Let’s be honest: we all love to hear funny mishap stories. Even if we don’t ever actually admit it, we like to read about things that go wrong for someone else. Morbid? Yes. Realistic? You betcha! Well this is one of those posts. These are the things I did wrong on my first international trip.
I think sometimes we get the idea that travel is all about the picture-perfect moments that are splashed across your social media feeds.
Don’t be fooled: there are times we experience food poisoning.
Or having to run to make a connection, only to trip and miss that door closing by mere seconds.
Or getting so frustrated with trying to find a place to eat in another country that “McDonald’s it is…again…” becomes the standard.
There are tons of reasons we don’t see the horrible and ugly on social media, the least of which stems from the need to deal with the situation…rather than photographically document it.
Believe me – I would much rather focus on arguing with the bus driver in German than try to pull out my camera to take a few “candid” shots of us yelling at each other.
And then there are the self-imposed “oops” moments we experience on a trip. You know, the ones that we actually could have avoided.
Have you heard the old saying that basically states how we should learn from our mistakes? Since I was a teenager, I tried to learn from other people’s mistakes, rather than making them on my own. And for years it seemed to work.
Then, in the summer of 2015, I embarked upon my first international trip: my study abroad in Germany. Since I wanted to maximize the amount of time I could take off of work, I decided to travel a bit before the program actually started.
I planned my adventures as best as I knew how, believing that I had all of my bases covered.
Or…so I thought…
Believe it or not, not everything went according to plan…or went as smoothly as it could have gone. Some things just happen because we didn’t know that we needed to know, we’ve never traveled before and have no idea how things will pan out, and more often than not…because the universe likes to keep our lives interesting!
Here are four things I did wrong on my first international trip and how I’ve learned from my mistakes. Learn from my mistakes and don’t make these yourself!
Leaving the Prague Airport
When I landed in Prague, I was exhausted, dirty, pretty sure I smelled lovely, and starving. After a quick freshen-up in one of the bathrooms in my terminal (this is why you should carry deodorant and a toothbrush and toothpaste in your carry-on), I felt worlds better and found an ATM to get some cash. I was on top of the world! Here I was, on my first international trip, SOLO, and the world was my oyster.
I followed the crowd and wound my way past duty-free shops, restaurants, and the occasional backpacker. I couldn’t believe I was one of them now!
The crowd led me to the baggage pickup, which I breezed by since everything I needed was on my back. I took a look around and reality started to sink in. I had about 12 hours to kill in Prague before I needed to board my train that would take me to Poland, but I was stuck at the airport.
I had no idea where I needed to go or how to get there! Apparently I had planned everything except the initial first step. I wandered around the airport for almost 2 hours, aimlessly looking around, squinting at the words in Czech (as if that was going to help me), barely aware of what I was doing. I was so tired.
After eating something, a quick prayer, and splashing cold water on my face in the bathroom sink, I came to my senses and headed towards the ground transportation location, where I finally found a shuttle into old town.
*Note to self: make sure I arrange ground transportation ahead of time (or at least have a game-plan) whenever I arrive in a foreign airport.
Arriving Exhausted
I do everything I can to avoid jet lag, but sometimes my tactics aren’t the best. On my first international trip, I had 3 flights that got me from LA to Prague and I didn’t sleep a wink on any of them. I knew that I was going to be landing in Prague and have to jump on an overnight train a mere 12 hours after landing. My plan was to not sleep on the flights, explore old town Prague, hop on the train, and successfully pass out until I woke up in Auschwitz.
Sounded ideal to me. I have no problem going on minimal sleep, but what I didn’t account for was the fatigue of sitting up and uncomfortably for hours and hours and hours, plus the weight of my backpacks and stress about making connections (I’m looking at you, Amsterdam).
By the time I finally made it to old town Prague and began to explore, I realized that I needed to keep moving so I didn’t fall asleep. I found a cute little train that rambled around town and decided to kill a little time with a ride.
Bad idea!
Sitting still with the gentle rumble of the train engine and cobble stones lulling me to sleep was dangerous, especially since the seats were open-door. If I even faded a little bit, I’d definitely fall off the train, leaving my stuff behind!
*Note to self: maybe sleep on one of the flights or catch a nap in the airport before heading out on an adventure!
Opting to Pick Up Train Tickets In-Person
Before I headed up to my study abroad program in Germany, I decided that I wanted to visit Auschwitz. I found an overnight train that would take me from Prague to Auschwitz, saving me accommodation costs for my first night in Europe. I purchased the tickets online and opted to pick them up in person, rather than having them mail the tickets to me.
Big mistake.
When I booked the tickets, I figured that I’d pick up the Prague – Auschwitz ticket at the station in Prague. A few days later, I figured I would pick up the Auschwitz – Prague ticket at the Auschwitz station.
Sounds like a plan, right?
Except I didn’t have a lot of experience riding trains and purchasing tickets to realize that hey, I purchased the tickets through a company, not the actual train station. There would be no “picking-up-the-tickets-at-the-train-station” right before the journey. I needed to get both of the tickets from the Czech-based company, but didn’t realize this until I was deliriously wandering through Prague.
*Note to self: read the fine print and, time-permitting, opt for tickets being mailed directly to me. If there’s a time crunch, see if there’s an electronic option or have a clear plan laid out so I don’t cut it close again!
No SIM Card
I didn’t get a SIM card or international phone plan. Stupid, stupid mistake. Not that I was going to be surfing the web or scrolling through my social media feeds all day long, but having access to data while you’re exploring the world is amazing. Maps, Google Translate, and yes, maybe being able to post real-time updates while we were watching Germany dominate the world during the World Cup would have been awesome.
*Note to self: get a phone plan or an unlocked phone for travel that actually has the ability to swap out SIM cards (thanks for making my life difficult, Verizon).
Have you had any similar experiences that I did? Did things go to plan or blow up in your face?
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