1. Always be sure of the time. This includes being aware of the fact that you may be moving from one time zone to another. Especially important when it comes to catching trains*
*Kelsey and I have missed two trains now because we did not follow the above rule. The first time, we did not take into account that there would be a time change between Morocco and Spain because they seemed to be on roughly the same line of longitude. We got off the ferry at Tarifa in Spain, congratulating ourselves on timing that trip perfectly to coincide with the departure of the last train of the day. Learning that it had already left was not a nice surprise. Hello bus travel. The second time, I had already changed my iPad to London time, which is an hour behind Spain. We missed the last train from Granada to Madrid. Hello bus. Arrived in Madrid at 2 am, still had to pay for the stupid hostel, left for the airport at 3:30, got on our plane at 6:30. And that is how two very tired/ semi-delirious girls arrived in London!
2. Always double check your gate/ platform/ general point of departure, no matter what the ticket agent tells you and how confident he/she may seem*
* Kelsey and I nearly missed our traun from Fez to Tangiers because the ticket agent told us platform 5, when in reality the train left from platform 4. We caught the train, and thus began what shall ever be known as The Endless Train Ride from Hell
One hour in, two men emerged from beneath our seats in the compartment.. All of a sudden they just appeared from under the seats, wriggling out of a space that can't have been more the 8 inches high. Kelsey was wearing a skirt. They were skipping out on fare. Then there was the 19 year old mother of atwo year old and a new born whose husband (who usesd to bewt her) had abandoned her and she was trying to take her baby to stay with her sister in Fez so she could get some work. She had already left the two year old with her mother in Fez. She didn't even have the money to be in the train, so Kelsey and I ended up giving her the equivalent of $10 she needed. It was so horrible to see this young woman, already with two hound children and absolutely no options because her husband had left her and she lived in a country where that was her fault and basically made her a prostitute. Then there was the young Moroccan man who couldn't understand why I wasn't married yet and why I hadn't thought about having children. When I finally told him I would Iike a girl, he replied " in Morocco we don't want girls". I had no idea how to respond. Then the train broke down and the lights went out a couple of times. Awesome. Finally, the taxi driver wanted 100 dirham to take us to our hotel. The reasonable price was 25 dirham. Then we got to the hotel and our sheets weren't clean and the room was filled with mosquitos. So we switched rooms. The restaurant was closed by the time we got there, and we were starving so we wanted to order a pizza. The place we called said at they wouldn't deliver to the hotel. Instead, we had to pay a taxi driver to go get a pizza for us. He came back with the wrong one. It had meat on it so Kelsey couldn't eat it. The next day, we missed the last train to Granada. Asklfjhsdlifuhsrglkjsdbvlsruh
3. Never force a zipper. It. Will. Break. And you will be without one fairly important pocket in your suitcase. Good luck trying to get that fixed when you are moving cities/ countires every few days. Seriously, any suggestions?
4. In general, whatever can go wrong, wlll. See rules 1,2, and 3 above
5. Always, always, always have a map. Even if you have looked up how to arrive at your destination before hand, rule number 4 goes into effect and you will get lost.
6. You will always have too many clothes but not enough money. Train fare from the airport to the city center £22. Taxi from the closest metro station to the hostel £9. Hostel for a week £60. Metro ticket for the week £16. Groceries £20. Gloves and tights to wear under jeans
because London is having an unexpected cold snap £10. Surviving in London for a week on my approximately $50 remaining USD?
Priceless!!!
More to follow as we continue to make mistakes along the way!
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