Valpo Voyager

Student Stories from Around the World

Tag: Travel Tips

International Flights…¿Qué Divertido, no?

May 19, 2011 / / 0 Comments

Estoy in Chile!!! It’s crazy to think that I’ve already been here 2 days! It feels both very short and much longer than that at the same time 🙂

Viajadores a Chile!

But I’m gonna focus on the adventure of getting to Chile for this blog post, because let me tell you, it was quite the adventure. We took a pretty crazy flight because we were able to get it SUPER cheap…but part of the reason for that was that it had 2 layovers in foreign countries and arrived in Santiago at 2:35 in the morning…yikes. We left O’Hare at 10am, arrived in San Salvador, El Salvador at 1:30, had to wait for 2 hours, took a 4 hour flight to Lima, Peru, had to wait for 2 more hours and then took another 4 hour flight to Santiago! Once in Santiago we had to wait until 8 am to get picked up by the people from the Y and then had a 2 hour drive from Santiago to Valparaíso.

So here’s what I learned from this international traveling experience:

ANNA WIERSMA’S DO AND DON’TS OF INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL:

DO talk to the people next to you on the plane, you’ll be amazed by people’s stories!

  • I was a little bit worried about sitting alone (didn’t want to get stuck by a fat man snoring, ya know?) but I actually had really interesting people by me every time! First I had two male dentists who were going to Honduras for a week to volunteer in a dental clinic, second a couple going on their honeymoon to Macchu Picchu and third two Chilean women who I started to call my “mamas chilenas”. My “mamas chilenas” were my favorite becasue they were both my mom’s age with 20 year old daughters and started fussing over me immediately, it was adorable 🙂 They needed to know everything about my life at college and my travels to Chile and gave me as much advice as they could cram into our conversation! I’m very used to the American culture of public transportation where you sit as far away from strangersas possible and don’t talk, but everyone was very kind and eager to tell their story and hear mine, it was a great start to the trip. But you could definitely see the cultural shift with my “Chilean mamas”. Instead of onlytalking for 15-30 minutes, we talked for at least a good hour, in Spanish! It definitely calmed some of my nerves to actually hold an hour long conversation, plus they said my Spanish was really fluid already, so that was encouraging! When they heard that I had to wait in the airport for 5 hours to get picked up they were all worried about me and saying that they wish they knew me beforehand so I could stay and sleep at their house…and I’m finding that this is pretty typical Chilean hospitality, it’s grand 🙂

    Pobrecitas! 🙁 Our makeshift beds in the airport

DON’T choose a flight where you arrive at 2 am and have to wait to get picked up…

  • The only scary/bad part was when we had to wait from 2:30-8:00 in themorning I suck at sleeping on planes…it’s bad. I tried so hard for the last flight, but I can never get comfortable enough, no matter how tired I am!  I probably only really slept for an hour. So my advice would be, don’t bank on getting any sleep in a plane, unless you have a long flight and Tylenol PM! For our wait in the airportwe set up camp on some benches and tried to sleep, but it wasn’t very comfortable and the airport was FREEZING for some reason! Plus, we looked so pathetic, I felt homeless, and it was just odd trying to sleep in public. Again I only really slept for about 2 hours, because we were trading watches over all of our luggage! And THEN, in typical Chilean fashion, they didn’t show up until 8:30! I was freaking out that we were at the wrong gate, because we could only find 1 and not 1a like they had told us, and the telephone number we had for the Y wasn’t working and I was getting SO worried, until all of a sudden these 3 Chileans descended on us and started hugging and kissing and saying “Bienvenidos!”! Phew!

DO fork out the cash to get yourself some real food in the airport!

Estoy in Chile! We found a playground in the Santiago airport...Levi and Erica were very excited 🙂

  • TACA airlines, thank for feeding me on every single flight. Really, that was super nice of you. But already by the second time around, your limp pasta noodles were not making my stomach too happy, sorry to say. Ordering from Subway in San Salvador however, was a lifesaver! Plus, it was hilarious. I had no idea how to ask for oil and vinegar, I had done well up until then, so I apologized and asked for “the salsa rojo y la salsa amarillo” and they started cracking up, but they understood. And then they told me I had done a great job for an American and even clapped for me once I paid successfully in pesos. I took a little bow, which got them laughing all over again, “tontos americanos” (stupid Americans ;D)

Ok, I think that’s all I’m gonna say for the trip. I have some pictures to share of our travels and my past two days have been jam-packed with touring Valparaíso, meeting new people, going out to try Chilean food and speaking in Spanish todo el día!! Valparaíso is an absolutely gorgeous city. I’m right in the center of the city at the Y, but there are humongous hills surrounding the whole city that are stuffed with brightly colored houses as far as the eye can see and I’m also a 5-10 minute walk from the ocean. I’ll describe more in my next post, I’ve already taken so many pictures!!!

As they say in Chile, “Chao!”

A little taste of Valparaíso 🙂

Why to ALWAYS book train reservations in advance

November 4, 2010 / / 0 Comments

It seems simple enough.  You have a Global Eurail pass, as part of the Reutlingen Germany program, which means you can take any train in the European Union for free.  Figure out where you want to go, what time, and hop on a train!

Well, not really.  In most European countries, you must also buy a mandatory seat reservation for each leg of your trip.  One reservation can cost between 3 and 15 Euros, which can add up if you have to change trains several times.

Among many other reasons, Germany is an awesome country because you don’t need seat reservations for most trains.  Even if a train is full, you can still stand or sit at the end of the car, even if it is less comfortable.  And making reservations is a breeze; you simply walk into a train station, ask for any number of reservations for any train in Europe, pay, and you are on your way. No hassle at all.

Too bad the rest of Europe isn’t as user-friendly.  I am currently on the 17 day fall break that comes with the Reutlingen program (another reason to study abroad in Germany!).  My travel group decided to be smart and book all of our reservations ahead of time.  We had planned on going to Nice, France after Italy, but at the last minute we changed our minds because of the massive transportation strike, and simply head back to Reutlingen for a couple of nights.  So naturally, we did not make our train reservations from Rome to Reutlingen.

That was a major mistake.  I found that Trenitalia is almost impossible to work with.  About 4 days before our day train ride home, a time frame that almost always has seats available, I waited in line at the train station in Milan to book 3 different trains for 4 people.  I had all the train times and numbers written down so it would be easier for the lady in the booth.

When I asked for the reservations, she replied to me almost in a whisper, which I couldn’t hear.  I repeated what I said several times, but she would not talk any louder, even when I motioned that I couldn’t hear her.  Then she simply stared at me, frowning, and wouldn’t say anything.  I was so surprised! Then she yelled through the glass, “WHY?” At least I could hear her! But why? What kind of question is that? So I replied, “Because I want to go home.”

Then she started yelling at me in Italian, which of course is absolutely no help.  I heard the word “ticket”, so I tried giving her my Eurail pass.  Then she started yelling at me again, saying I needed everyone’s passes, which was impossible since Matt and Amber were in Greece.  Why did we need them here, but not in Germany? Who knows.  She was impossible to deal with, so we left.

When the four of us were all together in Rome, the day before our departure, we tried to make the reservations again.  After waiting in line for half an hour, the man at the ticket booth said that all of the trains for the entire day were booked.  He was very helpful, for once, but there was no possible way to leave.  And we needed to be on those trains, or else we wouldn’t make any of our reservations for the rest of the trip.

Thankfully, those with a will and a way persevere.  While Amber and I waited in line, Matt somehow found small regional trains that did not need reservations to get to Milan.  From there, Milan to Zurich to Reutlingen is our only way home, but we managed to make it.  We needed one reservation, and we got 4 of the last 6 seats available. Whew!  We were on trains from 6 am to 11 pm, but we made it home.

Lesson learned: Have a plan, be flexible, and make train reservations.

Five Important Things to do Before You Travel

October 5, 2010 / / 1 Comment

Planning a trip can seem somewhat daunting at times, especially if you’re traveling to a new country for the very first time. If you plan accordingly, however, you are guaranteed to get a much better experience out of it. And no matter how many hours of research you end up doing beforehand, it will be worth every second of it once you arrive at your destination. Based on my travels so far, here’s a list of the five important things to research or do before you depart:

1) Transportation – It’s not even worth mentioning you need to figure out how to get to the airport from your own house, but it’s important to research the best ways to travel to your hostel, hotel or friend’s house from the airport you’re flying into. It’s easy just to wave down a taxi outside the airport, but if you’re traveling by yourself or in a small group, there are often cheaper options. It’s not a bad idea to check if there are any buses or trains leaving from the airport towards the place you need to be. Most airports provide bus or train services for a relatively cheap price.

2) Contact Information – in case of emergency, it’s always good to make sure someone from back home knows where you are staying in whatever country you may be traveling to. The chances of your flight being cancelled may be slim, but in case an emergency does arise, such as Eyjafjallajökull (the Iceland volcano no one can pronounce) earlier this year, it’s important your friends or family from back home know where you are.

3) Communication – To go along with the second point, it’s vital to have at least some form of communication while you are traveling. Not all hostels provide internet access so it isn’t a bad idea to have a phone on you. I found that extremely helpful when I travelled to Munich with four of my friends. At times it’s easy to get lost or separated from your friends, and without a phone, it can be a nightmare trying to locate other members of your group. Lastly, if you do have a phone, make you sure find out what the country code is where you are so you can make calls. Here’s a list of country calling codes: http://www.countrycallingcodes.com/countrylist.php

4) Attractions – I can speak from experience when I say it’s a terrible idea to fly to a new country without any real idea of what you want to see or do while you are there. If you research what type of attractions your country has to offer you’ll be able to pick and choose what you want to do ahead of time, ensuring you get the most out of your visit and experience as much of the culture as you possibly can. The internet is full of information of what to do and see in various countries, and if that doesn’t suffice, most book stores contain travel guides for specific countries, even cities. Also, bring a map of the city in order to help you get around from place to place.

5) Budget – Some countries cost more than others and it’s safe to say that food, drinks, accommodation and the price of tourist attractions varies in each country. Do a little research beforehand so you can have a good idea of how much money you think you’ll need to spend during your travels. It’s always good to have an idea of how much things will cost so you’re not overwhelmed when you get there.

The list is by no means conclusive, but it can be a good start for anyone embarking on a trip to a new country. Most importantly, have fun and take full advantage of being in a place some people still dream of going to.

Cheers!

Once Traveled, Twice Shy

September 19, 2010 / / 3 Comments

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

Mob Mentality: Lessons from traveling in a large group

September 5, 2010 / / 1 Comment

For a total sixteen people, moving as a cohesive group can be a challenge, not only for us but also the innocent bystanders that cross our path. We made the journey from O’hare to Heathrow smoothly and without complication; it seemed that we were good at this.

But as the hours ticked away, the rush of events took a toll on us. Jet lagged and irritated, group travel began to wear on us culminating in a bus-stop quarrel that left us fragmented for the night.

To help cope and possibly eliminate the stresses of group travel, here are the lessons I’ve learned thus far.

Identify Trip Goals

The group needs to be conscious of each individual’s goals. One person wants to see the London Tower and another wants to see Buckingham Palace. Making these goals clear before the trip starts gives clarity and shape to the trips itinerary. These goals don’t always have to be “sights” either; my roommate Andrew and I were intent on trying Scottish haggis while we were in Edinburgh. A cohesive set of goals for a trip can also help identify places where the group may need to split up and go separate ways for a couple hours.

Don’t take things personally

Especially in the planning stages – booking hostels, reserving train seats, deciding departure times – voices will be raised and conversation may cross into argument. Always be ready to take a breathe and shake it all off. Remember, if a fellow traveler says, “I’m not that interested in seeing that,” he or she is certainly not saying, “I think you’re idea is just plain stupid.” It’s okay to split up to see and do different things.

Know when (and when not) to compromise

Compromise can be a cliche topic, but it is still important to mention. At the risk of sounding crass, when traveling I think compromise should be of strategic value to you. Be ready to bargain and haggle – to give a little and to stand your ground when it matters.

Be prepared to go it alone

Traveling alone does carry some risk, but it should never be ruled out. With a sharp and observant mind, traveling alone can be an liberating and enlightening experience – all the while still being safe. Anecdotally, I think the world is a much safer place than we’re typically led to believe.

***

Traveling in groups can be stressful, but never forget that it can just as rewarding. Be prepared to work and your trip shall be a success!

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