To begin I would like to say that my
trip to Paris, France was wonderful, amazing and one of the most meaningful
experiences I will forever cherish, but let's say that it began with a rough
start. I spent my first experience outside my comfort bubble thousands of miles
away from my close family and friends; everything and I mean EVERYTHING that
could go wrong on my first day did and I would like to discuss with my fellow
HPU colleagues on how to overcome these challenges and maybe prevent them in
the first place.
Things began going south literally and
figuratively as I landed in Frankfurt Germany from Vancouver, Canada. I landed
in a very large airport to catch a connecting flight that was to depart within
an hour of my arrival. Usually, I would use my time wisely, but a few things
got out of hand and out of my control. For example, to list the following:
1) My previous flight was delayed!
2) I was exhausted after 15 hours of
flying, 10 hours of layover with no sleep
3) I did not know how to prepare or
what to expect when I landed
4) I got lost + left the
connecting flight region of the airport, which meant having to go through
security AGAIN
5) I did not keep track of time
closely...and soooo yup, I MISSED my last flight to Paris (this is where
everything would go wrong).
If you find
yourself missing your flight, my first tip to you, fellow traveler, is to go to
the service center of the PREVIOUS flight. It’s important that you catch the
next available flight as fast as possible and the service lines can be very
long (30-45 min), so don’t waste your time and make sure you’re in the right
line. In my case, the airline that delayed my flight was responsible to
communicate with the next airline to get me to Paris. Just so that you are
aware, once you talk to the service center with all of your previous flight
information, they will probably reserve you a seat on standby. This means when you
check-in for your flight, it will say that there are no seats available. That
is FINE! Just print your boarding pass and they will give you a seat right
before they start boarding. I lost so much time trying to figure all of this
out. I ran across the unreasonably huge airport several times (note: make sure
your carry on has wheels if it is heavy) and waited in long lines. I ended up
catching my makeup flight 3 hours after my original time. Another important
note: When traveling internationally, your phone may not be able to use data at
all so you can use the airport’s WiFi, but sometimes it doesn’t work during
their busy hours!
Once you arrive at your destination, there are
some important questions that you should ask yourself. What time are you landing?
Where will you be staying overnight? Can you use data or phone service? My
original plan was great: I would land at 3 pm and I would have 3 hours to
figure out my transportation and my data plan before the office that held the
keys to my housing would close. Sadly, I arrived 3 hours late so I had no time
to get my keys that day. Luckily, I emailed the office quickly and explained to
them my situation. They responded and were very kind to agree that I can use my
room without signing any of the legal documents so I could have a place to
sleep. All I had to do was contact my roommate to let me into the apartment. It
was another great plan, but things went horribly. First, most of the stores
closed at the time I arrived so it took me much longer to get my data plan and
almost as if the airport was mocking me and my struggles, it went completely on
lockdown as I was leaving due to some luggage issues; I only brought a
carry-on, so it shouldn’t have affected me. Next, the transportation system by
the airport was very expensive and I tried to conserve money by taking a bus
service to reach the city and walking the remaining 30 minutes. I am usually
very good at using my GPS, but with no surprise, it took me to the wrong
location. I learned to never trust my GPS in a scenario like this. I was lost
for a very long time as I didn’t know how to use the local buses or metro to
reach my apartment and my roommate was getting upset because it started getting
late and he was jet-lagged by 7 hours (I was jet-lagged by 12!!). I learned
that you should just take an uber or a taxi from the airport even though it
will cost about 50 € but they will take you exactly where you have to go
quickly.
By the time I
arrived at my apartment complex, it was past 11 pm and my roommate fell asleep
and the office had closed. As I was waiting in the lobby, one of the residents
understood enough English to try to help me. The problem was that I did not
know which room was mine or even which building in the complex since I did not
officially check-in. One of the managers finally arrived and he did not know
any English. He was not very patient for complete strangers that did not know
which room they were supposed to stay in so he got VERY upset and I got kicked
out. That is when I was pretty much started panicking. I tried calling some
nearby hotels, but they were all full, so I knew that I was spending the night
out. I called my family and girlfriend for advice and they 🤷♂️. They calmed me down a bit
and I found a bus stop with a charging port to charge my phone. At this point,
I had spent about 35 hours in 3 airports and 3 flights and I decided that I was
going to pull another all-nighter so no one could rob my luggage. Around 3-4
am, I had to use the restroom so I started exploring the magnificent city of
Paris and I actually really enjoyed myself. I went to the Eiffel Tower for the
first time around sunrise and it was just beautiful. At 6 am, my roommate
called me to apologize and he let me into our apartment. It was great because I
got to sleep for about 45 minutes before I had to get up to go to the first day
of orientation!
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