In the style of Morgan Spurlock and Super Size Me, our readers will be able to see what the health impact is from a year of world travel. Because Amy and I applied for universal life insurance policies right before we left, we have a pretty robust record of our physical health due to the required physicals and blood tests for the applications. Now that we have a baseline I am interested to see what changes after a year of travel. Below is a summary of our key metrics. We plan on getting these redone upon our return to see what has changed for better and for worse.
Heath Summary – Pre Trip
*Note: as you should never reveal a lady’s weight Amy will only be posting positive changes.
I do have a couple of theories about what will change and the causal factors. And to prevent revisionist history I will put them in writing now and we will see how right or wrong I am. Feel free to provide your own thoughts in the comments below.
- I think we will lose weight, due to a couple of factors including the somewhat restricted access to food – there is no stocked kitchen 10 feet away and getting food for the most part requires effort, limiting mindless snacking. Also our budget has us eating less animal protein so far, this has to help. Finally there has been a significant increase in our physical activity – so far we are walking significantly more than we did at home. We have a pedometer and the record day so far was in Cappadocia at 22,000 steps. For at least me, as I did not walk to work, getting to 10,000/day at home was a real challenge
- Improved cholesterol (Keith). While I have never had great cholesterol (my mom had a report from grade school where I was tested and had over 200 at age 8 ) 268 is by far the worst I have ever had, and it has been getting steadily worse for the last 8 years. My cholesterol was only ~220 4 years ago. If it does not get better and I do lose weight and am less stressed it seems there are genetic factors at play. Good thing Lipitor goes off patent in 2010.
- Allergies getting worse (Amy). Amy was tested for allergies before we left and was found to be allergic to nearly everything and is on Allegra-D almost constantly to help control them. Her one season of relief was winter and due to our itinerary until New Zealand we are avoiding winter. She was found be borderline asthmatic and was supposed to start allergy shots, but did not have enough time before we left. The constant exposure to smoky and smoggy air will probably not help this.
Any other predictions?
Related posts:
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Good predictions. They were certainly true for Katie and I when we did a 14 month RTW, until tanking up while in Singapore and Malaysia. I’d be 300 pounds if I lived there!
I have constant low level nasal allergies as well and I found that actually most of these dramatically improved while on the road…go figure?
You”ll find the longer you are on the road, the more constant the stream of conversation about the trials and tribulations of your bowels. Keep in mind the old travelers adage, “Happiness to a traveler in India is a dry fart”
Todd thanks for the comment. The budget and info that Katie provided has been HUGELY helpful so far on the trip. Your past experience has really helped us to avoid some pitfalls. I like the old travelers adage, but we are not planning on being in India, partly due to not enough time and due to the GI distress it is famous for.
My prediction: Keith, you come back lighter and with lower cholesterol from your non-sedentary lifestyle, then upon returning to it, actually eclipse where you were when you left in about 6 months and start planning your next year-long vacation for “health reasons”.
Any chance you think insurance would cover that? Sounds like a plan though.