How I Lost My Hearing While Traveling Alone Abroad

Flores, Indonesia is a lush, green island floating between the Flores and Savu seas. It’s twice as big as Bali, half as famous, and, in my opinion, much more welcoming.

I flew to Labuan Bajo, on the East side, with only one thing in mind: scuba diving in Komodo National Park. The dive instructor I booked quickly smacked my dreams down, declining to teach me because I was sick.

I had spent the previous couple of nights sleeping beneath a ceiling full of mold in a hostel in Phuket. After three back-to-back flights, I had yet to clear my right ear. Constantly changing air pressure and clogged sinuses don’t mix well.

Scuba diving is a sport marked by rigid rules to prevent safety issues (i.e. death). You cannot dive sick because you must equalize, or maintain consistent air pressure, in your ears as you descend into the ocean.

It took days before they finally let me into the water. By then, I was so desperately eager to scuba, I omitted I was still sick. The practice sessions and first official dives went well. On my third dive, however, I never equalized properly.

To be honest, I didn’t even realize. I was so mesmerized by the giant manta rays gliding by that I wept tears of joy into my mask and forgot about the rest of my being.

There was only a dull aching in my ear. I returned to my hostel and focused on my next move. At this point, I had been there for over a week.

Every day, I ate a $4 grilled fish from the local market and fell asleep to the gurgling lizard sounds echoing from the corners of the wall. I had a routine which meant it was time to go.

My plan was to backpack across the entire island. Of course, I had not done any prior research. The hostel workers suggested I go to Bajawa, a town 8 hours away. Cheap shuttle buses drove down the only major road, picked people up, and dropped them off along the way.

Early the next morning, I managed to catch a ride on one. Unfortunately, there was only one available seat nestled between two Spaniards who were clearly friends but refused to give up their treasured window seats.

It was the worst ride of my life. And I once did a 24 hour bus ride.

Not only was I deeply uncomfortable, as I couldn’t lean my head on either side of me to rest. But the Spaniards kept arguing across me, not realizing I knew their language. I was starting to get a headache

But the headache wasn’t just from them. I realized, about an hour too late that the road we were on was heading up into the mountains.

Remember when I said scuba has strict rules … One of them is that you cannot go into high elevation 24 hours after diving. The oxygen and nitrogen levels in your body need time to readjust and stabalize.

There I was, sandwiched between bickering friends (or lovers or both), with no service, no alternative plan, and no idea where I was going except up.

I had this incessant feeling that my ear had to pop but couldn’t. In a frustrated rage, I started smacking it repeatedly hoping to alleviate the burning ache. That obviously only exasperated the problem.

Soon enough, I started experiencing the most agonizing pain I’ve ever felt. It stemmed from my ear and extended to the right side of my face and neck.

Ten hours later, after multiple delays and stops, I finally arrived. I promptly locked myself into my homestay room and cried myself to sleep. It wasn’t until the next day that I realized I completely lost hearing in my right ear.

With no health insurance, no money, and almost no English speakers around, I decided not to seek medical attention. Instead, I got a bowl of soup from a restaurant nearby and frantically searched for answers online.

All symptoms indicated Barotrauma triggered by failing to equalize, rapid air pressure change (deep sea to mountains), or a horrific combination of both.

There was only one thing to do: wait. In six weeks at best or never at worst, I could regain my hearing. So then came my second task: have faith. For nearly two months I lived life, hoping everything would go back to normal.

In the end, my ear healed itself. I think. I still haven’t gotten it checked out.