You’ll Never Forget Your First
I was in my mid-20s, went back to finish college, and it was the summer before transferring to a major university. So, I decided to do something I always wanted to do: travel to Japan. It was my first real international trip, and I was going solo. I was so nervous that I didn’t sleep for 36hrs before the flight.
We flew into Tokyo, but I had booked a separate flight from Tokyo to Osaka, and my flight to Tokyo was an hour late. I ran from one side of the airport to the other side of the airport with my luggage. I hadn’t showered in 24hrs, slept in 48, and now was sweaty at a busy gate waiting for my Osaka flight which happened to be delayed anyways.
Once I got to Osaka, I had to take a bus to a train station to a far outstation to walk to my hotel. It was my first time taking a train and my first trip, so I didn’t really research things like how to use a Japanese train ticket kiosk (these were old, non-digital ones).
The agent didn’t speak English or recognized my pronunciation of the station I needed to get to (the station had an English name). Sleep-deprived, feeling gross, and mentally exhausted, I almost had a breakdown in the middle of the station before a businessman who speaks English offered to help. He showed me how to use the kiosk and where to board the train.
The trip overall was amazing. I also had stressful times, but it spurred my love of travel. I also learned a lot from that first trip.