Right now as I'm writing this, I'm sitting in the Valencia Airport waiting ...3 hours... for my tiny 45-minute flight to Ibiza. Poor planning on my part.
Getting here, actually traveling anywhere in Spain, is kind of like hiking. You may have never been to this new place before, so you have to stop, orient yourself and try to figure out which paths to take to get to your destination.
Instead of the easy route of flying out of Alicante, I saw a cheap flight and with all the excitement and daydreaming about Ibiza, I impulsively punched in those credit card numbers and hit "buy" before checking to see that it actually flew out of Valencia, two hours away. After realizing that afterward, I had to roll with the punches, and lace up my hiking boots.
My host mom told me about this thing called "BlaBlaCar" where you can share rides and pay way less to get around. People post their start location, destination and price. It sounded like a great idea so I quickly hopped online and only found one ride from Alicante to Valencia where I wouldn't have to miss my classes. However, BlaBlaCar screwed me all up. After securing and paying, the guy messaged me saying he actually wasn't able to leave from Alicante as his post said. Thanks, guy. Since he took two days to get back to me, I decided not to wait any longer and I would take the reliable Renfe train. But, with my awesome luck, the train didn't run between 12-4 today, so I had to take the 11 a.m. one and miss my class anyway. Oh and did I mention not even an hour later, he messaged me saying "Nevermind, I can actually pick you up now." Thanks again, guy. There's no refunds for the train.
Fortunately, getting here was way too easy and I didn't get lost. I'm getting better at this public transportation deal. But now, here I am patiently waiting to check in for my flight.
Lesson learned: plan more carefully and don't impulse buy! A flight may be cheaper elsewhere but in the end, the wasted time and the extra cost for trains and subways doesn't really amount to much of a savings at all.
Anyway, I'll be in the beautiful Bealaric Islands of Spain in the Mediterranean Sea for the next 6 days. Expect lots of pictures and incredible experiences upon my return!
Next trip: Madrid in 7 days.
