Traveling with Long COVID: Martha Lee’s Journey

Martha Lee from Devon, England, an avid traveler and hiker, explains how having long COVID has affected, but not stopped, her ability to move around in the world.

“I’ve been traveling solo and with friends since I was 17. I like to save up money and time, then head off somewhere for a month. I exclusively stay in hostels because you can always find someone who wants to do the same things.

“The most incredible hike I’ve done was the Tour du Mont Blanc, the 100-mile-ish route through France and southern Italy. I lived in Guatemala for just under a year, working with an NGO, which was amazing. I climbed Santiaguito, which is an active volcano there.

“I got back from a trip to Mexico the day before the stay-at-home order was announced for COVID. I had COVID multiple times, but the one that triggered the long COVID was in August 2021. I wasn’t in the hospital, but I was very, very ill for a few weeks. It took months to be able to do stairs or to socialize effectively.

“Now I’ve reached a point where I can walk on a flat surface for up to half an hour, very slowly. My ‘battery,’ as they call it in the clinics, is much smaller. If I overextend myself, I’ll be ill for a week. Brain fog means I struggle sometimes to recall specific words. I was working as a management consultant but lost my job because I couldn’t manage a team. My ability to absorb information has changed; my memory isn’t reliable anymore.

“Last September, I went on a family holiday to Spain. We all met up near Bilbao, in the mountains. I couldn’t participate in any hiking; I just stayed home. When our flight back was canceled, we ended up spending an unplanned weekend in Madrid. I managed to go to breakfast, dinner, and spend half an hour in a gallery – and that was my weekend.

Planning a Trip with Long COVID

“I did manage one solo trip to Lagos, Portugal, about this time last year. The amount of planning required when you can’t just absorb what life throws at you made this a very different trip. For instance, I emailed the hostel asking, ‘Please can I not have a top bunk?’ due to difficulties with the ladder – and then found out there were three flights of stairs to reach the room! That was quite the challenge.

“However, Lagos was a good choice because everything is within a 10-minute walking distance. You can take a lovely slow walk, spend some time on the beach, and stroll back. A fantastic fresh food market was just three minutes from the hostel. It’s not a destination like Rome, where there’s so much to do; failing to accomplish everything can make you feel as though you’ve wasted your trip.

“I think I’ve met about two other people with long COVID. Maybe it’s because none of us are getting out very much! Everyone seems largely unaware. During a stay at a hostel, I had conversations with others nearby, and they hadn’t heard of it. They were from the US, and currently, there are at least 20 million Americans dealing with long COVID.

“There are so many invisible disabilities that people just don’t understand. There’s a lot of stigma: ‘You don’t look sick.’ Yes, that’s because you’re seeing me at my most energetic! It’s akin to living an Instagram life, constantly projecting the best bits while hiding everything else.”