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I've been writing for GW Blog Abroad for nearly three months now, and I think it's about time I confess something: I am physically limited.

Well, kind of. I'm in the grey area of disability: it's not bad enough that I need to declare it on any forms, but it is severe enough that I require surgery and physical therapy. I have scoliosis - a curvature of the spine - and it prevents me from doing certain things (like run or wear corsets) without my lungs being ironically impinged by my rib cage. I can't stand for more than an hour at a time without incurring nerve pain, and my limbs will occasionally go numb for no apparent reason. It's unfortunate, but I don't let my issues impinge upon my ability to participate in life, pain or no pain. 

Essentially, my plight isn't bad enough to require a handicapped sticker on my license plate, but if the US army ever returned to a draft system, I'd be declared unfit for duty.

So how is it that I've been backpacking around Europe for the past three weekends when simply wearing a backpack makes me limp? How have I been staying in hostels, hurrying to catch trains, hiking in Prague? For that matter, how can any student with consistent physical pain partake in the GW study abroad student-rite-of-passage of traveling cheaply? For that matter, how can anyone other than the strongest athlete manage to carry around their belongings from city to city?

Simple. You pay attention. Stepping on mismatched cobblestone and the mile-wide gap of grout in-between causes my vertebrae to grind together, so I actively seek out the smoothest sections of the street. A six hour train ride into Nantes makes my muscles ache and spasm, so I get up and wander the train every hour or so. Carrying my backpack through a crowded airport for the two hours before my flight takes off makes my head light and my sciatic shudder, so I set my bag down (my leg looped though the strap to protect against theft) whenever I can. Most importantly, I always do these things before I have pain, not after or during.

The number one tip I can give is to be preventative by paying attention to both your body and the world around you.

It does you no good to tough it out - keep your pack on your back - until your legs are shaking and you're ready to cry. Any moment you have the chance, set your bag down. Lean against the wall, stretch your body, and pay attention. By giving your body breaks whenever you can, you'll last longer and be able to keep up with more able-bodied people.

My other favorite thing is to spread out my belongings. Obviously, if I'm traveling anywhere long-term I bathe in the luxury of a rolling suitcase. However, for older cities like Prague (in which a paved road is essentially a tourist attraction in and of itself), a rolling suitcase is not a possibility. My trick? I place anything fragile or heavy in my backpack, and then carry a lightweight tote filled with toiletries or clothing. Having a second, easy-to-maneuver bag let's me rearrange how I carry things if my back starts to hurt or things get too heavy for me.

The old adage is "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." It's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a reason, as people like me know. Recovering from a day of intense pain is a harrowing experience, and it can easily kill an entire vacation day. It's better to not put yourself in that position at all. So watch the world around you - pay attention to your body - and cheat. Find the ways of standing, sitting, and backpacking that don't bother your body, and work them into your travel as often as you can. If you stretch and pay attention, there's no reason you can't travel like everyone else.

By rbhargava

This past Friday, Nov 21st, I arrived back home to New Jersey after my 17 day  trip backpacking through South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. As you may of noticed, I was not able to post anything during the trip due to a complete lack of access to computers! So through this post and the next few I hope to share some of my memories during a very enjoyable trip traveling through southern Africa with some amazing friends.

On the evening Nov 2nd, 6 of us left Stellenbosch by bus to travel to Port Elizabeth. Although only six of us were leaving, a group of 10-16 people came to send us off at the bus stop - as some close friends wanted to give us one last goodbye! Our group was composed of 4 Germans, one girl from Hong Kong, and of course me. The overnight bus to PE was quite the experience, as we later found out we had taken the cheapest "budget" option bus available. Sitting next to my friend Maren, we tried to keep ourselves entertained while cockroaches  crawled up and down the window and South African Christian gospel music played overhead the entire night. We survived the journey though - and arrived in Port Elizabeth around 5am in the morning.

On our first day of the trip, we rented two tiny Polo cars to drive all the way up to coast to Durban with over the next several days. We went to the beautiful Sardinia Bay just outside PE before relaxing a bit at our cozy backpackers - Lungile Backpackers. In the evening we met a friend of a friend in downtown PE, who gave us a nice walking tour of the city as well as the Casino and joined us for dinner on the beachfront.

The second day of our trip was an obvious highlight for all of us as we took our two Polos to the famous Addo Elephant Park and were treated close encounters with countless elephants as well as buffalo, warthogs, eland, kudu, and several other animals. At more times than we would have liked we found ourselves stuck with elephants blocking the road. There was once when a very territorial elephant event drew a line in the road with his front foot, placed a large stick along the line, and waved its ears at us - clearly indicating that we should not come any closer. Driving through the park and encountering wild animals the entire day was a true joy, and we all enjoyed some adrenaline pumping moments.

On the 3rd day we left Port Elizabeth for Chintsa - a small town on the Wild Coast. Stopping in Port Alfred and East London, we spent the majority of the day on the road. Unfortunately the weather was overcast and rainy - something that would define the majority of our rip along the coastline that is world famous for beautiful sunny days year round. At Chintsa we stayed at the gorgeous Buccaneers Backpackers where we were treated with a well deserved homemade meal by the kitchen staff there. In the evening one of the managers of the backpackers took some of us to a dam to enjoy the sounds of wildlife in the approaching full moon night. Sitting along the dam with a small group of backpackers from all around the world and listening to the sounds of frogs burping in the middle of the forest was an experience I won't forget. Just like many moments during my Spring Break, I felt quite apart from the rest of the world and thoroughly enjoyed the company of the random other backpackers who were with us. And with that, I knew my trip was off to a success!