In just over a week, I leave once again for Germany. My husband and I have been jet-setting back and forth for the last four years. Since he stays longer, I usually arrive after him and leave before him, which means I do most of my travel to Europe alone.
Let's just say, I have some experience with travel trauma.
First we need to define what travel trauma can look like. The biggest trigger is MISSING YOUR FLIGHT. Leading up to this could be running a marathon dragging heavy luggage to get to your gate. Reasons for not getting to your gate on time could include, misreading your alarm clock in a hotel in Frankfurt and thinking you have more time than you do, taking the shuttle bus from one terminal to the next (possibly also in Frankfurt) and not getting off at the right place.
Or maybe just barely catching the train on time from the station in Bari Italy, and not seeing the sign that tells you to get off if you want the airport and staying on for several more stops until you finally ask and have to get off at the next stop, cross the tracks, buy another ticket, wait for the next train, hurry back to the airport and get to security just in time, but there's no wifi and you can't pull up your ticket!
It's possible as a result you have to take an overnight bus (on your own with a bunch of strangers) that leaves from Munich at 1:30 in the morning passing through Prague before arriving in Dresden Germany the next day.
Sometimes your flight is just canceled, the last to leave Calgary until 5:00 the next morning, and you have no choice but to sleep overnight stretched across two chairs in a lounge, using a pair of jeans as a blanket.
NOT THAT THE ABOVE HAS EVER HAPPENED TO ME.
So, yeah, maybe I have a few tips, learned the hard way, to share.
Bonus tip: include a sleep bundle in your big personal bag. A zip lock baggie with earplugs and an eye mask. A foldable blow up travel pillow and travel blanket – just in case, you know, you find yourself sleeping in an airport.
Want this list as a PDF? Click here.
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Congratulations to Mary P.
The winner of the $20 Amazon Gift Card in this month’s Bookbub contest!