Ireland Is A Beautiful Place To Panic

My first time traveling solo I failed the first day

I typed in my pin code again. I felt my heart rate increasing. The screen on the ATM flashed in green neon letters ‘Account not available’ and my heart sank. I hadn’t counted on this. I’d never had any issues withdrawing money before. I checked my wallet for the tenth time. If I included my coins, I had 4 euros. That wasn’t even enough for the bus back to the airport.

I withdrew my card, my mind racing. I had a few staples at the hostel where I was staying which could hold me over for dinner. But, what would I do tomorrow?

I was living in Spain at the time, but I wasn’t supposed to fly back for another week. My parent’s voices echoed in my head. They would be furious. Furious that I hadn’t thought ahead, and furious that I had lied to them when I said I would be taking this trip with a classmate.

I wandered back to my hostel in Galway, Ireland. I was 20 years old and naively confident. It was my first time traveling alone, and I had failed within the first day. Waving goodbye to my friends in Dublin the day before, I was exhilarated to be out on my own.

But now I was stuck. And now it seemed the only way forward required an embarrassing call to my parents begging for a wire transfer.

I cringed at the thought.

I was studying abroad in Spain for the year and they were terrified for me 99% of the time already. I had mentioned trying some solo travel a couple of months before, but they freaked out. They threatened to block my bank accounts until I agreed to drop the idea. So I did. But, when some friends from my exchange program asked if I wanted to go to Dublin with them, I didn’t hesitate. Then, when they said they wanted to fly to London, a place way out of my budget, I came up with a new plan to keep traveling around Ireland. By myself.

And now, there I was. In Galway, footloose and fancy-free, and with a debit card that had stopped working when I was on my last few euros in cash. I had had enough cash to get through Dublin. And I hadn’t bothered checking to see if my debit card worked.

This was 15 years ago. Smartphones didn’t exist, and internet cafes were the only way to send an email. I wondered whether it was smarter to pay the 2 euros an hour to use a computer or the 50 cents a minute to make a long-distance call from a payphone.

I hated both options.

I had been wanting to travel by myself forever. I knew I could do it, I just hadn’t prepared well enough. Next time would be different. But when I called my parents, I knew there would be no next time. I didn’t have enough cash to call both my bank and my parents. I had to make a decision.

I contemplated my options in my bunk bed at the hostel, trying not to cry. I took a couple of deep breaths.

Then, it dawned on me that in Madrid I always kept a 50 euro note in my shoes. Madrid was rife with pickpockets, and the money was a backup in case I needed to get home. I lurched up in bed and rushed over to my shoes by the door. Was the bill in these shoes or the other ones? Had I brought the right ones?

I slid my finger under the cushioned sole and… success! The note was there. I wasn’t scraping the bottom of my barrel after all. 50 euros was plenty to call my bank and figure out what to do.

I raced to a convenience store to buy a phone card and then used it to call my bank. After blowing through 5 euros sitting on hold for 10 minutes, I finally got to talk to someone. My card had been blocked because I hadn’t registered that I would be traveling outside of Spain. An amateur mistake. The person on the phone lifted the block and I ran back to the ATM. When the screen flashed ‘Dispensing money,’ I let out a huge sigh of relief.

Now I was fine. I had enough money for the rest of my trip and my card worked. I wouldn’t be stuck in Galway and, more importantly, I wouldn’t have to call my parents.

The rest of my trip was magical.

Aside from nearly missing a bus back from the cliffs of Moher (that’s another story), everything went smoothly. I learned how to handle myself when I was completely on my own. I learned how to travel. And for the first time, I chose exactly what I wanted to do, without having to balance it with what someone else wanted.

What I learned on that trip gave me the confidence to take more solo trips, move to different countries, and pursue a career that I was passionate about.

It was a life-changing experience…that was almost ruined by a silly oversight.

The moral of the story? Do try traveling solo, but don’t forget to double-check your resources.

And even with today’s technology, even if you think you’re prepared, a little extra money in your shoes never hurts.