Why I May Never Visit Australia

Here I am at the U.S. Open in 2005.

Every January I find myself watching the Australian Open and wishing I could be there, enjoying the warmth Down Under.

In fact, one of my dreams is to attend every Grand Slam: the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open. I’ve traveled to France and England, but unfortunately, I wasn’t visiting those countries during the tennis tournaments. I have been to the U.S. Open in New York, though, so only three more Grand Slams to go! (Actually, I’ve been to New York City twice, and do I have some stories from those trips that would make for some good blog posts!)

But back to the Australian Open. Since this tournament is located on the other side of the world, I fear my dream of visiting every Grand Slam will never come true. Yes, the expense and ability to take a significant number of vacation days from work are important factors in whether such a lofty trip would be possible, but there’s one other factor I consider when I dream about traveling to Australia.

Blood clots.

Yes, blood clots.

Several years ago I heard a story on the news about a woman who died after a long flight to Australia. The cause of death? A blood clot.

Well, as you can imagine, I freaked out when I heard the news. I immediately turned to my computer and searched everything I could find about blood clots and how to prevent them. You would think that learning the facts (i.e., not staying immobile on long flights helps to prevent blood clots) would comfort me, but instead, it caused me to worry even more. Why? Because sometimes there’s just nothing you can do to prevent them, and sometimes the symptoms don’t appear until it’s too late. Go ahead. Google “blood clots,” and you may become as worried as I am about them (sorry if I’m giving other worrywarts more to worry about!).

So now, even when I’m on a two-hour flight, I make sure I get up and move around the plane at least once. I even roll my ankles at my seat, just for safe measure. If I take these kinds of measures on a two-hour or eight-hour flight, can you imagine what I would do traveling to Australia? Heck, I’ve even been rolling my ankles while sitting here typing this blog!

Last year I did get some worrisome news when I went to the doctor. Supposedly, one of my legs has a vascular condition. Of course, I asked the doctor if it could lead to a blood clot, and he assured me that it wouldn’t lead to that. I still can’t help worrying about it, though.

But maybe if I did go to Australia I would stop worrying so much about everything. During the Australian Open, the sports commentators kept saying that Australia is the land of “no worries.” I like the sound of that.

Now, if I could just get there safely...

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