By telling us your country of residence we are able to provide you with the most relevant travel insurance information.
Please note that not all content is translated or available to residents of all countries. Contact us for full details.
Shares
Delayed flight – probably the last thing you need when you are about to start the first leg of your solo backpacking journey through Europe but looking back on this moment now, if I hadn’t gone through what I went through that night then this story wouldn’t be half as interesting. As I waved goodbye to my best friend at Heathrow Airport (and after waiting patiently for my delayed flight), I couldn’t help but feel anxious about jumping on a plane to an unknown country. There were so many questions that were going through my head like: • How am I going to get from San Sebastian Airport to my hostel? • Do the locals speak English? • Should I buy some data so I can use my Google Maps just in case I get lost? All of these were very important questions and unfortunately, the answers weren’t quite what I thought I would have wanted to hear. As I landed in Madrid Airport (with what I thought was only an hour to get from the incoming flight to Madrid to the connecting flight to San Sebastian) my jaw dropped, my eyes started to water and somehow, steam started blowing from my ears when I realised my connecting flight too was being delayed another hour. Would an extra 2 hours being added to my journey really be that much of an issue on a Sunday night? The answer is yes. The plane finally lands in San Sebastian at 9.30pm and I go to the baggage claim area and collect my backpack which is a 70L Kathmandu bag weighing at about 15kgs. I start heading towards the taxi stand only to realise, there are no taxis at this time of night and Sundays in Spain (and other parts of Europe) are not usually worked by the locals. Thankfully there was two American guys who happened to speak English and tell me that apparently there is only 1 bus working that takes passengers from the Airport to other parts of San Sebastian which is totally cool, but I had no idea where I was going, just the name of my hostel. I decide to jump on the bandwagon (or I guess in this case, the bus wagon) and take the journey into the unknown city of San Sebastian in Spain. Looking out the window I notice nothing at all is open and no cars are driving around. I can’t seem to spot any taxis either and for all I knew, I could have been going the complete opposite way to where the hostel was based. I sat on the bus for about 40 minutes and got off when the two Americans jumped off. I kindly asked them if their Google Maps or data worked so that I could find where the hostel was but unfortunately, they too didn’t have data. The only thing left to do was walk. I want you to take this moment to use your imagination. I am a short, 5 ft 2 girl with a 70L backpack (which is about over half my size), roaming the streets of San Sebastian after 10.00pm on a Sunday night with zero solo-traveller experience. Anxiety levels at this point are reaching an all-time high and breathing techniques being used to an absolute maximum. Luckily, after about 20 minutes of walking, I finally see a taxi dropping someone off. I ran across the road and knocked on his window, using both my hands to beg him, hoping the international hand gesture would not be mistaken for anything other than “please”. He looks at his watch and then looks back at my me and nods to say “yes”. I am so happy I could cry! Both of us not knowing each other’s language, I show him the name of my hostel (which I had printed on a schedule I made for myself) and he starts driving me only which only felt like 10 minutes down the road. I pay and thank him in Spanish. I walk in the door of my hostel and look up to a sign on the wall which said “Good Vibes Only” and I knew I needed to leave my attitude at the door.