Once Traveled, Twice Shy

Now that I have my first (successful) trip to the European continent under my belt, here are a few tips I can offer after the valuable lessons I learned from my trip to Munich this weekend:

1) Research, research, research: The only information I had actually looked up about Munich before I left was the address of my hotel and what time my flights left. As soon as we stepped off the airplane, I realized this was an awful idea. I had no idea how far out of the city of Munich the airport was, and had totally misjudged the taxi fare, among other things. We also had a free day on Friday that we had planned on using to explore Munich, but we soon realized we had no idea of anything to do in Munich, other than Oktoberfest. With no access to the internet, we aimlessly wandered around Munich, finding little to do, and being pretty disappointed.

2) Brush up on the language: Coming to Germany, I had the assumption that almost everyone would be able to communicate with me in English, at least well enough to get around and get everything done. I assumed wrong. Although most people could at least talk to us enough to give us directions, we had some bad experiences with the bus systems, taxi drivers, and some of the hotel staff from where we were staying. When I go to France in a month, I will be sure to bring along a book of common French terms in order to make this much less of a problem. Luckily, we didn’t end up in any dire situation where we needed to know the language.

3) Pack once, recheck your packing, and pack again: Although some European airlines, such as RyanAir and EasyJet are cheap, it is only worth it to not check a bag and just pack a carry-on. Both airlines have strict restrictions as to how big your bag can be, so no matter where you’re going, you have to pack extremely light. The 100 mL liquid restrictions are also a pain, just like in the United States, so plan to spend some money in a drug store when you get to the airport (after they confiscate all of yours). Through our hurried packing, worried about not having enough clothes, we also forgot our electrical adapter, and therefore weren’t able to use any of our hairstlyers the whole weekend. Boo.

4) Enjoy the culture as much as you can: Oktoberfest was quite the experience, and its’ reputation aside, it gave me a really good insight to German culture. We met a lot of great German people, as well as others from around the world, who we compared lives and customs with, and it was really interesting. We also had the pleasure of enjoying German food and shopping, and it was very insightful. No matter where you are, it’s important to have a lot to remember it by and compare it to.

Traveling is a blast, and I look forward to my trip to Portugal this coming Thursday. Although things can get a little complicated at times, the experience you have is always ultimately worth it in the end!

Cheers, Julie