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Student Reflections

Travel Trials and Tribulations: Santorini Edition

Mackenzie Fuller
March 23, 2023

Since coming back from studying abroad, a frequent question I get asked is do I have any travel horror stories? Thankfully, things went pretty smoothly. I never missed a connecting flight (though I had a close call on my connecting flight back home). I never lost my luggage. I never got pickpocketed. I never got lost in a new city with a dead cell phone. However, when traveling, mishaps and mistakes are bound to occur. Hopefully, after reading about my travel trials and tribulations, you won’t make the same mistakes as me.

 Part I: Do you have your…

 “Wallet?”

 “Check!”

 “Phone?”

 “Check!”

 “Passport?”

 “Shoot, I always forget that one!”

Annie, my roommate, and I were up late packing. The next day we were heading to Santorini to celebrate her 21st birthday. Before every trip, we’d do the packing list rundown ritual together, weary to leave any essential behind. One of us would usually forget to pack an important item, but the other would remember.

The sky was still black as we headed to the airport early the next morning. We, along with our friend Lily, were flying out on Thursday (since we didn’t have class), while our two other friends would depart the day after. Used to quick 24- or 48-hour trips, we were all looking forward to having four days in Santorini. It felt like a true vacation. We’d be able to explore and relax in a place we’d all dreamed of visiting. 

With such an early flight, security was a breeze. Annie and I settled down at the terminal and a few minutes later Lily joined us. Getting to the airport so early allowed us to feel at ease. We joked that we had so much time we could make it back to our apartment if we left anything, go through security again, get breakfast in the terminal, and still have time to spare. Thankfully, we had everything we needed, and I soon dozed off. 

I woke up to shuffling, as people grabbed their stuff and headed to board the plane. It was a short line, a few other students like us, some families going home or for a vacation. With only a few groups ahead of us, I was looking forward to getting to my seat and falling back asleep. 

Out of nowhere, Lily said the five words I had been fearful of my whole time abroad, “I don’t have my passport.” We all started to panic. Maybe she had put it in a different pocket in her backpack? Maybe it was in her sweatshirt pocket? Maybe she had left it back where we were just sitting? No, no, and no. The passport, we would find out later, was left on Lily’s desk, waiting to be packed.

We were next to board, 3 girls and 2 passports.

While I often had nightmares about forgetting my passport, I never thought of what I’d do if it were to ever happen. The time between the moment Lily realized she didn’t have her passport and when our passports were being checked was so slim. I had no idea what she was going to do when the flight attendant asked for our passports. Would she accept defeat and leave the line before we were up to board? Would she somehow miraculously be able to board the flight?

To make a long story short, a New York State license and a picture of a passport aren’t sufficient identification documentation for an American to board an international flight in Italy.

Thankfully, Lily was able to buy a ticket for the flight the following day, with the rest of our friends. When we reunited in Santorini, she said it worked out for the best that she missed the first flight. She was able to spend the day working on a paper she otherwise would have had to work on while in Santorini. I guess everything works out in the end!

Moral of the story: ALWAYS pack your passport. Pack it before anything else. Have a special, designated passport pocket in your bag. Better yet, get a little fanny pack for your passport (and other essentials) for quick access to them in a secure location. 

Part II: Where’s the Airbnb?

After a 2-hour flight, we made it to Santorini (side note: it’s wild to me how short this flight was! In 2 hours, I was in another country while it takes me 3 hours to drive to my grandmother’s house in Connecticut). We took a bus from the airport to town. Our next mission: finding the Airbnb.

According to Google Maps, we were only about a 5-minute walk to the Airbnb. Theoretically, it should have been easy for us to find. In reality, we struggled. For one, the Airbnb was located on an unmarked dirt path. The host told us it was near an electronic store, very useful information for two tourists who have never been to this electronic store, let alone this city.

We set off to find this electronic store, hoping it would lead us to this inconspicuous dirt path. The time to destination on Google Maps kept increasing as we walked around the city in circles. We were passing the same streets repeatedly yet couldn’t find the place. Morale was low. We were tired with our heavy backpacks weighing us down. We were hungry, only having had a small breakfast hours earlier at the airport. We wanted to put our bags down and eat, so that’s exactly what we did.

We sat down at this restaurant we passed a thousand times trying to find the Airbnb. It had this large outdoor patio with plenty of plants and live music playing. It was a nice, relaxing ambiance after our hectic morning. The food was delicious, and we even got loukoumades (Greek donuts sprinkled with honey) on the house. 

This lifted our spirits. With a clear head and a full stomach, we left the restaurant. And wouldn’t you know, we were able to find the electronic store and the dirt path, and then the Airbnb! All it took was a little food and a breather. 

Moral of the story: If you can’t find your Airbnb right away, don’t stress. Have some food instead!