By Ian
No matter how much you plan, while traveling, things can always get off track. This was the case at the beginning of my travels through Europe.
Before I left home, I entered two piano competitions through Grand Prize Virtuoso. I achieved first prize in both, earning me a spot to perform in Vienna on the 9th of April and Berlin on the 12th.
I arrived in Vienna on the 6th, spent a few days exploring the city, and played at my concert on the 9th. The next day, I came down with a horrible fever. I had booked a 7-hour train ride from Vienna to Berlin, which, unfortunately, was already delayed by more than 2 hours before we even left Austria. Even worse, I had an unreserved ticket on a fully booked train and had to sit between cars on the floor.
I was completely miserable and decided it wouldn’t be possible for me to make the rest of the journey to Berlin.
By chance, I had made a close friend from Japan who lived in a town on the border of Germany and Austria called Passau, where my train happened to stop. I called them and asked if I could stop by, and they met me at the station when I arrived.
I missed my concert in Berlin, but instead I got to spend a week with a friend I met in Japan in one of the cutest towns I have ever seen. It wasn’t what I had planned, but I adjusted to the change and enjoyed all my time in Passau, even taking a day trip to Linz once I felt better.
After this, I met up with my family in London and was able to see some amazing sites such as Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, and even a day trip to Stonehenge. Meeting up with them gave me a final chance to pack all my belongings together before heading off on my own to backpack through Europe.
I learned an important lesson during this rocky start: when traveling (especially solo), you have to be ready to adapt.
