I have made it to Hamburg! Even after my lifetime of traveling, many times alone, this trip inspired more anxiety that I had ever felt before a trip. This increased when lights started flashing in the Atlanta airport and the loudspeaker said there was some kind of emergency, hold on for more details....right before boarding. Through lots of prayer, I did make it through and am safely in my new apartment. It's a one bedroom, with a small kitchen and bath separate. The bedroom is nice and spacious, partially because the landlord just took back his couch he was lending the former owner. However, there is plenty of light and I like it so far. The owner's mother met me, since the owner had to be in Paris before yesterday for her own study abroad trip (a miscommunication). This worked out well, though, because her mother apparently cleaned a good amount that her daughter had not cleaned and even bought new things like a bed cover and more cleaning supplies for me to use. I haven't done much exploring yet because of my extreme jet lag, but I wanted to write a post of my initial thoughts and travel tips for those going abroad:
1. When you're looking at seats on an international flight, keep in mind that the awesome bulkhead seats with the extra leg room have one downside. They do not have any space in front of you to put your carry-on, so make sure to pull out everything you will need for the 8 hour trip, because...
2. At least on British Airways, the overhead "lockers" are receded from the walkway so that it would have been awkward to get stuff out of my bags. I would have had to lean over sleeping people (the flight was at 920 pm, some went to sleep almost immediately) to get out the things I didn't stash in between my seat and the airplane wall at the beginning of the flight. This made for a very sleep-less flight. I've never been good at sleeping on airplanes anyway and everything that would have helped was stowed overhead. I spent most of the flight reading or watching a movie, but the last 2-3 hours were not much fun. So next time I will know to grab everything I might need and find a place to stash it.
3. If you need a gluten-free meal on a long flight, British Airways does it, and well. The breakfast was only fruit, but the dinner was a salad, a fruit salad, a chicken and potato dish, and even a gluten free dinner roll. I actually was full after eating it, not something I can typically say for mass produced meals.
3. If you have an international layover (e.g. from Heathrow to Hamburg), then don't buy a lot of liquids at your first airport because you may have to go through security again. England has similar security restrictions to the U.S. and I had to throw my refreshments away. R.I.P. Diet Cokes.
4. Money tip: apply for an international/travel credit card more than two days before you leave. I was unaware that there was a 2-3% surcharge in Europe for use of an American credit card without an international chip. I went to Bank of America to try to get travelers cheques in Euros and they told me about the charge, but could not expedite it to me before I left. I will have to now use the cash euros I got, bite the bullet on the fee, or go to a Deutsch bank to get more cash until my mom can mail me the card. Also if you want travelers cheques in a foreign currency, order that in advance too. BoA does not keep them at their locations.
5. Another money tip: If you can avoid it (I couldn't), don't change a large sum of money in the airport using your credit card. That surcharge will add up quickly.
6. If you are renting an apartment abroad, figure out what the internet situation is BEFORE you get there. My leasor's mother and landlord did not know how to get me online so I had to use part of my international data, which is very limited, to email her. We rely so much on the internet now, especially me, to find places to eat, to translate words, etc that this is an important step.
7. In Hamburg, stay off the painted part of the sidewalk, particularly when looking up things on your phone. It's for bikes and walking there will lead to a number of near accidents.
8. It is possible to grocery shop with a food allergy, in a country where you don't know any of the words on the boxes, but you will end up with things like frosted flakes and kettle chips.
9. Even the paper bags at grocery stores cost money (15 cents) so take what you need before the clerk rings you up or she will look very confused.
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