I almost died while traveling around the world... -Self-Introduction Part 3-

Part2can be found here

Is there a moment when you feel,
“Wow, I’m really alive right now!”
more than any other?

I have a clear answer to that.

Leaving behind Australia, a place full of memories where I lived for two years,

my dream of “traveling around the world” finally began.

I only had 450,000 yen in my pocket, but I thought,

“Well... I’ll figure it out somehow!”

・Doing something no one has ever done before

The start of my world trip was
Asia, where I had traveled many times as a university student.

Starting in Malaysia,
I moved on to Thailand → Laos → Singapore → Cambodia → Thailand → Myanmar → India.

I didn’t set a proper schedule,
letting the flow of the moment guide my travels.

However, I had decided on one thing:
“I will go to Trinidad and Tobago,”
the country where my roots are.

Travel was basically by land, which is overwhelmingly cheaper.
When I absolutely had to fly, it was LCC only.

LCC carry-on luggage is limited to 7kg.
My backpack weighed over 15kg, haha.

In those times, I did this ↓

For a backpacker,
“how cheaply you can travel the world”
is everything. This determines how many countries you can visit.

I didn’t go to restaurants for meals.
I always ate local street food.
There were often days when I only ate snacks for three days straight.
(I’ve always been a light eater, and I had experience cutting weight for boxing, so it was easy.)

While traveling around the world,
the biggest expense is accommodation.
In countries with poor security, I couldn’t exactly sleep outside.

I would sleep while traveling on night buses or sleeper trains,
or I often used an app called Couchsurfing.It allows you to stay at a local’s house for free.

There was a reason I entered Thailand twice:
to get vaccinations.

In South America and Africa,
there are countries you cannot enter without
a Yellow Fever vaccination certificate (Yellow Card), and
illness is definitely something to fear.

I got three shots the first time and four the second time.

Maybe I got too many at once,
but I fainted at the hospital the first time, haha.



The goal I found in Australia was
“to build a boxing gym specialized for children.”
The theme of this trip was


“a journey to visit boxing gyms around the world.”In other words,
“challenging” the gyms in each country.When I moved to a city,

I would first search for “boxing gym” on Google Maps.
I would go to the ones that popped up without an appointment and ask them to let me train.
That was the kind of trip I was on.

Returning to the question at the beginning,

do you all have a moment where you feel,
“I’m alive right now”
?

For me, the answer is

“when I’m doing something no one has ever done before.”

Taking photos, drawing on the street, riding a bicycle, etc...
Even back when social media wasn’t as popular, there were many people who said, “I traveled around the world while doing X.”
But,


a person who traveled the world with gloves in hand, challenging boxing gyms everywhere, probably doesn’t exist anywhere in the world, haha.For me, this trip was truly exciting.

It didn’t have to be boxing; any martial art was fine.

Speaking of Thai martial arts, it has to be
Muay Thai.

What left an impression on me in Asia was
training at a Lethwei gym in Myanmar.

Lethwei is said to be the most extreme martial art in the world, with outrageous rules where everything is allowed—bare knuckles, headbutts, groin strikes, elbows, and knees—and everything is a draw unless there is a knockout.

And another theme was,

“A journey to share the joy of boxing”

I carried gloves and mitts with me,
and taught boxing to children in various countries.

Everyone in the world knows what boxing is,
but not many people have actually tried it.

So, from children to adults,
it was incredibly popular no matter which country I went to.

I thought many times that I was really glad I chose boxing as a sport
and kept at it.


By the way, the reason I never once encountered any danger,
like being mugged or having things stolen during this trip around the world,
is because I believe it was because I always had boxing gloves hanging on the side of my backpack.I mean, even bad guys wouldn't go out of their way to target someone who looks strong.

Among the Japanese people I met during my travels,
some were taken into cars or back alleys and beaten up,

and others were drugged and robbed.
I think there is still an image in the world that


Japanese people = rich + naive/peace-dazed.Even if you can't box,I recommend boxing gloves as a crime prevention tool!

In parallel with my dojo-crashing,
I also visited tourist attractions in Asia one after another.

・Friends are a treasure to have

Once I arrived in India,
for the
cross-country road trip across America in a camper vanthat I had been planning since my time in Australia,

I headed to America via India → Nepal → China.

I gathered members from my time in Australia and via Facebook, and managed to get 7 people together.

We headed from Los Angeles to New York,
taking a full month.
(Since only one other person besides me could drive out of the 7, I remember doing almost all the driving)

I had no money, and there was still a long way to go.
In the first place, America is a boxing powerhouse,
and it would be meaningless if I didn't go to many gyms here.
While everyone else was going to Disneyland,
I was the only one going to a boxing gym.

In the second half of my cross-country trip across America,
I was running out of money.

450,000 yen really wasn't enough...

Besides, I still hadn't been to the places I wanted to visit most,
likeSouth AmericaorAfrica,
andTrinidad and Tobago.

"I can't end it here yet."

After agonizing over it, the last resort I came up with was

"crowdfunding".Back then, it wasn't common yet and was a completely unknown world.

I started creating a support page, but the screening process for forbidden words and phrasing was strict, so I had to redo it over and over again.
Every day, fighting off sleepiness, I kept facing my smartphone night after night.

The screening finally passed, and I was able to publish it three days before my cross-country trip across America ended.

Whether I can continue my trip around the world from here on out depends on


these three weeks
.

The night the crowdfunding started,
"A supporter has appeared"a notification arrived on my smartphone.

"I'll reserve the first membership for Jesse's Gym."

Along with that message, a local friend supported me.
I was just purely happy.

From there, for three weeks, supporters appeared one after another

along with messages of encouragement.
In the end, in three weeks, there were

62 supportersand the total amount raised was
418,000 yenThe crowdfunding was a success.

When I started crowdfunding,
I had assumed that it was something where "some unknown rich guy"
would support young people.

But I was wrong.

These 62 people were
local friends, high school friends,
seniors and juniors from university,
friends I made in Cebu and Australia,
family, and even friends' parents,

everyone was "someone I knew."

Some people supported me two or three times,
and some people supported me with large amounts of money like tens of thousands of yen.
Many people also shared it on social media saying, "My friend is working hard!"

I had never given money to the people who supported me before,
and let alone being the same age as me,
I don't think they had much economic leeway as they had just entered society.


And yet,they were lending their strength to what I wanted to do.

Looking at the messages from everyone that arrived with their support,
my heart grew warm every time.
I was traveling the world alone,

and every day was lonely no matter what I did, but


"There are this many people supporting me""I'm not alone"
I was encouraged in terms of

my mental stateas well during those three weeks.The day the crowdfunding ended,

due to the joy of being able to continue my trip and the excitement of having achieved it,

I collapsed with a high fever.Or so I thought, but

I would end up almost dying from this high fever.

・A dream-like experience as a boxer

The story returns to right after the cross-country trip across America.

After starting the crowdfunding,
I continued my trip from Mexico to Cuba after finishing my cross-country trip across America,
with the fear that my money could run out at any moment.

Following America, Mexico is also a boxing powerhouse.
There were many boxing gyms, so I was allowed to practice at various gyms.

In the midst of that, as usual, when I searched for "boxing" on Google Maps,"WBC"I discovered that the headquarters was nearby.

*WBC = The organization that certifies world champions.
In soccer terms, it's like FIFA.

A name that everyone involved in boxing knows.
Since I'm here, I might as well go take a look!


When I arrived, it looked like a slightly largeordinary house.
While wondering if this was really it,
the door wasn't open and it didn't feel like I could go inside.

Just when I thought that,
a guy with the "WBC" logo on his chest came out from inside.

It really was here!

"Excuse me, can I go inside?"
I asked, but

"There's nothing inside anyway," he said,
and the guy left.

I guess it was impossible to enter after all... just as I was about to give up,
the security guard who was there said,
"Come on in~"(Thinking about it now,
I don't know if he had the authority to do that lol)
When I was allowed into the office,

the staff kindly guided me,
and explained everything from A to Z.

There, I also found the coveted "Green Belt".

"You can totally hold it!"

Whaaaaaat!?!? Are you serious!?!?

I never imagined the day would come when I would hold this lol
You never know what will happen in life.

Furthermore,
President Mauricio, who is usually not there, was there at that time.

"I do boxing, and I came from Japan.
I'm traveling around the world to build a boxing gym."

When I told him that, President Mauricio said,
"Bravo! I'm rooting for you, so do your best!" and
even gave me gifts like a WBC T-shirt, a hat, a keychain, and stickers.

And what's more,
"There's an event where world champions will gather soon, so you should come!" he said,
inviting me to the event as well.

"Is this... really reality?"
It was an experience that made me doubt it.

During my life in Mexico, I made full use of Couchsurfing,
and for transportation, I used only local buses (20 yen) and the subway (25 yen).

Even in that super frugal life, the people of Mexico were truly kind,
inviting me to karaoke parties and home parties
for free.

When I was walking home alone while drunk, strangers even treated me to tacos.

I was also very well taken care of by the Japanese people
living in Mexico at the time.

The Japanese food after such a long time was incredibly delicious.


After finishing that time in Mexico City, where I was so blessed with the people I met,
the next place I was headed to was
"Cuba, the Caribbean paradise." The flight to Cuba wasn't departing from Mexico City, but from a place in Mexico called

Merida, so I traveled there. Since the flight I booked was an early morning departure,

I planned to sleep at the airport as usual. However,
it seems Merida airport closes between 3:00 AM and 6:00 AM...
I was kicked out of the airport, but

I thought, 'It should be fine right in front of the airport,' so I slept there.
When I woke up in the morning, I had mosquito bites all over my body.

・You were dead, you know

Havana, Cuba was just amazing.

A bright blue sky and emerald blue sea.
Classic cars driving through the streets, and the buildings are all stylish European-style architecture.

With music always playing from somewhere, and cheerful people drinking rum from the afternoon regardless of whether they were working or not,


I fell in love with it in an instant.


And,
I remember being really well taken care of by Anita, who I couchsurfed with in Havana.

She was so powerful that you wouldn't believe she had grandchildren, and she was always singing and dancing lol.
During my stay, she always cooked meals for me and showed me around the streets of Havana.

Cuba is also a boxing powerhouse.
I visited a boxing gym every single day without fail.

Everyone knew the boss of the
"CUBAN BOXING CLUB" who took care of me in Australia, so they welcomed me with open arms.

On my last day in Cuba,
wanting to keep travel costs down, I carried my heavy backpack from the city to the airport andwalked for 3 hours.I was fine while walking, but


the moment I arrived at the airport, I felt like I was going to collapse.I figured my body was just tired from walking for 3 hours in such heat, so I didn't think much of it.

I planned to return to Mexico from Cuba and then head south through Central America.
The plane arrived at Cancun airport,

and I tried to head to the budget hostel I had booked in the city.

I initially tried to take a shared bus,
but as expected of one of the Caribbean's leading resort areas,

even the shared bus was expensive...
I had no choice but to walk there again.

I proceeded along a pathless road right next to the highway.

One hour, two hours...


My head felt fuzzy, and for some reason, I had no strength in my body.
Usually, I would walk no matter how exhausted I was to save money.But this time, it was truly impossible.

I finally couldn't move a single step, so I took a taxi.
This day happened to be the final day of my crowdfunding campaign.

"Did I get a fever from being too excited about reaching the goal?"

I lay down on the hostel bed
and went to sleep, thinking I would rest a bit until I recovered.

.
.

.
From then on, for several days,


my head felt like it was splitting 24 hours a day,
and I could barely get up.
It felt like a much worse version of the flu.The only promise I made to my mom when I left Japan.



"Get overseas travel insurance"
, the time had come to use it.I contacted my mom about the fever,and she handled the communication with the insurance company.

The next day,


a doctor who looked like Einsteincameand handed me just one pill.
"You'll be fine if you take this."

he said."Is that really true?"It was not true at all lol

The symptoms just kept getting worse,



and gradually I started losing my vision
andeven started having hallucinations.
My memories around this time are fragmented, and I don't remember much.

(I really think my body was at its limit)At that time,"someone" in Costa Rica


contacted me.That person wasa relative of a friend from my hometown,

and they lived half the year in Japan and half in Costa Rica.Since my mom and that friend's mom are good friends, the news must have reached that uncle.Of course, I had never met him, but
"I will arrange all the flight tickets, so come to Costa Rica right now."



he told me.
I don't remember at all how I got to Cancun airport from there or how I checked in.I arrived in Costa Rica,and was taken straight to the hospital by the uncle who had come to pick me up at the airport..


.

.
.

.

"If you had come to the hospital one day later,
you would have died."


That's what the doctor told me.

The diagnosis was"Dengue fever."

It was likely caused by being bitten by mosquitoes repeatedly in Merida.
Since the incubation period for dengue fever is one week, I think it was incubating while I was in Cuba.

In addition to dengue fever,malnutritionwas also a cause.
It's true that for the few days after arriving at the hostel in Cancun, I hadn't eaten any food and had barely drunk any water.

Although I somehow managed to save my life,
the doctor issued a"ban on traveling around the world."If I really wanted to continue, the conditions were:

1. Return to Japan once
2. Recuperate for 2-3 months
Since this was right after everyone had supported me through crowdfunding, I felt a mix of


frustrationandguilt.

・Forced return to Japan

From there, about 10 days of recuperation began at the uncle's house.
At first, I had no appetite at all, my body was thin,
and I lay in bed all day.

But I gradually recovered and was able to eat food.
Once I was able to move my body, he took me to markets and restaurants in San Jose.

If it weren't for this person, I would have definitely died.
But I ended up causing even more worry for such an uncle.

A few days into my recuperation, with my strength gradually returning, I told him,"I'm going to Panama!"

"No, you must rest."he told me many times, but I wouldn't budge.
Even if my body wasn't in perfect condition, I had to respond to the support I received through crowdfunding.

That feeling was so strong that I really wanted to go to the neighboring country of Panama. (Panama also has strong boxing)
Ignoring the uncle's opposition,

half-forcibly,

I headed to Panama by night bus.

*WBA = Like the WBC in Mexico, this is an organization that certifies world champions.


Thinking about it now, I was an outrageous guy.
Despite being taken care of so much and causing so much worry, I did something too selfish.

I truly regret that time.

I returned to Costa Rica from Panama by night bus again,
and expressed my gratitude to everyone who helped me.

I still want to continue my journey, but
I have no choice but to return once.
With "frustration" and "a sense of incompleteness," I boarded the flight home.

I don't have many memories of when I had dengue fever.
But there is one thing I can say:

"There's no way I'd die from just a fever."
I definitely thought that at the time.

If I had gone to the hospital one day later, I would have died.

"Humans can actually die quite easily, huh."
That's what I thought.

So, to be ready whenever that time comes,
I should do everything I want to do right now.

I can think of it now as a good experience
that made me realize that all over again.
(Though I can only say that because I'm still alive)

I'll pause my trip for now, but
"My trip around the world isn't over yet."

Vowing to restart as soon as possible,
I returned to Japan in November.

November 2019.

At this time, I still didn't know
that the whole world would go into lockdown,
that I would end up trapped at Machu Picchu,
and that theremy life would change drastically.

I didn't know any of that yet.

Part4is here