What Not to Do While Traveling Solo

At the expense of my pride, I am going to share with you guys a little story. I used to consider myself a savvy traveler, giving my friends tricks and ideas about how to make the most of a trip, save money, and stay safe. Well, one of my most recent travels proved to me I still have a lot to learn. So, here is a recap of my trip to Europe and what not to do while traveling solo.

My trip started out well! I flew to Sweden to meet up with my friend Matilda, and we drove to Norway to go to a friend's wedding. We spent some time in Norway hanging out and camping. It was not until I left Norway to go to Germany that my troubles began.

1. Do not assume the main bus/train station is next to the airport.

This is my first tip. In many large cities the main train or bus station is next to an airport, but not always. I flew into Hamburg, Germany because it was the cheapest flight and I could take an overnight bus to Cologne where I would meet up with my friend. Looking back, buying a ticket straight to Cologne would have been so much better.

I got to the airport and then realized I had three hours to figure out how to get to the bus station, which I soon learned was quite a bit away. Walking would take three hours and maps on iPhone wasn't showing me how to use the train, so I decided to wing it. I walked into the train station, looked at the map, and was immediately asked if I needed help. Am I that obvious? Oh well. Yes, help would be great.

I decided to take my chances with this guy (sorry mom), and he rode with me on the trains to the bus station and even walked me to it, where he then left me in the middle of the night to fight off the homeless people by myself. This is not the worst part of my trip, but in the future I will definitely look more into the details, like where the bus station is instead of risking it with a stranger again.

2. Don't leave your phone in a car with the windows rolled down.

Obvious right? Now it is. My friend Nathanael wanted to show me a dirt bike park he had been working on, so we got out of the car real quick, even leaving it running, to check it out. There was ONE other lady in the entire park. Granted, I did leave my phone on the seat in full view, but I did not think the only person there would take it. Stealing is a much more prominent issue in Europe though, compared to the US. By this point, I still had to travel by bus to another city, and then two more days by train to another country. Now I would have to manage without a phone.

3. Don't travel by train for 20+ hours between two countries just because it's cheaper than a more direct flight.

It is very easy to click on a flight and buy it if it is $100 cheaper than the flight to the closer city. DON'T DO THIS. Buy the closer flight. While people brag about how easy travel in Europe is by train, it is still much better to fly and I am almost positive my train ticket was $100 so...

I had printed off my train tickets at my friend Luisa's, bought five chocolate bars, made a pb&j, and went on my way. I was in Freiburg, a southern German town. From there, I had about ten train layovers until I reached the airport in Copenhagen, Denmark. They are almost just as bad as plane layovers. I'd look at my train ticket to see when the next stop was (in German, which I only know a little of) and wait until I saw it pop up on the screen above the door. Once at your stop, you have to take your suitcase off the top rack, drag it off, and find the next platform, going up and down stairs every time, sometimes with only a five minute in between.

This is also after two weeks of sleep deprivation. I fell asleep on every single train ride, waking up at the last second to scurry off. I have no idea how I made it at every stop. There also isn't much comfort in waking up every time to a new person, either. One man kept taking my ticket and telling me I needed help, and even called over the train guy to help. I will never know what point he was trying to get across.

4. Don't assume it'll cost the minimum amount. You will spend more money than you think.

So I travelled for almost 24 hours by train, and all I had to eat was chocolate and a sandwich. I had no more money. As if not having a phone and being stuck on a train was bad enough, I was also hungry. I had spent all my money and couldn't afford any more things. My last hope was the meal on the plane. I definitely under-budgeted for my trip, and my advice for this is just to bring more money than you think you will need. Don't go hungry.

5. Don't forget to make sure your train itinerary has not changed.

During my train travels from Germany and Denmark, I met a nice Danish girl named Kaja. She saved me. We became friends after a two hour layover at an old train station in the middle of the night, when I realized she spoke English, too.

Sometime during the night, I think once we had crossed into Denmark, the train conductor made us all get off the train and onto this bus. I definitely thought we were all being kidnapped. We then rode a bus through the countryside for about two hours and then were made to get onto another train. It was about two AM by now, and looking at my ticket, it said NOTHING about riding a bus. Kaja asked me, "Didn't you get the email about how the scheduling had changed?" Let me tell you, friends, I am notorious for missing emails. I remembered vaguely some email from the German train company BAHN, but I did not read it. Check your email! It will save you a mini heart attack and a near-kidnapping. Or make a friend who knows what they are doing.

I also thought my ticket took me all the way to the Copenhagen airport, but it only took me to the central train station (once again, not next to the airport). At some point in the night Kaja had said goodbye, and next thing I know, a stranger is shaking me awake because we are at the last stop. I got on the train to the airport anyway, hoping I wouldn't get caught. A lady came by checking tickets, looked at my ticket, looked at me, and just moved along. Do I really look that bad? Either way, I finally made it to the airport, where I thought my problems were over.

6. Don't fall asleep at the terminal while waiting for your already delayed flight.

This is honestly when everything came crashing down. Luckily my flight from Copenhagen to Toronto, Canada went smoothly, preparing me for the biggest mess ever, AKA the Toronto Pearson International Airport. I had about an eight hour layover, and three of those first hours were spent trying to find my terminal. I had to go to the United info desk to ask them, because they'd decided not to post it anywhere. During all of this, the speaker was constantly in use, talking about switching terminals, delayed/canceled flights, and other mishaps. After I found out where my flight was, I waited in my terminal until boarding. By the time I was supposed to board, a crowd of people coming from who-knows-where came to board. I realized I should have been listening, because my terminal had probably been changed.

I went to the screen where they finally posted my flight and it was delayed for two hours, meaning I would miss my connecting flight in Chicago, going to Portland. I waited through the info desk line for another hour and the man at the desk told me I'd have to catch the next Chicago flight that night and fly to Portland the next morning. UGH. Whatever, at least I'd be flying out of there that night. I went back to my terminal, put in my headphones, and dozed off for the next hour.

When I came to, everyone was GONE. I was sitting there, alone, in the terminal, with the only people around two AirCanada flight attendants drinking their Tim Horton's.

"Excuse me, where is my flight to Chicago, and where is everyone else?"

"The flight that was cancelled?"

"No...the flight that was delayed..."

"Honey, they canceled it and already got everyone new flights and hotels," they said as they walked away. That was it. NBD.

And no one had thought to wake me up and tell me this little bit of info?!

This is when I started going nuts. I cried for about five minutes, wondering how long it would take for my parents to drive here and pick me up. Not that I had a phone. I proceed to run around the airport crying. The info desk was closed because it was too late. I eventually found myself at an AirCanada terminal with a straight flight to Portland!

I asked (more like demanded, now that I look back) the lady at the desk to get me on the flight. She got really worried and said she'd ask a United attendant. She brought out the lady who then told me it wouldn't work because I had checked my luggage and I needed to go find it. Alright.

I followed along with the crowds, still in tears, to where I found my suitcase in the middle of the airport just sitting there, looking as lonely as I felt. Before I knew it, I was going through customs, they were stamping my passport, and I was standing outside of the airport in Canada. No hotel. No new flights. No idea what was going on. Canada was not on my list of places to visit. And how is it I got outside? I still don't know what happened.

I had to go back into the airport, find a new help kiosk (I was the last person they helped before they closed up for the night), get my third ticket to Chicago, and wait through the night until security opened and I could get back into the airport. Everything went okay after this. I got to Chicago and then flew home to Portland.

Bonus tip: Avoid using AirCanada or United Airlines, if possible. Maybe these things only happen to me, but maybe not. Can't be too safe.

I hope you find these tips helpful and my story a little humorous. I wish I could say I made some of this up, but I can't. I absolutely enjoyed my trip, and many things did go right also, but these are just some things to consider when planning your next solo trip.

Somewhere in Germany