I usually have one bad day a year. They go something like this: it rains and I have no rain jacket, I forget to bring my phone or wallet with me for the day, I get a flat tyre or two, someone cancels on meeting with me, I am late for something, I fall over awkwardly, I get a fine for something – you get the gist.

Nothing is dramatically wrong, but at the same time nothing goes right for me. My most successful way to deal with these days is to just give up half way through and go home to bed.

Bad Day No.1

My first bad day(s) on our trip were specifically in Pula, Croatia. The day started early in the morning, just after midnight in fact. I realised I had left my manscaping kit on charge in the men’s bathroom accidentally. Now, it wasn’t the full kit, it was just the charger and motor (note: useless to ANYBODY without the shaving heads). When I arrived, the shaver was missing, along with the charger. Ok, so maybe the cleaner thought it had been in the bathroom too long and had dropped it off at reception.

After a sleep of no worry, I hit up the campground reception who in turn called the cleaner to see if anything has been found. Nothing. The cleaner apparently saw it one time she was cleaning and by the next time it was gone.

I gave it a few hours for someone to hand it in, but unfortunately for me the idiot who stole it decided that it was now theirs, however useless.

We were walking along the rocky shoreline of the Adriatic Sea after a long breakfast and filming session (our first go!), admiring the chiseled names and dates in the rock and thinking about how amazing it would be to dive, when with no warning the plug breaks from my thong. (Or flip flops – I unfortunately for you don’t run a whale tail!) The unusual bit is that the plug didn’t pull through the thong body like thongs normally do, it actually broke off!

Walking back to our campsite with one thong and one bare foot I checked to see if there was anything on the washing line. It now seemed that instead of having a washing line, we in fact didn’t. Sadly our amazing elastic, pegless, travel washing line was stolen. I was mainly devastated by the fact that we won’t be able to pick up anything similar for a few months…

The day went on. The protective cap for the Airstash fell out of my pocket in an unknown location.

Later that night when we were using the internet, www.cyclingabout.com disappeared from beneath us. It was there one moment and gone the next. Frustrated, I decided that rather than dwell on it I would forget that it had ever happened and hope that by tomorrow it had come back to the server.

Kat informed me as I went to sleep that I was holding a black ballon, and letting it go would bring better luck. I literally went to sleep with both hands open as wide as possible.

Bad Day No.2

I woke up at 6:30am with stomach cramps and pain. I went to the bathroom a few times but it didn’t seem to get me to a better place. We resumed our day as normal, hoping I would become normal as well. After breakfast I had to lay down rather than staying seated as it was more comfortable. My stomach pain was getting more intense.

By early afternoon I was feeling dizzy, exhausted and generally horrible. Kat wanted to get a bite on her leg checked out by a doctor after learning from some campsite friends that tic bites can carry disease in Germany, and from our observations her bite wasn’t really clearing up well. I was too exhausted to go to hospital, so Kat reluctantly went by herself. (She can fill you in on her experience in another post!)

I lay down in the tent, stomach becoming more painful by the second. I took various medication to reduce pain and settle my stomach, but it felt useless against whatever was attacking me. I was completely nauseous and was most comfortable in the foetal position.

My body went from being frozen cold, snuggled in my sleeping bag fully clothed, to within a few seconds so blisteringly hot I had to lay outside on the ground with the wind blowing past.

Later on, after getting back from the bathroom, my body decided that it was time to throw up everywhere. It felt so natural and refreshing to just let it all out. After five or six bouts my body was slightly more settled.

I became well enough to help cook dinner but I struggled to get more than half way through. I went to bed early, leaving Kat to clean up everything.

Kat had also found out she has Lyme Disease! Yay. (Luckily in its treatable first stage)

The good news?

– Well, I felt a lot better the next day.

– My awesome Phillips shaving kit was replaced in a department store on the outskirts of Pula. It was sheer luck that they firstly had good shaving products, but also that they carried a Phillips shaver 98% identical to my stolen one.

– The super glue lathered generously around the plug of my thong is still holding it together.

– www.cyclingabout.com resumed as normal the next day.