When Travel Plans Go Wrong…
Just about one week into my time in Spain and I already have ample experience in this topic. When traveling abroad with a bunch of frantic 20-year-old’s who want to see the world, it is only expected to come across a few bumps in the road as we try to figure out traveling in Europe.
That being said, let me draw you a picture of what this situation could be like. First weekend in Spain and about 10 of us decided to travel to the coast of Spain for a beach day. We purchased some bus tickets online the day before and were just crossing our fingers that we had purchased them all correctly. Upon arriving to the bus station, we realized we need to print our tickets at the counter. Then the language barrier comes into play. There we were in a huge bus station with tons of people talking loudly as we attempted to communicate with a woman through a glass window and she was telling us our tickets were not valid. Then we began to panic and we struggled to come up with a game plan since our bus was leaving in 20 minutes. And of course, we decided to wing it and board the bus with our PDF image of the ticket on our phones. Big surprise, the bus driver did not let us get on and half of our group left without us.
When all goes wrong in a foreign place what do you do?
Just based on this one experience I think the main takeaway my friends and I had was that we simply had to learn to handle all the curveballs with ease as we encountered them. Some things just happen and there is nothing you can do to control it except come up with a plan B and move forward. Which is exactly what we did. We went back upstairs and spoke to a different woman at the counter as my instinctual Spanish kicked in and I hit her with a slew of questions so that we could ensure we got the proper tickets this time. We bought new tickets that left only an hour later than out original time and went back down to the bus stop to wait for our ride. This might not have seemed like the most dramatic situation of all time, but when dealing with wasting money on tickets, being on a time crunch to make the bus and not knowing the norms in this foreign bus station, it is only natural to get overwhelmed and frustrated at the situation. However, my friends and I all decided that at this point we were not going to let the day go to waste based on one small slip up. We ended up making it to the beach at a decent time and meeting up with our friends as if nothing had happened. Moral of the story: every obstacle can be solved. Even if that means a sacrifice like paying a few extra euros for a ticket or waiting for a later bus, each experience with transportation and travel is a learning experience and after a few weeks these issues won’t happen as often. After that experience, I feel so much more comfortable using local buses in Spain, partially because of the extra difficulty we had with it.
Then comes scenario two of the day. That morning while all our bus drama was occurring, we also had an issue because one of our friends had never shown up to meet us and didn’t text us either. We had assumed that this was because he slept in too late and decided not to come. However, a few hours later we got a text saying that he had been mugged the night prior and his phone and wallet were both taken from him; thus, he could not come with us to the beach. Basically, worst case scenario while abroad and what can you do about it? Not much besides just take action to report the incident and replace all the things he lost. Aside from that though, this incident does teach us something else about travel plans in Spain. First of all, skipping out on one trip for the sake of your sanity and mental health is always the right move! Losing 14 euros after a long night or after having a scare is the right decision. Next, always have a check in system. Make sure you know that all your friends got home okay. That way if they do not show up for your weekend trip the next morning you know that it is because they overslept and not because someone stole their phone.
What I have learned so far in Spain is that everything is a learning experience. In the United States I am so used to everything being planned perfectly in advance and everything being on time. However, the culture in Spain often means that buses will leave a little later than intended or extra unplanned stops will be made and there is nothing you can do to control it. The best thing to do is just sit back and just trust that you’ll get where you need to go. It can seem hard to let go of the fast-paced lifestyle I am so accustomed to in the United States but learning to just go with the flow while in Spain could be a great experience for me. Aside from that, making the most of every circumstance even when things do not go according to plan is a great lesson to learn. So far, every obstacle I have faced has had a fairly easy solution. All I had to do was take a breath, figure out my options and move forward. A bonus part is that this often results in practicing my Spanish more because I get to talk to more people and ask more questions.
At the end of the day, I am still living in Spain and living an unbelievable life. Moral of the story is that everything will work itself out and eventually just become one small memory from my experience in Spain for the semester.
