The Sagas

I guess I kind of always knew (although to be honest I did severely underestimate) just how dramatic this expedition would be at times. I'm a teenage girl with chronic fatigue and a history of depression and anxiety (oh look, there's another thing Borneo taught me: I'm not remotely ashamed to announce that to the world anymore) so I have my fair share of issues at times. Oh, and I have a wicked temper, sarcasm is my second language, and I tend to burst into tears A LOT. So I can kind of be a bit of a handful at times... Other times I'm as timid as a mouse and mostly have my nose stuck in a book. You never know which version of me you're going to get. It's great.

Anyway, whilst I was away - for my own entertainment and that of others - I kept a list of all the traumas/tantrums/minor incidents which took place, and these came to be known as Sophie's Sagas. So because Borneo would not really have been Borneo without them, here they are, in the order they occurred...

Nosebleed in Heathrow airport
Tears/panic on aeroplane
Nail scissors confiscated in Singapore
Washbag leakage EVERYWHERE
Smashed my head on the coach...twice in a row
Head butted Gemma
Tears
Stubbed toe/tripped up on the stairs
Tears
More tears
Even more tears
Hit head on huge, very obvious beam
Blisters EVERYWHERE
Tears before scuba diving
Tears during scuba diving
Tears after scuba diving
Nosebleed
Dreaded couscous (I really, REALLY hate couscous)
Stubbed toe again
Weird rash on my hand
Squashed between two kayaks and grazed both my legs
Mouth ulcer
Another nosebleed
Threw up in the sea
Sunburnt my ears (?! Don't even ask)
Dehydration/heat exhaustion
Bag packing breakdown
Bites all over my face (thanks sand flies!!)
Walked into a very obvious signpost
Head butted the floor
Passed out, yay! Ensuing trip to the clinic
Stubbed toe again
Choked on rice
Nosebleed
Nearly passed out again
Felt sick and faint again...
And again...
Cramp in my legs in the middle of the night
Rash all over my legs
Smashed my head on my bed multiple times
Majorly mosquito bitten
Fell over in the shower
Festering feet
Tears, tears, and more tears
Tears in the jungle
Dropped the toilet roll down the toilet in the jungle
Suspicious rash all over my body
Bag packing trauma (I may or may not have been so tired and grumpy that I told a local I hated his country... I'm a terrible person. I apologised profusely and ended up crying more because I felt so bad)
Swollen eye
Nearly chopped off my hand in a moving fan
Mouth ulcers times a billion


Did I mention that this expedition really was the best time of my life?!? It really was, despite all of this. I might actually be insane...