Viajando Solo
(Or for those who do not speak Spanish, "Traveling alone.")
I haven't traveled out of the country completely on my own since the fall of 2005 when I studied abroad in Rome for a semester. Europe was very different then. And I was a very different person with a completely different set of circumstances. At that time, I hadn't yet "flown the nest"--my parents were graciously and generously financially supporting me and the experiences I had in Europe. I was enrolled in a study abroad program, which afforded me more structured travel opportunities that were arranged by the Rome program. And because of the enthusiasm and energy I had being 20 years young, I didn't mind sleeping on the ground in hostels....or getting up at 4 in the morning to take a 30 minute bus ride to the airport for a 6:30 AM $30 flight to another country and then proceed to spend the entire day in said country sightseeing until midnight. Just typing that makes me tired!
All that to say--I forgot how much I enjoy traveling on my own! Pete travels himself a lot for work, and once a year when he goes to Vegas with his friends. But aside from my "was never meant to be NYC trip" back in January, 2016--I really haven't had any big trips to myself that weren't either work related or mini road trips in the Midwest. (Fun side note: Pete got scheduled to fly to Raleigh for a week. When is he leaving? The day after I get back from Spain....)
True, there's a lot more responsibility placed on you compared to sharing it with your partner/traveling partner/ partner-in-crime/husband/best-husband-ever. But it also means that during the journey, you can be tired, stressed, cranky, go at your own pace, make decisions, and do things how you want knowing that if those things happened while traveling with your partner, you may run into some issues.
This is the part of my blog post when I stop and say how AMAZING Pete is. He's the BEST traveling companion ever--possibly anywhere in the world. I should have known we would pair as well as we do--our first vacation together began with a 3-day road trip out west to Yellowstone, where we proceeded to camp, make our own food, and drive around a huge expanse of cliffs, dirt roads, and nature all to do some sightseeing. Do you think car-sick-Renee showed herself? You can bet she did... I figure--if we could pass that "test," we can do anything.
Traveling by myself for this trip was, in a way, a test of a different kind. Because I hadn't exercised my "Independent Woman" traveling chops in a while. For me, being prepared means going into everything with all the plans, back up plans, back up plans for the back up plans, and then reminders to myself that mistakes will happen and I will probably be the one to make them. (What? Renee isn't perfect?? Blaspheme! lol)
The first test was tagging and dropping my bags at MSP. I had already checked in online the day before and it went perfectly. So, when I arrived to MSP, I knew all I had to do was go to a kiosk, scan my passport, print a sticker, tag my bag, drop it, and then head to security. Is that what happened? Nope. The machine wouldn't scan my passport for some weird reason. And then when I asked for help, the attendant had to ask someone ELSE for help, who said I needed to go to Special Services. Not ideal, but okay. I can stand in a line and have someone help me.
I'm in line for Special Services. So are a bunch of other people. And the line's not moving. Like at all. 3 attendants and they were all spending an exorbitant amount of time with their customers. This was the line for exceptions and special circumstances, so that makes sense. Then 20 minutes later, after I've barely moved up at all, a lady dressed in a full red pantsuit comes out and announces loudly to us in line: "This is the line for special services. I have worked here a long time, and we usually never see the line this long. If you haven't yet tried to check in, there are kiosks over there for you to check in." All of us looked at each other, shrugged and stayed in line because we had done that already.
There was a woman who was traveling by herself standing in front of me in line, and another woman traveling solo by herself standing behind me. I was the only one of the three of us with an American passport, but it turns out that all three of us had the same issue with the kiosks in that they weren't scanning our passports. I can't remember which one of us started chatting first, but quickly the three of us started conversing about our experiences traveling to different international airports (London, Rome, Heathrow, O'Hare, MSP). I found out that Amsterdam is exceptionally strict with their security checks and are a bit over-bearing. We all had a good laugh/groan about the culture of Italy with their lack of lines and constant pick-pocketing and thefts.The woman in front of me was traveling to India, and the woman behind me was traveling to France. We shared exasperated sighs with each other when the number of attendants went down from 3 to 1. Shift change, so around 1:05 pm, the three counters were up and running again.
About 30 minutes later of chatting, the three of us found ourselves to the front of the line. And so we parted ways, each of us to our own respective attendants.
You may wonder if I was able to check in okay at the counter. And I think the fact that I'm sitting here typing this blog post on my laptop in a hotel in Barcelona should give you your answer :)
All in all, traveling alone isn't that bad. Sure, it may mean that I look ridiculous carrying a larger suitcase, a pursue, and another carry-on all by myself. But it also means that I have the chance to look up, be aware of other women, find solidarity with them in their traveling experience, learn about them, and realize that we (women) are all more alike than we are different.
I haven't traveled out of the country completely on my own since the fall of 2005 when I studied abroad in Rome for a semester. Europe was very different then. And I was a very different person with a completely different set of circumstances. At that time, I hadn't yet "flown the nest"--my parents were graciously and generously financially supporting me and the experiences I had in Europe. I was enrolled in a study abroad program, which afforded me more structured travel opportunities that were arranged by the Rome program. And because of the enthusiasm and energy I had being 20 years young, I didn't mind sleeping on the ground in hostels....or getting up at 4 in the morning to take a 30 minute bus ride to the airport for a 6:30 AM $30 flight to another country and then proceed to spend the entire day in said country sightseeing until midnight. Just typing that makes me tired!
All that to say--I forgot how much I enjoy traveling on my own! Pete travels himself a lot for work, and once a year when he goes to Vegas with his friends. But aside from my "was never meant to be NYC trip" back in January, 2016--I really haven't had any big trips to myself that weren't either work related or mini road trips in the Midwest. (Fun side note: Pete got scheduled to fly to Raleigh for a week. When is he leaving? The day after I get back from Spain....)
True, there's a lot more responsibility placed on you compared to sharing it with your partner/traveling partner/ partner-in-crime/husband/best-husband-ever. But it also means that during the journey, you can be tired, stressed, cranky, go at your own pace, make decisions, and do things how you want knowing that if those things happened while traveling with your partner, you may run into some issues.
This is the part of my blog post when I stop and say how AMAZING Pete is. He's the BEST traveling companion ever--possibly anywhere in the world. I should have known we would pair as well as we do--our first vacation together began with a 3-day road trip out west to Yellowstone, where we proceeded to camp, make our own food, and drive around a huge expanse of cliffs, dirt roads, and nature all to do some sightseeing. Do you think car-sick-Renee showed herself? You can bet she did... I figure--if we could pass that "test," we can do anything.
Traveling by myself for this trip was, in a way, a test of a different kind. Because I hadn't exercised my "Independent Woman" traveling chops in a while. For me, being prepared means going into everything with all the plans, back up plans, back up plans for the back up plans, and then reminders to myself that mistakes will happen and I will probably be the one to make them. (What? Renee isn't perfect?? Blaspheme! lol)
The first test was tagging and dropping my bags at MSP. I had already checked in online the day before and it went perfectly. So, when I arrived to MSP, I knew all I had to do was go to a kiosk, scan my passport, print a sticker, tag my bag, drop it, and then head to security. Is that what happened? Nope. The machine wouldn't scan my passport for some weird reason. And then when I asked for help, the attendant had to ask someone ELSE for help, who said I needed to go to Special Services. Not ideal, but okay. I can stand in a line and have someone help me.
I'm in line for Special Services. So are a bunch of other people. And the line's not moving. Like at all. 3 attendants and they were all spending an exorbitant amount of time with their customers. This was the line for exceptions and special circumstances, so that makes sense. Then 20 minutes later, after I've barely moved up at all, a lady dressed in a full red pantsuit comes out and announces loudly to us in line: "This is the line for special services. I have worked here a long time, and we usually never see the line this long. If you haven't yet tried to check in, there are kiosks over there for you to check in." All of us looked at each other, shrugged and stayed in line because we had done that already.
There was a woman who was traveling by herself standing in front of me in line, and another woman traveling solo by herself standing behind me. I was the only one of the three of us with an American passport, but it turns out that all three of us had the same issue with the kiosks in that they weren't scanning our passports. I can't remember which one of us started chatting first, but quickly the three of us started conversing about our experiences traveling to different international airports (London, Rome, Heathrow, O'Hare, MSP). I found out that Amsterdam is exceptionally strict with their security checks and are a bit over-bearing. We all had a good laugh/groan about the culture of Italy with their lack of lines and constant pick-pocketing and thefts.The woman in front of me was traveling to India, and the woman behind me was traveling to France. We shared exasperated sighs with each other when the number of attendants went down from 3 to 1. Shift change, so around 1:05 pm, the three counters were up and running again.
About 30 minutes later of chatting, the three of us found ourselves to the front of the line. And so we parted ways, each of us to our own respective attendants.
You may wonder if I was able to check in okay at the counter. And I think the fact that I'm sitting here typing this blog post on my laptop in a hotel in Barcelona should give you your answer :)
All in all, traveling alone isn't that bad. Sure, it may mean that I look ridiculous carrying a larger suitcase, a pursue, and another carry-on all by myself. But it also means that I have the chance to look up, be aware of other women, find solidarity with them in their traveling experience, learn about them, and realize that we (women) are all more alike than we are different.
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