As I stood lost in the pouring rain on the streets of Paris at 3 a.m., my French-speaking friend re-booked on a different flight and my phone minutes officially used up, I could not help but laugh. No, I hadn’t gone insane. However my?chronic lack of sleep?and airport diet of peanut M&Ms (hey, they have protein!) probably didn’t help either.
This was just another all-too-familiar travel moment during my ten day trip to Italy and France during my winter break at the London School of Economics. All I wanted was to fly from Nice to?Paris, a journey that typically takes approximately two hours. In my case, it took a mere 18.
Before coming to?London?I considered myself a pretty seasoned traveler. No stranger to any type of transportation, I have been to every major?East Coast train station, flown nationally and internationally by myself, sat on endless busses (sometimes for ten hours straight) and done plenty of driving.
Nonetheless I spent my summer researching travel options in Europe. Friends back from abroad constantly mentioned budget airlines RyanAir and EasyJet, yet always with a certain tone. Though they gushed over the money these airlines saved them, there seemed to be a downside they didn’t want to tell me. It was as if there was a secret associated with them. Something I wouldn’t understand without first-hand experience. A special club I wasn’t a part of yet. Well, I’m pretty confident I’ve now gained VIP status in that club complete with complimentary flight delays, hidden fees and airports always at least a half hour away from the city you think you’re flying into.
It all began while I was waiting in line for my?first flight?thinking how well things had been going. As I reached the ticket counter that feeling abruptly left (and never returned). Apparently no one at security noticed that my passport had not been checked, meaning I had to go back. Seeing my face the check in attendant simply said, “Your flight leaves in ten minutes. Good luck.” Thanks lady!
I miraculously made my flight, but the week contained similar issues. While I mastered foreign metro systems, buses and airport shuttles I also managed to spend two hours looking for my hostel in Marseilles (Parlez-vous l’anglais?) and have flights cancelled, rescheduled, delayed and rerouted. I ran through?train stations, took trains without heat, accidently took a bus out of?France?and into?Italy?(easier than you would think) and refined my international “I’m lost” face.
Despite all this, I still say go for it, travel cheaply. Budget traveling makes you a much better traveler and pushes you to experience things you never thought you would, or perhaps never really wanted to.
I experienced people cheering me on as I sprinted through an airport, security people who let me cut lines and had the plane door close behind me all in the time span of fifteen minutes and all before I even left London.
At one point when the alternative was sleeping in a?bus station?outside of Charles de Gaulle Airport I convinced an Italian speaking?bus driver?using my horrendous French and rusty Spanish that I needed to get on his bus. And I did.
On-time transportation that is warm with working overhead lights now seems luxurious. Navigating a country where I speak the language or know where I’m going? That’s so overrated.
Was my trip worth it? A thousand times yes. It was a trip of a lifetime that I will reference with my friends I traveled with for the rest of our lives. Budget traveling abroad teaches you incredible flexibility, perspective and the importance of having a sense of humor. I know I can handle any travel problem with confidence and even in languages I don’t speak.
Whenever I made it to each new destination I felt a huge sense of accomplishment. Even though no one was there to say good job, the sights I saw in Paris, sunshine I felt in Nice, pizza I ate in?Rome and the biggest exhale of my life when I returned to London were my own trophies.
ostitilis@theeagleonline.com
