Solo Travel Diaries: Crossing the Ocean

    In August 2025, some friends of my family had announced that they would be moving back to Germany for a year. In telling us this, they also extended an invitation to come and visit them. I had been working two jobs the whole summer, and the second they offered, I began to plan how I could make it happen.

    Jumping ahead to the end of November, I had fully committed to making my trip to Germany a reality. I am not sure when I had decided that it would be something I did alone, but I was looking for plane tickets every chance I got in between studying for exams. On December 4th, I had booked my first international flight. Ticket for one: round trip to Frankfurt, Germany.

    As the months shortened into weeks and the weeks into days, it was settling in that I would finally be going to Europe. I will wholeheartedly admit that I have been jealous of my family because they had all been to Europe before me, but I can say that my first time going was alone and in my 20s. There does not seem to be a more fitting period in my life to do so.

    Now for the actual travel day. Worst travel day of my life! As I was ordering my Uber to the airport, I got a message saying that my flight was canceled and then rescheduled. I get through everything I need at the airport and find out that my flight was been delayed again and would get me to Toronto at 9:40pm. At this point, I was freaking out with a pizza box in my hand and my parents on the phone because my flight from Toronto to Frankfurt was taking off at 9:30pm. By the time I got to the service desk, my flight was completely canceled, and I was overheating and having trouble breathing. But the flight agents quickly fixed my trip for me, and I had three flights booked for me.

    I was now going from Ottawa to Montreal, from Montreal to London, and from London to Frankfurt. I think my eyes brightened, and my back straightened when I was told that I was going to London. I could not be mad at the redirection because it was going to get me to Frankfurt earlier than my original flight. (Embarrassingly, when my first flight was boarding, I was standing in the wrong line and almost went to France... I promise that was the last navigational mistake I made on this trip.)

    All of my layovers were short, and all the gates were far away from each other, so after every flight I tried my best to run off the plane. On my second flight, I was seated at the back of a plane, with a five-year-old kicking my chair, a baby beside me, and another baby and toddler in front of me. I ate decent plane food, tried starting one show and two movies, and as you can imagine, barely slept. In the grand scheme of things, I was still on my way to Europe, so I was not too bothered.

    So I landed in Frankfurt and took my time through the airport. The family who I was staying with—who I will be calling my friends for this, because they are—picked me up, fed me some breakfast, and let me take a nap. I tried to rest for an hour so that I would not be up at 3am, but my phone was on silent, and I ended up resting for two hours. Every few minutes, the same thought would replay in my head: I am finally in Europe. I was fast asleep at 11pm and slept through the whole night, adjusting to my first major time difference quickly. I knew I was about to have such a fun-filled week (and run out of storage on every camera I brought), and most importantly, I couldn't wait to experience and share it!

    For the next few weeks, I will (hopefully) be rewriting my trip here to make sure I never forget it! 

Until next time!