This past summer when I was studying in Italy, we had one week of school off. My roommates, Ellie and Carley, and I wanted to travel to 3 different countries over this break. It was an ambitious goal, but we were determined. We spent 2 weeks planning and curating the perfect plan so we could make it possible. We had to arrange hotel reservations, hostel stays, train and bus tickets, and flights for the next week. It took a lot of dedication and effort to plan out this whole trip. The three of us would meet up daily at cafes to plan out everything we wanted to see, and I would also check for better housing and transportation rates. Our first stop was Barcelona and Valencia, Spain. We stayed here for 3 days, and I got to see everything I planned to see. I was able to try a bunch of new foods including chicken paella and tapas. I got to see numerous monuments and sights that I had been dreaming to see, like Park Güell. The first leg of the trip went perfectly to plan. We left Spain to travel to Dublin, Ireland. Dublin was a unique city with so much history. I spent my last day in Dublin walking around the city with my roommates and taking in all of the sights. We were walking back to our hotel when I got a notification that our flight to the next destination was canceled. I was planning on leaving the next morning at 8am and now I was stranded in Dublin. I immediately made a list of things that needed to be accomplished. First, I needed to extend my stay in the Dublin accommodation and notify the Hostel in Amsterdam that my friends and I would not be arriving the following day and get information on refunds. While I was figuring out the accommodations, I delegated the task of calling the airlines to one of my roommates. We were on the phone with the airline for multiple hours. It was extremely frustrating at times when we couldn't get any answers, but I kept a positive and optimistic attitude. We finally came to a solution that our tickets would be in our emails the following morning. We woke up the next morning with no tickets. We contacted the airline once again to get it sorted out. After a few hours of being on hold and then discussing the issue again we got flights for the next morning. I also negotiated that they are responsible for our hostel cancelation fee. Everything was finally arranged for us to travel to Amsterdam the following day. We did not have anything else planned for this day because we were supposed to be on a flight, but I did not want to waste a day. I did research on some activities in the area. I found a city just a train ride away with a coastal hiking trail. This activity ended up being one of my favorite memories from the trip. We played music while we hiked the coast of Ireland. It was a gorgeous sunny day, which was rare. I was thankful that after we were able to sort out those issues, we could put aside everything and enjoy our extra time in Ireland. My main takeaway from this experience was that no matter how much planning you do, somethings will not always go the way you intended. I learned the importance of adaptability, quick problem solving, and positivity. Because of these skills I was able to quickly and efficiently solve the problem and still enjoy myself once the issue was resolved. I will carry these skills with me for the rest of my life.
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