When You Lose "Everything"

by Katerina Pattee (United States of America)

A leap into the unknown Ireland

I decided to go on a solo mini vacation to a few of my favorite places before Christmas. I planned it for months. I knew what I was going to wear, where I was going to eat, and where I would shop. With all this planning, it was more than ironic that everything went bonkers, but I learned some important lessons. I was feeling fun and frisky when I got to Dublin, and I was ready for some Guinness and Irish step dancing. My hostel roommate and I agreed to go to the backpackers pub crawl that night, being that it was the weekend. Eventually, we found a massive group of backpackers and befriended two girls, one Aussie and one American. Every bar we went to we would get a free shot when we walked in, and then a group of boys would buy us a round of Guinness. It was all fun and games until we reached the last bar, Whelan’s. One thing led to another and next thing I know I am out in the December cold on the streets of Dublin having lost my coat. That wouldn’t have been so bad, but my wallet and my phone were in the pockets of my coat. Somehow I sweet talked this rickshaw driver named Bruno into taking me back to my hostel for free. “I have no money, I have no coat, and I have no idea where I am.” I think that was the quote that convinced him to take pity on me. The next morning I woke up with a splitting headache and a split lip (don’t ask). I went down to the reception of my hostel where I met Darren, my knight in shining armor. I told him my sob story. Darren decided, and I have no idea why, to loan me 50 euros to buy a burner phone. He even came with me to the store and set it up for me that night after he got off work. Once I had the burner phone, I called my dad. Cue the tears. With a tone of disappointment, he troubleshooted and decided he would wire me money. The only thing was, it was Sunday night in Dublin, and there were no Western Unions open. I had to wait until the next day to get my money. If you’re following along, yes, that is more than 24 hours without money, which means without food as well. The next day I did the most archaic thing I’ve ever done. I went to the post office and accepted a wire money transfer. The funny thing is that before the trip I knew it was going to be my last backpacking trip for a while, so I wanted to do it right. Now it was like I was backpacking in the 1980s, with a burner phone and cash in hand. With the bit of cash I received, I decided I hadn’t learned my lesson and went straight to the Guinness brewery. It was a dream come true to drink a Guinness on a rooftop overseeing all of Dublin, even if the thought of another beer made me want to vomit. Luckily, through all of this my passport was at my hostel, and I was able to move on to London the next day. As if I hadn’t gone through enough, my very old camera decided to stop working. Therefore, I have absolutely no proof that I was ever in London, because my little burner phone didn’t have a camera, and there were no credit card charges. Quite literally, I was off the grid….. and it was freeing. I somehow managed to visit everything I wanted to with a physical map in hand and a humbleness to ask for directions. On this trip I had lost everything that officially made me an aspiring “travel blogger.” I had to travel just to travel, not for the Instagram picture, not for the geotag. I interacted with more local people on this trip than I ever had before, and I saw firsthand how nice some people can be. My faith in humanity has been restored. My faith in Guinness, however, has been demolished.