Ash Jurberg
A Scottish teacher and an Australian writer meeting in an ice bath in Thailand sounds like the setup for a bad joke. However, it’s a real-life moment that sparked a friendship that’s lasted five years and crossed two continents.
In February 2020, I arrived at a health retreat in Phuket feeling exhausted and stressed. On the first morning, I stood staring at the activity board, completely overwhelmed.
Jon, a Scottish teacher living in Dubai, saw me hovering there and introduced himself. He asked why I was at the retreat, and I told him I was feeling burnt out and open to trying new things.
His suggestion was aerial yoga. I immediately said, “No way!” Jon laughed and pointed out that I’d just told him I was open to new experiences.
He had a fair point. Twenty minutes later, we were both hanging upside down in silk hammocks.
An ice bath sealed our friendship
Ash Jurberg
After aerial yoga, Jon suggested we try the ice bath. He’d done it before; I hadn’t. I lasted two seconds before screaming and scrambling out.
Jon didn’t laugh at me. Instead, he calmly talked me through trying again. Here was someone I’d just met being patient with my ridiculous ice-bath meltdown.
Similar in age and navigating the same kind of life pressures, we just clicked. Over the week, we tried all the activities together.
On our last night, we won the retreat’s trivia competition. I’ll take credit for the victory, though, as a teacher, he probably knew more answers than I did.
A week after we returned home, the world shut down. Though we were new friends, we helped each other through the pandemic weirdness
During the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, Jon and I had regular Zoom calls.
We’d check in on work, family stress, and sanity levels. When we discovered a global push-up challenge, we decided to participate together. We’d text our daily numbers and cheer each other on.
After that ended, we started our own burpee challenge. It kept us connected when everything else felt cut off. I’m sure my burpees weren’t as technically correct as Jon’s, but hey, I counted them.
Strangely, I was talking to Jon more than friends I’d known for decades. Whenever months passed without contact, one of us would always reach out.
Work trips to Dubai became chances to catch up, and we reunited in Phuket for our five-year friendship anniversary
Business opportunities took me to Dubai in 2022, and I extended my trip to see Jon and meet his wife and daughters.
He took me to his favorite Indian restaurant, where I tried dishes I’d never had before. They were way spicier than I’m used to, but I just smiled and sweated through it. Jon even took me to an Irish bar, despite not drinking himself. I had a beer while he had a non-alcoholic one.
Work took me back to Dubai in 2023 and 2024. Each time, seeing Jon was the first thing I planned.
This past May, I had a chance to return to Phuket, so I asked Jon if he wanted to meet me there. Despite being mid-semester, he said yes and flew from Dubai for the weekend.
On this trip, there was another dreaded ice bath — five years since my last. Jon had been doing them regularly over the years, even creating his own makeshift setup at home.
I screamed going in, just as I had before. Some things never change, though I did eventually manage to stay in longer than two seconds.
When you can see someone anytime, it’s easy to put it off
Ash Jurberg
Sitting in the sauna afterward, we discussed how unusual our friendship is. I see Jon more than friends I’ve known for 20 years, and they live just around the corner.
It’s not that I don’t care about those friendships. I do, and I know I can rely on them. But when someone is nearby, it’s easy to think there’s always time. We tell ourselves we’ll catch up next week, then we get busy with kids and work and don’t.
With Jon, there’s no pretending we can do it later. If we want to see each other, we have to plan it. We pick a date, book the trip, and follow through. It’s become a habit.
This friendship started because I reluctantly tried something new. Now it’s one of the most consistent relationships in my life.
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