Mar 12, 2019
Aged just 22 Kris Hallenga returned from a trip to Beijing to be told she had incurable cancer. Ditching plans to travel the world she threw herself into building Coppa Feel, her wonderful charity. ‘Passion can take you to some incredible places’ she says, and her message HAS taken her to wonderful places - literal and metaphorical. She recently celebrated her ten year 'cancerversary' and has some inspirational words for us all about enjoying travel, enjoying life, enjoying every moment.
On this episode we cover:
Having just got back from Disneyland Paris
Thinking Disney Orlando would be too overwhelming
‘One of the perks of having Stage 4 cancer’ is skipping the queues
Mickey Mouse, Snow White and Pluto smoking a cigarette drinking wine at lunchtime
Being vibrant and full of fun but living with a serious disease
Taking time out when she’s not well
Being natural for her to want to experience everything
Her current cancer treatment
Feeling much better than she has in a long time
When the cancer gets to her
Trying to represent herself authentically on social media
How ten years of treatment has given her coping strategies
Becoming the boss of her own health
Celebrating her ten year ‘cancerversary’
Travel being in her blood and dear to her heart
Studying travel and tourism
Growing up in Germany with her sisters and mother
Germany’s beautiful coast and islands
Moving to England age 10
Kris and her twin Maren talking German in the playground
Understanding German
First mentioning the lump in her left breast on a trip to Barcelona
Being on an internship in Beijing when the cancer symptoms really worsened
Loving her time in China
Studying Mandarin
Working for a Chinese/French travel agency
Crazy Beijing nights out
Having to become very adult very quickly
Being the only white female on the subway
Feeling very alien and standing out
The thrill of travel aged 22
The Beijing Olympics affecting visas
Returning to England and seeing a GP
Having to change her plans to teach English abroad
Finally being diagnosed with incurable breast cancer
How the diagnosis made her feel
Being baffled and confused about cancer
Thinking that this was going to be the end
Managing to fly to San Francisco ten months after her diagnosis
Wanting to feel like a traveller again
Wanting to explore a world far removed from cancer
Travelling Australia with her twin sister
Inheriting the travel bug from her mother
Working in apple packing factories
Wolf Creek!
Going on the longest bus journey in the outback
Sleeping outdoors near Ayers Rock/Uluru
Loving everything about Australia
Buying a camper van
How young travellers should ditch the boyfriend at home!
Spending a lot of time in phone booths calling the boyfriend
Remembering the positive things when you look back
Travelling pre-technology
Disappearing for weeks abroad and being un-contactable by phone
Getting piggy backs from the army in Langkawi, Malaysia
Falling in the water and losing all her belongings
How Facetime, What’s App and social media have changed travel
Setting up her charity Coppa Feel
Getting the go ahead for charity status
How persuading the Prime Minister’s wife to check on the charity status at Downing Street was the very rock n roll
The invaluable support from celebrities for the charity
Ferne Cotton’s incredible impact on awareness
How being on Fearne Cotton’s podcast, Happy Place, made a huge difference
How 21 year olds understandably don’t think about checking their breasts
Coppa Feel’s aim to get us all checking our breasts
Trekking through Iceland for the charity
The magic and incredible bonds built on the treks
This year’s trek through the Himalayas
Being overwhelmed with applications for the trek
This being the toughest and biggest one yet
Sending 100 people to the Himalayas
Living vicariously through the people who were there
The most exhilarating moment of the Iceland trek being the end
Being very tired due to cancer medication
Having terrible mouth ulcers on the trek
The huge sense of achievement
How trekking in Iceland’s black sands feels like you’re on the moon
The hardy plants that grow in this harsh environment
Visiting the Blue Lagoon
Happening upon the perfect waffle house
Feeling particularly badass in their hired Hummer
Not having been to the Maldives
Loving living by the ocean in Cornwall
Newquay airport flying to some great places
Relaxing by the beach in Faro in Portugal
Snorkelling and swimming and eating fresh fruit in the Philippines
‘Exes with benefits’
Lisa being told by a clairvoyant that she would feel at home in the Philippines
Volunteering in an orang-utan conservation place in the jungle in Borneo
Finding themselves on their own for a month
Becoming friends with the orang-utans
Bonding with Louise from Egham
How she feels travel is one of the best things you can do
Encouraging people with illnesses to travel if possible
Travel insurance being a huge issue for people with incurable diseases
Not getting special insurance
The terrible health insurance issue in the US
How people with cancer are more cautious and probably not a bad insurance bet
Not having had any experimental treatment abroad
But not ruling it out
Friends having treatment in Germany and Istanbul
The rise in health tourism
Kris’ top 10 tips for making every day great (how she celebrated her ten year cancerversary)
How we should all celebrate getting older
How passion can take you to some incredible places
How finding something you believe in makes life the best
Dancing in the kitchen
How singing and dancing can make your soul soar
Dancing with her friends to Little Mix at Disney
How Jack Johnson reminds her of sunny and beach-life days travelling around Australia