Sunday, November 13, 2011

Day #4 - Mistakes

Everyone makes mistakes. We forget to ask for Coke without ice in Mexico and spend the rest of the trip in the bathroom. Or we arrive at the airport for a 7pm flight only to realize the flight left at 7am. Tell us the story of your worst travel mistake.

For me, the worst was a night this January. I was in Madrid, traveling solo for a few weeks during my winter break from classes in Cairo. We were at a club. Jackets were stupidly left in a pile. We went to leave and mine was gone. along with my camera and wallet (and a favorite tshirt) that had been in the pockets. It was stupid, but also unlucky. There were quite a few of us, and mine was the only jacket taken. I was supposed to leave in the morning for Salamanca, which I ended up skipping. I lost all of my pictures from Istanbul where I had been the week before, and my pictures of Madrid, Seville, and Morocco are from my camera phone. I had to have my dad wire me money and relied on several awesome strangers who bought me food while I was waiting on my dad. And I really could've used a camera for the revolution I arrived back to in Cairo, my pictures from that are all taken from my phone, too. 
It was a mistake that led to a lot of tears and a few ruined days of vacation, but I salvaged it and managed to make the most out of my vacation. Getting out of the Euro Zone helped with that, too.
So, that's my stupid mistake. Luckily my passport was safe in my hostel. This had been my first experience traveling by myself, so I learned a lesson and I survived the consequences. Thank god I was still in Spain where I spoke the language, my Arabic, while passable in daily situations, would not have gotten me far with being robbed.

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