In Life & On The Road
I posted heaps of photos on my Instagram of the floating village tour. The experience overall was very enjoyable and was guaranteed to give back to the community we were visiting. It is a not for profit tour company that looks to provide educational tours […]
Cold Feet Before Travel And How I Overcame It Traveling For the Second Time Abroad This time I was so reluctant to leave. The sooner the flight was approaching the more my cold feet set in and it wasn’t just because of the weather. Ha. […]
This. Was. By. Far. The. Worst. Thing. Ever.
Okay, I’m being a bit melodramatic, but fuck. This is never a good feeling.
Being me I was in a rush and running late. I forgot to finish pre-registering online so by the time I got to the airport I was 4 minutes late….4 FUCKING MINUTES. As soon as I arrived I ran to the check in counter and they said there was nothing they could do, check in was closed. hat is what they told me. I tried to persuade them, the help desk and customs. Nothing changed the fact that I was late, I was not registered and they were no way in hell going to let me though. I watched the screen as the flight was loading. I watched the screen as the gate closed. And finally I watched as my flight took off. No one cared about the situation I was in, no one cared how distraught I was and no one was going to help me. I cried so much, I was so fucking upset. It was completely shit and I did it to myself.
I posted on FB about it and my friend Skye who I had met in Berlin reached out to help me. We talked and she found me a flight that I could take as an alternative. I got my Mom on the phone and she was amazing and helping to figure myself out. The next day I had Sail Week booked in Croatia and didn’t want to miss it and worried I would loose my money. In the end I spent more on the flight to get to Croatia than the sail week itself. I’m ashamed of how much the new flight cost, especially when I could have pushed the trip back a week or gotten a refund.
I look back and I was a complete mess. I had come from Ibiza to Ios, Greece, which is a party island and was super fun. But I was seriously feeling a burnout. I had been drinking a lot and doing drugs to keep up with the scene and have as much “fun” as possible. After I left the island that morning on a boat to take me to the mainland, I remember going online to check in, but I decided that a nap would be better… REALLY. Hahaha. I am laughing because this whole situation is something I brought on myself. As my friend I met this past week from Brazil said, I turned my face up and spit water into the air…Of course it would come and bite me in the ass.
Anyways, regardless of who was to blame I learned a lot.
Check your flight the day before to see its standing, it’s possible that the departure time has been changed. If you can check in 24 hours in advance do that! And finally simply be early! It really isn’t that hard to be on time, I’m sure you’ll have no problem.
I hoped you enjoyed another travel fail story. To learn more about Katherine on The Road check out the About Me page and follow me on social media, my favourite is Instagram. To contact me through email head to the Contact page.
I made it am here! Live from Bangkok, Thailand. Bangkok is such a cool city. It is both fun of tourists, locals and something else to see and do. The last time I was here I spent over a week when I originally planned for […]
Train to the Cambodia I got up super early to head to Cambodia. I didn’t want to take a tourist bus, instead I caught the local train to the border of Thailand for 48bhat! Which is about 2.50 Canadian. The train was surprising spacious. Mostly […]
Tangerine definitely has the best debit card for Canadians Traveling abroad. If you want to sign up with a minimum balance of 100$ use my link here and we both get 50$, so hey it’s good for both of us.
Open your first Tangerine Account with at least $100 using my Orange Key 51189570S1 and get $50! Learn more: tangerine.ca/referafriend
hey are a part of the Global ABM Alliance, meaning that all participating banks allow for no international fees when using one of the other participating banks. These include Westpac found in Australia, New Zealand and other oceanic countries, as well as Barclays which is in the UK. Tangerine only charges two dollars for ATMs that are outside of this alliance and no extra conversion fee is charged. So when I though I almost lost this card, I was not happy. It would have meant using my TD debit card and paying five dollars for every transaction, with a 2.5% conversion fee and bank charge.
This is not the first time that I have lost my bank card while travelling. When I was in Bangkok two years ago I did the exact same thing. I remember exactly where it was left and knew exactly what I did wrong, not realizing until it was too late. I did that again.
Losing My Bank Card Again
I left my bank card in the machine after taking out cash. In Canada you get your card before your money and here it is the other way around. I didn’t realize till I was back at the hostel that I did not have it. Freaking out I walked all the bank in hopes that I might find it left aside, of course no luck. The next day I tried to call, unsuccessful I walked back to the bank to see if they hand found it. I was told that the machine might have slipped it back in and to come back after 3 when someone could check for me.
Anyways, to my luck they got my card! I can’t describe how good it felt. I walked about kissing my card and began telling myself the process in which to take out money. Repeating money, bank card, money, bank card over and over in my head.
From now on I hope this will make me remember to also check that I have taken my bank card.
On that note I would like to remember all the items I lost and found in 2016. I have finally been inspired to publish a post which I have thought about since day one of losing things titled Things I’ve Lost Around the World. I would also like to make a shout out to my father because I am sure that I have inherited this quality from him! Thanks Dad, haha.
To learn more about me and Katherine on The Road check out the About Me page and follow me on social media, my favourite is Instagram. To contact me through email head to the Contact page.
This is a list a started making on my backpacking trip in 2016. I am forever losing things, leaving a trail of belongs in my wake. I either know exactly where I left them, or I have no idea where they were misplaced. I am […]
I have mentioned it many times but this week coming up to this flight I have been anxious as a motherfucker. I finally calmed down once I was through security and officially started to get a little excited. It seems as if so many things […]
“It’s the final count down” has just been sung in my head. It will be one week from today that I leave on a plane to Bangkok. It is my second time leaving on a big adventure and I am both excited and nervous as can be.
I have written many times, although I’m not sure how many that have been posted to this blog about my anticipate for the year ahead. I have been waiting for this moment from the second I had arrived back in Canada in 2016.
Looking at all the people around me it is hard to justify sometimes the choices that I make. All my friends whom I graduated university with are in full time jobs or continuing their studies. My parents are reaching the age of retirement. My brother and his girlfriend are both in great positions at new jobs with up and coming companies. My nana stays mainly at home with family and caretakers who help around her house. I am leaving so many people that I deeply care for and always want to be a part of my life.
I am sad because I know I will deeply miss my friends and family. I will most definitely have FMO and I know that when I come back I will feel left out and have missed out on so many experiences. I am afraid because I know that when I am feeling my lowest I may not have someone who I can speak with who understands me. I am scared that it is the wring decision and that I will get no where, learn nothing and end up broke and back home before I know it.
Yet my deep desire to explore and learn is still calling me. Something which makes me so happy takes me away from all the people that make me so happy. Maybe a sort of catch 22, I am leaving to do something which makes me happy, but also leaving those people which make me happy.
I still have many things to do and people to see. This week is going to be filled with visiting friends and family. More than normal, which makes me laugh a bit, as this would normally never happen, I want to do it but I know it will also be very emotionally exhausting. Gone are the days when you would see friends everyday at school, when plans didn’t have to be made days in advance but rather happen in the moment.
I must finalize a few details such as getting extra passport photos, unlocking my cell phone and letting my credit cards and bank know of my travels. I need to make sure my bag is packed with all the essentials in hopes that I won’t forget anything, but of course what kind of trip is it without something being left behind or forgotten. In this list also belongs a number of things which I will not accomplish like writing a blog post for every city I visited in 2016, learning how to day/swing trade on the stock market, make a full income online, create 3 new zines, get a masters degree, live in a van and have a small child.
On a more practical and inspirational note my mother reminded me to re-watch the Bangkok episode of the show The Life-sized City on TVO. Each episode showcases a local city, examining the local social and urban structure. In addition to watching the Bangkok episode we re-wated Tokyo and Paris, the show captures your desire to learn, explore and compare cultures, which gets me excited, and reminds me of why I choose this way of life.
I am nervous, scared and excited in anticipation for what I will learn. So many things to come, so much to be seen, learned and explored. I can’t wait to feel ignorant, lost and stupid because of how out of place I may feel. I hope I feel everything happy, sad, and frustrating. I hope this journey reminds me of what it is t be human, in all our fallacy and I hope I bring more back home than when I left, preferably not just the things in my backpack.
To learn more about Katherine on The Road check out the About Me page and follow me on social media, my favourite is Instagram. To contact me through email head to the Contact page.
This post is inspired by the 2018 Tomorrowland preregistration email. As well as the fact that maybe its a post that can get me some views, hey at least I’m being honest. In this article I am sharing all I know about the festival and […]