Five Years Since That Trek, That Fall, That Island

MARCH 9, 2020: At long last, we spotted a gibbon, swinging through the trees, just like in the movies. Unfortunately, a tree in Khao Yai National Park (Thailand) took me out of commission minutes later.

MARCH 10, 2020: My first trip to a foreign hospital, in Pak Chong, Thailand.

Five years ago today, I was being wheeled around Atta Lakeside Resort in Pak Chong, Thailand—the same day the WHO declared COVID-19 a global pandemic.

Just two days earlier, on March 9, 2020, I had tripped and fallen — HARD — over a tree deep into a guided trek in Khao Yai National Park, just minutes after spotting a gibbon swinging through the trees. I was exhausted and starving—distracted.

At the time, I was certain I’d broken my right foot—convinced that this was the abrupt end of the trip around the world I had set out on just eight weeks prior. The trip I had quit my job for two years earlier.

A hospital visit confirmed my foot wasn’t broken. But the end had already begun. The next day, I landed on a Thai island. I just didn’t know I’d be staying for 73 days.