Seeking advice on car camping and air tents! It's been a long time since we have done any camping, but considering the state of the world, this is becoming a more logical option for overnight or weekend getaways as a couple or solo.
We are prioritizing comfort over weight, and will be driving wherever we are heading to. I have a collapsible hand truck to move stuff the last few yards from suv to site if required.
Use cases: 1) Weekend getaway - family 2) Comfortable Outdoor Rec trip - solo
More or less a base camp near a car. Set up for a day or two of relaxing, day hikes, etc and move on.
Budget:
Flexible $1500-2000 for items that will last multiple trips/years (tent, food and cooking equipment, sleeping items, tools I don't have etc). Plan to use this several times over the next few years, so it's already paying for itself after a couple of cancelled trips. Will make purchases for three, and crate things as required.
Tent:
When looking over tent styles, we narrowed it down to a cabin, tunnel or other tall style tent that will allow us to comfortably stand up and move around inside the tent, and that has a separate living area for general use purposes (ie. A separate sleeping area ideally zipped off). Not interested in crawling around, sleeping on the floor, doing somersaults to get dressed on cold mornings etc. etc.
Watched many reviews and read a lot regarding instant and pop up tents and a couple seemed ok, but seemed to lack height or needed a second set of hands to stabilize. But, I stumbled across Air Tents, and this seems like an ideal solution to our multipronged use cases of weekend "glamping," as well as my solo rec trips. Will get a pop up privacy shed for gravity shower or when nature calls.
Size:
4pa. I’m concerned 3pa is too small and a 6pa tent will be too large to handle solo, but still considering it due to wanting some space around a queen size cot and mattress set up. May go to a Full size to keep the tent slightly smaller. Really want to keep it head to toe for ease of getting into and out of bed, and not side to side climbing over one another, with maybe a hanging organizer on each side as a “night table.”
Sleeping arrangements:
Queen or full sized cot, depending on tent size. Inflatable sleeping pad plus foam if needed. Unsure about inflatable mattress on top of cot due to sinking. Standard flat sheets for bottom and top sheet, along with down comforter and regular home pillows. Extra quilt for warmth if needed. If it’s hot, top sheet only. Might get a double sleeping bag in place of the down comforter for double duty. Portable fan(s) and lantern hanging. This is the most critical element to get right. If you have suggestions for the best comfort you can imagine, please suggest.
Food/cooking:
Four or five day rated cooler with frozen water bottles in lieu of ice, and food washed and prepared in advance in ziplocks and foil as able. I've got an old Weber portable propane bbq grill for tailgating in the garage, but am looking at a propane camp stove that's collapsible, smaller with dual burners and more temp control. If possible, prefer open fire or charcoal to cook (sorry Hank Hill), so I've got my trusty camp fork and long tongs, always, and a bag of instant charcoal and necessities is easy to get. Enamel plates and mugs, standard camp cooking knives, cutting board and cutlery, steel spatula, wooden spoon, cast iron folding skillet, large pot with strainecolander, and a pot for just boiling water with a lip. Two collapsible all purpose buckets for washing or carrying items. Two collapsible bags with spigot for drinking water. One jerry can with spigot for a wash station. One large or two medium folding tables to work on or eat by with camp chairs. Bringing fire starter, wind proof lighter, waterproof match bag, and will research the rules on fire wood beforehand.
I have a couple of questions on inflatable tents that I’d love some feedback on from experienced users/owners:
These look like a great option for quick and easy setup whether with the fam or solo. I am aware that they are heavier, can be less ventilated (hotter, maybe condensation), and taking down can be a chore the first time or two ensuring the air is out. We have only used pole tents before and don’t mind their construction, though have had to make emergency splints here and there. But, being able to put up or take down a relatively large tent without a second person always available seems to be a reasonable trade off.
The models I researched appear strong and resilient, and something important is they seem to be able to withstand wind and weather much better than some other tall pole tents, being able to rebalance and reshape if ever knocked around. Some of the fabrics may not last as long as some pole tent fabrics, but will last with good care. They're not going to pop or explode, without intent, based on all available evidence.
Seems everywhere except USA has these air tents. Some US manufacturers make air tents for foreign markets (ie. Coleman), but don't sell them here so much. Why not? I've not seen a good answer to this beyond time spent camping per year may drive innovation demands overseas where camping is a more routine activity. Is there something else? A quality, durability or safety issue? Or is it purely $, demand and access?
Purchase from:
Campingworld.co.uk has free shipping to USA on orders over $150, which makes this possible.
Locations:
We've been looking at some spots in New York to visit. Mostly Catskills, gunks and Adirondacks. Anywhere else advisable for car camping that provides access to day hiking and other light activities within a couple hours of NYC? Drive up accessibility is going to be a primary need as I'm the only one who backpacks outside of a mall, so I've got my eyes on state forests and forest access road pull offs with Google satellite.
Any other advice, suggestions, must haves, must leaves etc is greatly appreciated. While it's been a few years, I still have some of my old camping crates with tools and gloves, so not all new stuff is needed, but certainly enough new gear to make it fun. I left out gadgets like bt speaker, headlamps, and whatnot for brevity.
Ready to get the heck out of the house - but need to be away from people. So, here we are - Thanks!
submitted by Hey!
I saw in the sidebar that we needed a bedding basics guide.
The General rule of bedding comes down to this: Materials Matter. There are materials that will offer a high quality, durable product, and there are materials that will offer an often softer, but less durable product. It all depends on what you're going for.
Bed While there are thousands of conversations about which mattress you should by (
/BuyItForLife can assist there) there aren't as many for what bed. While not every space
needs a bed most
do. First, consider the look you want:
Live in a white-wall vanilla econobox apartment? I would suggest the Malm for now - it's cheap, looks aite, and you can dress it up later when you move into a place with more character and not feel bad because it's like $200 or something.
Sheets A "Set" of sheets includes:
- Top Sheet
- Fitted Sheet
- Assorted Pillowcases
With sheets everyone is always concerned about thread count. Sure, 1000 threadcount sheets will feel better than 150, but it's not the biggest factor. I stand behind the fact that material is the most important factor in choosing sheets. 100% cotton sheets in 300 thread count will be just fine for most of us. A sheet set in a queen size will probably run around $50. If that's all you care for sheets, then skip the rest of this section.
Here are a list of other bed sheet materials and my thoughts on them.
- Cotton. Durable and basic, 100% cotton sheets usually wrinkle like crazy and come out of the dryer looking like a crumpled newspaper. Even the "wrinkle resistant" cotton sheets being offered now are still very wrinkled. - jwax33
- Synthetics. Polyester, Rayon, etc. Synthetic blend sheets can greatly reduce the price of the sheet set, so if you see a good bargain, check the blend. If you're in a pinch, you can make room for ~25% poly blend and still have okay sheets. Cotton/poly blends come out almost looking ironed. If you want neat sheets, consider a blend if you can find one. Blend sheets also tend to last forever.
- Jersey Knit. Give them a try if you're up for it. The material is Rayon (modal) so don't expect them to last long or keep you cool, but they will be very comfortable. These would make a great winter set of sheets. At the first sign of pilling, pitch them, as their low-cost means you can just get another set. These also come in more colors than typical sheets, so they can be fun as well.
- Flannel The ultimate in winter-mode bed sheeting/ continuous rustic feel. Flannel is a heavy-woven wool or worsted yarn textile that will really keep the heat. If you're in a hot climate, move along.
- Linen/Satin 100% cotton sateen, Linen sheets are the softest of the cotton sheets. They'll hold up well and stay soft for a long time, and have a little shine to them. Because they're cotton, expect a higher cost compared to synthetics.
- Egyptian Cotton The king of the sheets. Durable, comfortable and widely available, Egyptian Cotton sheets are spun from [duh, egyptian cotton] cotton that has long fibers, which reduces pilling, lint and increases softness. With good care, a quality set of Egyptian Cotton sheets will last decades. Additionally, because the strands are thinner, go for a higher thread count, say, 600-850.
Source1 Source 2 I expect there to be some debate on this, so let me hear it in the comments!
Pillows I fucking love pillows. That said, here is my research on them.
Pillow types:
- Back Sleeper - Firm and not too large
- Side Sleeper - largest pillow type
- Front Sleeper - do you even need a pillow?
Now, some pillow materials.
- Goose Down/Down general Goose down/down pillows offer amazing comfort and support. They have the perfect amount of "fluff" but still keep their shape. I have 7 pillows on my bed, and I always fish around for one of my down pillows before falling asleep on it. They're generally the most expensive type of pillow, but also the best, as down washes well and is durable, if care is taken. A less expensive option is to go Feather (instead of down) but I usually have to double-case mine because I get pricked.
- Memory Foam As seen on TV! Memory foam varies as widely as it's customers perceptions. I recommend borrowing or testing out these pillows before purchasing one. Some hate it, some love it, it's all up to you. Memory Foam offers great support, and can be nice and cool, but I've often found them to be too firm.
- PolyesteCotton fill Cheap and basic pillow. Poly/cotton fill pillows don't hold their shape too well, but can be a welcome find in that middle-of-the-night-why-am-I-not-comfy fuss. Depending on how they're filled, they can offer amazing support. Poly pillows will be warmer than cotton, so if you're a 'cool' sleeper, take note. Durability isn't this pillow's strong suit, as they'll lose their shape. <(jwax33)> Poly fiber fill pillows do not wash well -- they tend to mat and get very dense. If you like dense pillows, this is fine. I find that great for side sleeping, so I get the old poly pillows in the house. If you need fluffy, poly pillows will probably be disposable. Keeping them covered will extend their lifespan.
I defer to this
Ikea buying guide for more information as well as this very in-depth
guide on pillows Blankets I'll summarize by saying blankets follow the general gist of bedding: Materials Matter. That said, I have only one thing to say about blankets.
- If you are in a cold climate, nut up and get a fucking wool blanket. Wool is the best material for durability, longevity and warmth, hands down. The reason I am here today is because I survived my college house with paper-thin walls and a shit heater through a Michigan winter on two wool blankets. They can be found many places, but Pendleton is a great choice, as is Woolrich. One of my wool blankets is pushing 40 years old, in case you were wondering. Expect prices for 100% wool blankets to go over $100. Also, design-wise, wool is a great texture to decorate with, and works well in most design styles.
Comforters Comforters follow the same lines as Pillows as far as materials. Down being the best material, followed by cotton, followed by synthetic fill. Warmer climates can get away with a simple low-fill cotton or poly, but for those of us with mittens in our wardrobes, Down is the best. If you are fortunate to get two comforters, get one for cold (heavy fill) and one for warm (low fill/cotton/synth). A
basic medium fill down comforter should run over $100.
note get one that is panel-stitched, otherwise you'll end up with all of the down clumping in one area and generally pissing you off.
Duvet Duvet's are the pillowcases for comforters. I've seen talk before of people just buying comforters, waiting until they get dirty and pitching/re-buying, but let's be real here. A nice duvet can extend the life of your comforter many times over. Not to mention, Duvets give you another opportunity to add a design element to your bedroom. There's less of a concern with Duvet's over thread count, as you're not always snuggling right up next to it, but material choice still plays a role here.
Color I personally like and recommend plain white for sheets and towels (excluding decorative towels if you need them). White sheets can be bought in a variety of fabric patterns, such as tone-on-tone stripes or damasks to break up the monotony of white. But, your bed should be covered with something, a duvet or comforter for example, and that should provide the color and style you want, not your sheets. White sheets can be washed in hot water and bleached without fear. Same thing for white towels. Especially useful if you entertain a lot. -
jwax33 Shopping It's hard to recommend specific stores, so I will just make some general points. Avoid department stores and your big box linen stores like Bed, Bath, and Beyond unless they are having a 75% off white sale. Their prices are usually marked up staggeringly. For example, a no-name 100% cotton bath sheet at Macy's dropped my jaw at $65. A few weeks later I picked up no-name 100% cotton bath sheets (of a heavier weight) at Costco of all places for $11.99. So be mindful of markup when you shop. Shopping for linens online can be hard because you cannot see or touch the item and have to rely solely on a description to tell you how good the product is. Pay attention to details, check any reviews, and make sure you can return the product easily if needed. -
jwax33 So, let's hear your thoughts on bedding. I think I've covered the basics, but if there's something you'd like to add, I can discuss/make edits!
submitted by Hey
/nosleep! I'm posting here because this one of my favorite subs. The mold stories, crazy demonic possessions, psycho girlfriends, psychic internet connections, ghosts and killers, I love it all and this subreddit has gotten me through many sleepless and homesick nights over the years. For those who haven't yet I suggest searching by Top/All Time and reading through all the entries of the first few pages. There is some really amazing storytelling there. Which is also why I want to apologize. I am not a writer. At all. I hope you keep that in mind and bare with me through this. Sometimes the message is far more important than how it gets there. I hope.
Over the course of the last 24 hours I've tried posting my story in four other,
much more relevant subreddits but it was deleted in all of them by the mods (several overlapping) and I was told that fabricating information and fear-mongering would not be tolerated. When I woke up this morning my IP had been banned in almost every subreddit I went in to, which is why I'm at the library now posting this under a throwaway account. I understand that my lack of verification or proof doesn't really lend any credence to my story which is why I'm posting it here instead, as a work of fiction.
Wink-wink.
Here's just a little background information about me first. I'm an 26 year old American, born and raised in NYC, who has been living and studying abroad for the past 4 years in London (I know it sounds like a crazy move but I knew what I wanted and my mother always said, 'in for a penny, in for a pound'). I wanted to get my Doctorate in Sports Medicine and I
think that's still going to be my plan, eventually. I had been finishing up my thesis at Queen Mary University of London in England. They have an excellent Sports and Exercise Medicine program where I was enrolled as a physiotherapist. That's all on hold for now. I'll explain what happened in more detail later. More recently though, I have started to travel and work with a beautiful and amazing French woman whom I've been fortunate enough to call my girlfriend for the last year. Her name is Caroline (I always called her Caro) and she is an amazingly loving and caring person. If I close my eyes I can still picture her beautiful bright green eyes and long dark hair. It's totally cheesy to say but I fell in love with her from the moment she first smiled at me.
I had been working in Tottenham, which is in North London and about a 40 minute commute from my apartment near the QMUL. I was working as a physio assistant for the Spurs. For the uninitiated, the Tottenham Hotspur F.C. is one of the premiere football leagues in London. They have a long-standing rivalry with the much more popular and well-known, Arsenal. I had never been crazy about sports growing up in the NYC, especially soccer (sacrilege, I know) but after moving to the UK and making friends, I eventually found myself calling soccer football and enjoying the social aspect of grabbing a few pints with friends and watching a game. This assimilation proved to pay off huge for me in 2012 when I landed a highly sought after position with the Spurs.
My job was great! I mean, I was a part of 'The First Team' for crying out loud! I spent most of my time at the amazing Enfield Training Centre in Tottenham and it was here that it hit me what big business socce-football is. Enfield is a
gorgeous, state of the art facility (it had literally just been built when I started working there) which included world-class player preparation areas, pools, a hydrotherapy complex, an
altitude room, a large-scale gymnasium and specialty sports rehabilitation suites. This all in addition to a gigantic covered turf pitch and several smaller practice pitches as well (a 'pitch' is just what they call a field over there). It also had me working closely with a ton of the top athletes in England. Assisting the PTs with their daily duties, rehabilitation programs, exercise regimens, eating and nutritional plans, setting up scans & MRIs. It was a completely invaluable learning experience and some of my colleagues were the brightest men and women in their fields that I've had the pleasure of working with. I first met Caroline when she came to Enfield and gave a presentation on head trauma in athletes and wether or not biochemical markers in blood can detect concussions. I'll spare the details but I found it utterly fascinating. It didn't hurt that she was drop-dead gorgeous. She was petite but carried herself with the confidence of men twice her size. Her presentation was only ninety minutes but the other doctors and trainers seemed to be clearing out and heading to The First Team Restaurant (yes, we even had our own restaurant inside the facility!) before she was even finished with her closing statements. I was anxious for her to finish as well, although for entirely different reasons.
I had been alternating between hanging on her every word as she strode confidently back and forth in front of her less than attentive audience and daydreaming about asking her to go get a drink with me. If she noticed that no one was really listening to her, she gave no indication. She was passionate, her words clearly rehearsed and important to her. She gestured with her hands and spoke with a heavy but clear French accent. I found myself wondering and wanting to know everything about this woman. Where did she learn English? Where did she study? What was she like outside of a professional setting? Was she fun loving and happy? Obsessed with her work? And most importantly: Was she seeing anyone? And did she live in London? I needed to find out.
Well, unfortunately and fortunately, the answers to my last two questions were both, 'no'. I approached her as she was wrapping up her laptop. Her presentation hadn't even been over for two minutes but we were already the last two people in the room. I'll remember the conversation that happened next for the rest of my life. I bumbled my way through introducing myself and told her how much I enjoyed what she had to say. She smiled and thanked me (a soft, 'Merci', I almost melted right there) and continued to pack her belongings into her bag. I was fidgeting and nervous, so much so that when I went to hand her some of her papers to help her, managed to somehow knock them all off the table on to the floor. She burst out laughing at the horrified reaction on my face and continued to giggle as I picked them up and stammered over an apology. I had 90 minutes to practice that exchange and that was the best I had managed to come up with. A real smooth operator I was. Anyway, I guess she found it cute or at least felt sorry enough for me to let me buy her coffee.
We sat at a table in the First Team Restaurant that was positioned right underneath a giant banner with the Spurs mascot and motto on it in giant blue letters, 'To Dare is to Do'. We talked all that afternoon. At first about her presentation (which I truly was fascinated by) and a lot of other mutual work related interests but eventually as the day went on, we ordered lunch and got a little more personal. Discussing family and friends, where we were from, what we each wanted to do with our lives, everything. As it turned out, Caroline was single. The problem was she didn't live in London, she lived in France.
This crushed me a little bit, when I had first moved to the UK in 2010, I was dating a lovely girl from New York City where I had been living. Her name was Stacy and she was wonderful but when I had decided to move to London, she stayed to pursue her acting career. She was a stage-actress who waited tables. It was such a cliche I know, but she was actually very talented. Stacy and I had decided to try the long-distance relationship thing and make it work because we thought we loved each other. How does that saying go? 'Absence makes the heart grow fonder'? For me it was more like, 'absence makes the heart start to wonder'. Our phone calls and Skype chats grew more and more infrequent as the months became a year became almost two. Eventually it got to the point where I didn't even look forward to talking to her. It became a chore, an interruption in my life. To talk and catch her up on the details of the past week, talk about things she'd never see or people she'd never meet. There was just no payoff. No means to an end. I don't know if she felt the same way at first or she sensed how I was feeling. Eventually it just became a fight every time we spoke. How I didn't call enough or send enough pictures. She thought I was seeing someone else and although it couldn't have been further from the truth, I might as well have been. I had decided I wanted to stay in the UK and couldn't be bothered to tell my 'girlfriend' that bit of information. I would unenthusiastically play along when she would talk about our plans upon my return. My great return! Her knight in shining armor coming home at last! I was such an asshole. I should've just told her to move on with her life but I didn't. She got sick of all my bullshit one month shy of two years since I had moved here. Two years without contact. Two years on an invisible leash that I was too much of a coward to cut. I am sorry for all of that. I genuinely have tried to live my life as a good person but that is one thing I do regret; how I handled that situation. Though, to be honest, I don't know if I am handling this one much better.
Forgive me for going off track. It's been a very long few weeks, I've had a splitting headache and I really needed to get some of this out there while I have the opportunity. I promise though that it's all connected. The reason I bring up Stacy is that by the time I met Caroline I had sworn off the idea of a long-distance relationship forever. Even typing those words makes me shudder. What can I say though, I'm a hopeless romantic. By the end of that first day together I had somehow convinced this brilliant and gorgeous French woman to let me have her number and looking back, it completely changed the course of my life.
We stayed in touch from that day forward and would talk frequently. Caro was a Hematologist. Dr. Caroline LaPointe. She did most of her research with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF for short) or as you probably know them, Doctors Without Borders. She loved to talk about her work. She would talk for hours about blood and genetics, virology, mutations, she could go on and often did, well into the night and early hours of the morning, while I sat on the other end of the phone and listened, trying to keep up with the medical jargon and her excitement. When Caroline would get really excited she would slip back in to speaking French and then laugh before apologizing to me. I know, doesn't exactly sound romantic but I loved every minute of those conversations. I didn't even mind that I was getting far less sleep than I should; staying up late on the phone with Caro and stumbling through my morning training sessions at Enfield. Eventually we began to visit each other. It was roughly a 12 hour drive but at the time I didn't care. I was in love again. We made plans to move in together, we would talk about job opportunities here in London for her and ones in France for me. This time I wasn't going to let someone slip away from me because of distance.
I imagine most of my romanticized way of thinking is why, when Caroline suggested I work with MSF and we could both work and travel together, I jumped on the idea. I mean, it was crazy. I knew it was, even back then. More so looking back now. It hadn't even been a year we'd been together but she was dead-set on working abroad and I was determined to not repeat what happened with Stacey. I did raise the question with Caroline of what exactly I would
do for MSF but she simply said I would act as her research assistant and if MSF wanted her bad enough (and they did) they would accept it. I couldn't believe I was just going to throw away everything I was building for myself in London but I reasoned that I could always return and resume my studies and that I would never meet another woman like Caroline.
That was in December. Our lives have been a whirlwind since then. I quit my job with the Spurs and said 'au revoir' to Enfield and moved into Caroline's apartment in France temporarily while she worked on grant proposal for MSF. It turned out that Caro was
much more passionate about her work than even I could've imagined. She wanted to go to Guinea in West Africa. I remember that conversation very vividly still. Put yourself in my shoes. Here I am, a fool in love, having just given up his life's accomplishments to be with a woman I just met. With schmaltzy dreams of traveling the world and making love in different tropical paradises. Helping local surfers and farmers with their leisure-related injuries while my girlfriend worked away in an air-conditioned laboratory punching in data and running tests. At night, we would dine on fresh fish that had been caught that day, sip on mojitos and sit by fires on the beach. Jesus, I was so fucking stupid. How did I manage to get this far in life yet still be so naive? So you can imagine my surprise when she tells me we are going to one of the biggest shitholes on the planet (pardon my French). I should've seen it coming.
Of course a Hematologist is going to want to go to West Africa, you dummy. Have you even heard of AIDS? I suppose I still could've backed out at that point. God knows I should have. Of course, me writing this means I didn't.
The final step in Caroline's grant was approved at the end of March. In my mind, this was all happening incredibly fast and every rational part of my brain was screaming at me to go back to Enfiend. Apparently though, Caroline had been working on getting this grant proposal approved at the various stages for a while now. Drafts and rewrites, more drafts and more rewrites; she had been going back and for with MSF for over a year. In the end, it turned out that MSF wasn't the one that approved the final draft of her proposal. It was the CDC that stepped in and took interest (I only found this out after the fact. I never heard any mention of the CDC until we were already in Guinea). Seeing how critical her work was to the current situation in West Africa, they fast-tracked the whole thing. MSF just went along with it and allowed Caroline to work with the CDC because joint-research facility in West Africa had already been established and Caroline had a contact there, a man named Dr. Martel who Caroline had studied with in France. MSF had doctors on the ground and contact in Guinea but they were in way over their heads by this point in time and couldn't fund Caroline's grant by themselves. They had no choice in the end really. They needed both Caroline and the CDC.
Her grant would take us to the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), in Conakry, which is the capital of Guinea in West Africa. She wanted to study the mutations of bloodborne viruses and see if they could become what she called, 'flyers'. She would constantly say it would only take one small mutation for a bloodborne virus to become airborne. She was convinced this was already happening in West Africa with a mutation of the Ebola Zaire virus.
'Airborne Ebola'! This was another phrase I didn't hear mentioned (conveniently) until we were already in Conakry. I don't know if Caroline intentionally withheld the true purpose of her research from me in order to not scare me off. I don't think she did. I also don't think it would've changed much. We left on the 28th of May; boarded an Air France flight right into the 9th circle of Hell.
Dr. Alexis Martel (Alex for short), picked us up from the airport in Conakry. When we arrived, he was standing there wearing one of those disposable dust masks you see construction workers wear sometimes. He was completely disheveled. His curly dark hair was matted and greasy. He was tall and thin and looked like he had been wearing the same clothes for days. Instead of shaking our hands he handed us each our own mask, which we each put on without further instruction. I remember thinking how bloodshot his eyes were. He insisted we take his little Mitsubishi sedan straight from the airport to his laboratory which was also in Conakry. Caroline didn't have to be at the NCEZID or report to the CDC and MSF for another few days, so we decided we would just check in at the hotel that we were staying at later and agreed to go with Alex. He spoke quickly as he drove, slipping in and out of French (much like Caroline would), almost in a panic, talking about how bad this mutation of the virus was. It was hard to hear from the backseat with him talking through his mask but I did hear him talking to Caroline about how long it was incubating for and he reverted back to speaking French at that point but he said, '6 semaines dans un patient', which is, '6 weeks in one patient' before he really got animated and started speaking faster than I could understand. I do also remember hearing 'faux-négatif' and 'impossible à faire'. He was pale and covered with a sheen of sweat the entire time he was telling us this. He kept having to remove his glasses to use his sleeve and wipe his brow as he raced past cars that were still actually going the speed limit. I could tell from the backseat all of this was making Caroline incredibly nervous. I leaned forward and put my hand reassuringly on his sweat-soaked shoulder, which was radiating heat and told him to ease up a bit. He was definitely running a fever. He just kept repeating the phrase, 'vous n'auriez pas dû venir ici'. Which means, 'You shouldn't have come here'.
By the time we arrived at Alex's lab, we had learned that he had just come from a crude, make-shift field laboratory in Kailahun, Sierra Leone, where he had been staying for the last few nights. The CDC and WHO were beginning to set up a treatment centers for the patients in that area because every doctor and hospital was completely overwhelmed by the virus. Alex had been inaugural in this operation and urged them in getting the facilities up and running as quickly as possible to try to quarantine the patients and minimize the exposure to other medical personnel. He kept saying to us that this should've been done
months ago and that things were already out of control. He was completely frantic, pacing back and forth in his small laboratory while Caroline and I stood there, jet-lagged and with our luggage bags in tow, wearing these stupid dust masks and utterly terrified at what this man was telling us.
Alex's lab was smaller and
much less 'official' than I had imagined. I suppose I thought that due to the deadly nature of his research, the CDC would have pulled out all the stops to make sure Dr. Martel was protected; but when we arrived it seemed that
anyone could just walk right in and help themselves to God knows what. Alex must've noticed my concern because he told me that normally there is was guard that comes in the evenings and watches the building all night. A local man named Timur, who Alex said he trusted and who had been vetted by the CDC, but who Alex hadn't seen since he left for Kailahun. He told us that he was worried about him. He had given Timur a prepaid cell-phone when he first started working for Alex and it was shut-off now which was very unlike him, according to Alex. Alex knew that Timur lived with his wife and five children in Boffa. Boffa is a port and small fishing town Guinea just north of Conakry and the chatter coming from that area was reporting that they were starting to see cases of the Ebola Zaire virus there now too. Alex joked that he also missed the Cachupa, a traditional West African stew, that Timur's wife would make for the two of them to share on the nights they worked together.
The building itself only had two rooms and from the outside you would never know that it housed one of the world's deadliest pathogens; it looked like any other building or home in the area. From the exterior, the building was squat and only had a single floor. The walls were concrete (like most the other buildings in the area) and all were painted in an ugly pinkish color. There were two front-facing windows visible from the road; one on either side of a thick, grey steel door (to passerby's, the steel door and array of antennas on the roof were really the only things that would let anyone know this wasn't just a normal residence in the area) and both were fitted with wrought iron bars that had been covered with cardboard from the inside. Upon entering the facility, it was much cooler, thanks to a high-tech A/C unit that sat in a window along the back of the building. There was also an emergency generator directly beneath it. The main room was divided in half with a thick piece of plastic sheeting that ran along the length of the room on a track that had been bolted into the floor and ceiling. The space on the other side of the thick plastic was cast in a glowing blue hue from UV lights that had been installed all along the ceiling. There was also a small decontamination shower located in the center of the room where the plastic curtain parted to allow someone to walk between the two spaces.
The second, smaller room had a toilet and a small living quarters where Alex had apparently been sleeping before he left for Kailahun. He told us he hand't been home to see his wife or young son in over three weeks. Caroline eventually was able to convince Alex (who was still frantically pacing and talking about the virus) to lay down and take a nap while she looked over his work. She promised him that we would be there when he woke up. He seemed to respond well to Caroline and I remember briefly wondering what the extent of their relationship had been. After Alex was asleep in the other room, I wound up getting into a huge argument with Caroline. Our first fight as a couple. It wasn't quite as light-hearted as I had imagined. I wanted to get the fuck out of there. She wanted to stay. We fought in hushed voices before I eventually conceded and moped in the corner for the rest of the night while Caroline went over Alex's work. She confirmed the situation was bad. A lot of the technical detail went over my head but basically this mutation of the Ebola Zaire virus had an incredibly long incubation time in the body, in Alex's research one patient, a healthy young male, had carried the virus for six weeks before presenting any symptoms! He died three days after that. Another man, a farmer, originally presented with the flu and tested negative for the virus. He was then sent home by his doctor where he went on living for another
month before falling ill and spreading the virus to at least 8 other known cases and 6 fatalities. This made the virus a nightmare to quarantine as carriers are showing false-negatives on blood tests and being let go back to their normal lives where they turn into a ticking time-bomb. It wasn't until Alex stepped in that anyone realized they were dealing with a different mutation of the virus that has a longer incubation time and higher fatality rate.
By the time the sun came up that next day we were exhausted. Both mentally and physically. But a decision had been reached. Caroline would stay and assist Alex with his research. She was worried at how woefully under-equipped and under-staffed both the CDC and her colleagues were to deal with this virus. In her mind it was, 'all able bodies to the front lines'. There was never any hesitation on her part. Despite my pleading that we could leave at any time and let someone else handle this, she just said, 'Dare est de faire'. This was the Spurs motto, the banner we had sat under in First Team Restaurant where we first met. I decided I was going to stay too. As my mother would say, 'Dans un sou, dans un livre'
Alex never woke back up. Well, not really anyway. We had to move Alex and his bed to the other side of the room, on the other side of the divider, taking every precaution in doing so. Both Caroline and myself donning white hazmat suits, the cheaper version of the yellow ones you see on television and in movies, carried the dying French doctor and his mattress to the floor in the far corner of the lab. We did this both so Caroline could monitor him more easily and for our own safety. I watched in horror, from the other side of that plastic curtain, as the virus ravaged that poor man for the next four days. We stayed with him the whole time, me on the outside of the containment room and Caroline back and forth, taking blood samples from him, trying to talk to him. 4 awful days. At one point he became lucid. Caroline was in there with him when that happened. I must've been asleep. She told me he was angry, he had been careful and he could not remember any time when he would've been in direct contact with the virus. He said he had
some flu like symptoms and fatigue but that had been over two months ago and he had felt perfectly fine since. Two hours later he bled out of every orifice on his body and died.
Caroline was pretty distraught but also determined. We gathered up our things and Alex's research and left for our hotel. Finally. Almost a week in West Africa and neither of us had even properly showered with the exception of decontamination showers Caroline took while dealing with Alex and I took on the way out just for good measure. Things settled down for a little bit after that. Caroline reported to the NCEZID with Alex's research and reported his death to the CDC so they could go and claim the body and secure the lab. I slept. I had been much more fatigued from the trip than I had initially thought.
I think it was about six weeks that things went on like this. Things are a little fuzzy during that time. Caroline would come home and tell me horror stories from the treatment centers where she would help out once or twice a week, when she wasn't in her lab. How they would be attacked by confused and angry locals. Locals who didn't understand that she was trying to help, who didn't understand why they couldn't have the bodies of their loved ones back to bury according to their customs. Their suits would grabbed and torn at by sick patients who wanted to go home. They would spit on her visor. Spit their diseased saliva right at her face! The patients who weren't restrained were getting up and running away. Terrified people who were confused and didn't understand what was happening, carrying a deadly, highly-contagious virus were running back to their families! It was madness. She would cry. It made me want to cry. I couldn't do anything to help her but beg her to leave before either of us got sick and I did just that every night. I could tell she was coming around to the idea. She could do her work remotely. She had proven herself here, she didn't need to stay. She was worth far more to this fight alive rather than sick or dead. I would tell her all of these things. I know selfishly I just wanted to leave myself but still refused to leave Caroline behind. She was the only thing I had left.
Last week it all finally changed. I had been sick all morning on the toilet from some bad food we must've eaten. Caroline came in around 6pm and I could hear her calling my name. I came out of the bathroom to a look of horror on her face. She looked terrified. She didn't say anything and recoiled when I stepped towards her. She started sobbing and saying 'je ne peux plus faire ça' and 'im désolé'. She must've been sick. She must have not wanted to infect me. She covered her mouth and continued to cry as she left our apartment. That was the last time I saw Caroline. I composed myself and tried to track her down at her lab but she wasn't there anymore. Her colleagues told me she had packed up her research a little while ago and left in a hurry. They told me all of this through thick biohazard suits. They tried to grab at me and get me to sit and calm down but I pushed them back and ran.
I think Caroline might be sick. I will find out what happened to her. After she left me, I was alone. I was sad and homesick. I needed to get out of this hellhole and back home with my family to regroup. I needed to see my family.
So, that's where I've been the last few days. I'm staying at home with my mom in her apartment in the city. I thought being home would make me feel better but it hasn't really. I've been really fatigued lately and my stomach is doing much worse than it was last week. I'm heading home now, I'm tired and I've been here all day but tomorrow I'm going to come back to do some more searches and see if I can't find out any information about where Caroline is. I don't have any of her pictures with me here today but I fear she might be out there and sick. This virus is a lot worse than anyone anticipated and I need to find her before it's too late. It gets pretty crowded here in the afternoon so hopefully I'll be able to get a computer. I'll update you guys when I can.
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