Hi, my name is Dan and I’m a 22 year old self proclaimed ‘seasonaire’. For those of you who don’t know what that is, it basically means I’m sacking off getting a real job for as long as humanly possible by travelling and working. I’m just leading into my fourth season as a mountain bike guide for a holiday company and get the pleasures of spending this summer in Greece. On top of this I spent a few months last winter working for a tour operator in Finland leading snowmobile tours and snowshoe hikes. This leaves a gap in between the two seasons of a couple of months where most of us seasonaires just do some existing. I know right, pretty cool, but don’t go and get too jealous too quickly because there’s a big flaw in this galavanting operation and it starts with ‘M’ and ends with that bit in the middle of your leg.
Money is the eternal enemy of the seasonaire, we almost fight to see who can earn the least at times. Then the truth about having no money kicks in and we realise, and I’m going to quote my good friend Adam here, “having no money sucks ass”. So, how do we rectify this? Well we get a normal person job of course, but you see we have tasted the grass and it was most definitely greener, so then we come to our second realisation, and I’ll have to quote Adam again here, “Having a normal person job sucks ass”. Now I do hasten to add here that I have nothing against those who do actually quite enjoy sucking ass, but in the context of both this post and, if you ever meet him, Adams passing comments, we are using the phrase as a negative descriptor. But to get back on track, we face a bit of a conundrum here. I’m in the interseason gap, I don’t want to have no money because that sucks ass, but I also don’t want a normal person job because that also sucks ass, and so I find myself at Flu Camp.
Yes, you read that correctly, Flu Camp. Now I first heard of this whilst in Finland from a buddy who had done it before and I thought, fantastic, that solves all my problems, and immediately signed up. Essentially, Flu Camp is a medical trial, you sign up online, they decide if you can apply, then you apply, go through two phases of screening and if you make it through that you get added to a trial. On average the trials range from 11–14 days and you can be compensated up to £4,500. Brilliant, it’s the perfect bridge between earning lots of money and not having to do any work.
So let’s jump to me right now, sat writing this. I am sat in bed at a Flu Camp facility in London (A long way from my house as this morning’s 10am check in time reminded me) on day 1 of my 16 day isolation period. My study will involve me getting infected with a virus then either receiving the vaccine, the placebo, or nothing at all. I will then be monitored for 12 days undergoing a series of tests administered by the doctors in their space suits, and at the end of it I will be released from my isolation unit £4,200 better off (cha ching!). I do hasten to add here that I am obviously not doing this for the money and I am in fact doing it to protect all of you civilians from the evils of illness and make the world a better place (kind of like a superhero would but please don’t think of me like that, i’m just a normal guy).
Now I’m still not entirely sure of the rules on taking photos on site, so you will have to shut your eyes (audio read out users only, if reading, please continue to do so with your eyes open) and imagine as I describe to you, my room. I want you to start with a white cube, about 5 x 5m. You know that blue and white floor every hospital has, add that. Corner off a 1.5 x 4m bathroom with a sliding door. In the middle is a single hospital bed (non electric, sigh) and a tv on the wall in front. Window wise we have a big full width one in the bathroom, a smaller one in the gap behind it and then one leading into the hall, this one has a blind that cannot be lowered all the way so the doctors and nurses cutting about in their space suits can always see in and make sure you’re not transforming into the three eyed fish from the simpsons. It all feels very sifi. Now obviously this room is tiny and obviously I am going to go absolutely mental on account of not being able to leave it, so these posts should only get more entertaining. As it stands however, nine hours in on day one, I am content.
In terms of what I got up to today, not a lot really. I was taken to my room, told to get comfy and sign a few forms. Then we had a brief about the trial, told all of our doo’s and don’ts, introduced to the food system and sent back to our rooms. I had a salad for lunch which kinda sucked, it was very tomato heavy, and then it was onto my day one tests. I had an ECG (yes taking off the stickers made me cry). I had to provide a urine sample (yes I pissed on my hand). I had three tubes of blood taken (yes the nurse exclaimed in delight at my elbow vein). I had to do a breathalyser (yes my accidental eight cocktail bottomless brunch and two pints had worn off). And I had my blood pressure taken (No additional comments). After all that I ordered my meals for tomorrow with the lovely food lady in her space suit, but I’m going to make you tune in tomorrow to find out what I ordered, and trust me, you will want to find out. I then proceeded to clean out the snack selection, request a refill, watch some rubbish on youtube, have a shower and then here we are, patiently awaiting my dinner writing my day 1 post. (update, dinner came, chicken and couscous with broccoli. Fine but a bit soggy)
And that is it really, Day 1 in flu camp. My aim is to get one of these done every day in varying lengths of detail but if I get a bit too busy sitting inside my room on my own with nothing to do then you will have to forgive me for missing a day or two. Anyway, tune in tomorrow when I potentially get injected with a virus. Like I said, don’t get too jealous.
If you’re thinking of signing up or have any questions let me know, I have a referral code that can make us both a bit more money 💰
