood test seem less appealing, Tiananmen Square on National Day. I was hoping to get the most of my experience in China, to walk away truly having known her culture and her people, and the 60^th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic seemed like the sort of spectacle I would only get one chance to experience.

I began making plans with the people who were staying in Beijing, grand plans to see the Yangtze River and the Three Gorges Dam following the October 1^st National Day celebration. I was now sure I was making the right decision and I was excited. I told my classmates I had other plans for National Day and I apologized.