The Impact of a Broken Leg on My Digital Nomad Lifestyle: One Year Later
The digital nomad life can be phenomenal if you have your health, but things get complicated when you get sick or injured. Having been through this experience, I can now say it’s doable to live a digital nomad life with a broken leg, although it certainly comes with challenges. In any case, I’m happy to report that my leg and I are doing great a year later!
The Break in Scotland
So here’s the break story: I was out with friends, dancing in Edinburgh, enjoying myself, and I rolled my ankle badly. At first, I just thought it was a sprain. I roll my ankles three to four times a year, usually from doing something as low-risk as walking. I planned a spa day – a massage and a facial – the next day. Not wanting to give up my day of relaxation for what I thought was a sprain, I walked to my appointments. On these walks, I realized that something was wrong, and it was too much pain for just a sprain. After my doctor friend told me I should probably go to the hospital for an x-ray, I did just that.
Broken fibula and a broken ankle bone in the right leg
Phil accompanied me to A&E (Accidents & Emergencies), where I found out my ankle and fibula were broken. I was given a boot to wear, crutches, painkillers, and some blood thinners to take since I had a long-haul flight 10 days from then. The blood thinners were syringes that I had to inject into my belly at the same time every day.
Miserable daily jabs and their disposal container
As we were leaving the hospital, Phil and I did that thing that US Americans do when they are put in a publicly funded healthcare system – we tried to pay. It’s a force of habit. What can I say? Even though this wasn’t my first time experiencing universal healthcare in the UK (I got a kidney infection in London in 2015), leaving without paying still felt weird and wrong. I remain fascinated that even though I’ve been an avid supporter of universal healthcare for years, the private healthcare system still heavily influences my thinking.
The First Week
It was excruciating getting around at first. I was using elbow crutches for the first time, leading to severe bruising on my hands. I remember trying to go to a restaurant for breakfast, a 5-minute walk from the hotel where we were staying in Glasgow, and it took me 20 minutes because I needed multiple breaks to sit and cry.
Being on crutches in the UK made me realize (1) how inaccessible the fire code makes doors – every single door is heavy and closes on its own, and (2) how generally unhelpful and unaccommodating people are for someone on crutches. I went to an event, and when I showed up at the venue, the staff said that the lift was broken and nobody had told them somebody disabled was coming (lol, my fault?), so they had no accessible way of getting me downstairs. So, I had to use the stairs. I found a general impatience in public with me on crutches. I also stayed in an apartment with only a stand-up shower for a few days, which was incredibly difficult to use. Luckily I could call Phil for help when I got in trouble.
Two Weeks In: The Extra Injury and the Continent Jump
Then I had the Humanists International conference the weekend following my broken leg, which added to my misery. I will never forget getting off the 10-hour flight from the UK to LA following that conference, turning on my phone, and already having messages asking if I was okay. HI had already announced that I’d been removed because the board had met while I was unavailable on my flight. I was full-on sobbing in my wheelchair as an airport employee wheeled me out. It was a particularly harrowing situation, one of my lowest low points.
The Two-Month Recovery in California
I spent the next two months recovering at our dear friend Marit’s house (who was actually there with me in Edinburgh when I broke my leg). While staying at her house, I was able to ditch the crutches and walk around in the boot. My left hip started hurting, but I took up exercises to strengthen my hips. Overall, I was hobbling around great.
The Recovery in Guatemala
Then, Phil and I left for Guatemala. At the urging of our friend Ana, I booked in some doctor appointments with a doctor that her mom had been treated by when she broke her leg. Before this doctor's appointment, I was confident that I had healed enough to walk around inside without the boot. But I learned from the doctor that my bones had actually still not healed, so I was told to keep the boot on for three more weeks. The doctor said there was a possibility I may need surgery if I returned and the bones still hadn’t properly aligned.
The ankle bone still hadn’t healed by early September
Fortunately, when I returned, the bones had found their way into place, and I didn’t need surgery. But I was explicitly not allowed to return to my favorite cardio activity – running – for the foreseeable future.
Part of the reason I love running is that it’s a relatively safe and exciting way to exercise while also exploring areas that are new to me. With this strict “no running” instruction, I had to find some alternatives for working out. I was cleared to hike, walk, and bike. So, we did take advantage of the hike and walk clearance and finally did more exploring around Guatemala than we had been able to do previously.
Hiking the Mayan ruins of Tikal in northwestern Guatemala during Día de la Razas
Regaining Strength in Peru & Colombia
For the past year, I’ve done indoor exercise regimens 4-6 days a week that I changed up every month or so to keep it fresh and motivating for myself. These exercises included specific physical therapy exercises for my ankle to rebuild strength. With a couple of multi-week breaks in between, I maintained this exercise regimen through the different places we stayed in. We left Guatemala, spent a week in Miami, then went to Peru.
My friend Adrián and I in Lima, Peru. The last time Adrián saw me before this, I was on crutches!
We spent November 2022 in Lima and then three weeks of December in Cusco – but ended up leaving early due to the civil unrest following the presidential coup. So we pivoted to Medellín, Colombia – a city we were familiar with because we had spent time there about a year ago. We spent four months in Medellín (Dec 2022 - April 2023), and I maintained a pretty great indoor workout regimen there.
Mirror selfie while getting my hair done in Medellín
A Year Later, Back in California
When I got to Sacramento to catsit at the end of April, the owners kindly offered the opportunity to use their bikes. With some lovely riverside bike trails just five minutes away, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity. I’ve been biking about 3-5 times a week. It’s been pretty great. I really enjoy getting the cardio and exploring the area without pain.
Biking on a trail in Sacramento, California, end of May 2023
Reflecting on the Expense of the Injury
I submitted my health insurance claim and expenses to the travel insurance I use – WorldTrips –but they denied my claim (twice). I still don’t understand why they denied my claim. Luckily, I didn’t have to pay for anything in Scotland, I had no doctor visits while recovering in the US, and my x-rays and doctor consultation in Guatemala were affordable enough that the lack of reimbursement from the insurance company was something I could manage.
Ultimately, I’m grateful I wasn’t in the US when I broke my leg. I would not have been able to afford it, and based on the insight I’ve received from doctors outside the US, I think I would have been needlessly coerced into surgery, which I really would not be able to afford.
A side note – I spent several years paying off two expensive foot surgeries I got in the fall of 2017 for plantar fasciitis. My podiatrist had me try everything before recommending the surgeries, including steroid shots to the heels, which hurt like a motherf*cker. I am glad I got those surgeries because I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life feeling like I was walking on broken glass, but damn, they were expensive.
Acknowledgments
A special thank you to Phil Gundry, who was with me this past year and helped me travel to three different countries without the use of my leg.
Thank you to Marit Ingebretson, who hosted me at her house for two months in Pasadena while I recovered.
Thank you to Ana Raquel Aquino Smith and her mother, Rebecca Smith, for hosting me in Guatemala City and helping me set appointments with a doctor.
Thank you to the friends who offered their support and listening ears for me during the times I really struggled over the past year.
And thank you to the airport staff whose names I can no longer remember but were responsible for getting me on and off airplanes.
Lessons Learned
If you’re going to digital nomad while injured or hurt:
Make sure you have people to care for you; you can’t do it alone (and never let them forget how appreciative you are).
Take the time to appreciate how much privilege comes with being able-bodied – accessibility is a serious issue that you don’t really see until you’re disabled yourself.
Always find ways to work movement into your life, even if limited. Get creative!
Have travel insurance. Even if they don’t come through for you, having some coverage is good.
Try to get hurt somewhere where healthcare is universal or at least affordable (I wish I were joking. Healthcare in the US is too expensive! If you have the option available, it’s better to get healthcare elsewhere and be grateful for the privilege of having that as an option).
Ultimately, it's not a fixed home we need to recover from injury, but a community of people willing to care for us – wherever in the world they may be.