Day 2: Istanbul
I would suspect that a shaky day where you somehow figure things out is a universal rite of passage for solo travelers — or at least, I hope so.
I felt so much jetlag that I couldn’t fall asleep until 5am, so I missed my morning tour (rescheduled it for the afternoon, thankfully); was scammed by a taxi driver; my tour guide ghosted me for the second part of the tour and wasn’t where she said she would be; my phone ran out of battery; and my portable charger just completely didn’t work. I ended up pivoting to what I know, actually enjoy, and am comfortable with: public transport (specifically, the tram in this case) — and I ended up using that in and then asking many hotel front desk attendants if they knew where my hotel was after I got off the tram (only one person seemed interested in helping, and he really did, so many thanks to him).
Maybe a few years ago, I would have felt worse about this experience but honestly, I don’t really now. First, I understand that things like this happen and I understand the context here — I don’t speak the language, I’ve barely slept the last few days so I’m not thinking as sharply as usual, and I definitely should have been prepared a little more. Second, it’s a reminder that, as a solo traveler, I need to prepare more in a few ways: I should have as concrete of a plan as possible before any activity of what transportation I’ll be using (whether that’s a taxi or public transport), and I need to charge my phone overnight. Third, none of this is bad; it’s just a learning experience for me and I hope it just comes with time when solo traveling. Getting better at cognitive reframing has been one of the biggest successes of therapy (shoutout to Nicole if you ever happen to read this). To be honest, literally no part of me ever expected that a trip literally retracing the path of Odysseus would go completely smoothly. More reflection on this at the end, but I knew going in that this is one of those trips that really requires a high level of physical endurance to withstand little sleep, constant travel, and packed days. Life is about staying in the fight if and when the chips are down, and I’m still here. I tried to stayed calm and didn’t dwell much on what went wrong, and I think that helped immensely. Though I may have to come back to Istanbul some day to give it a second shot, I do genuinely believe that having an experience like this at the start of my trip will help me be more prepared for the rest of it. I’m quite grateful for that because I’m honestly more excited for the other places I’m visiting for a couple reasons: they’re actually related to Odysseus’ journey (I did Istanbul because I was in Turkey and curious) and Istanbul seems relatively less well-known than the rest of the places I’m visiting for the kinds of adventure/athletic activities I enjoy most.
In any case, there were still a few tangible wins besides the more symbolic victories: I tried döner kebab and it was absolutely delicious (unfortunately, no picture because my phone was out of battery); I’m currently on a night cruise with amazing views; and I got to see most of the tourist attractions I was interested in seeing: the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Basilica Cistern, and the Spice Bazaar. I may get a very quick dessert when I get back to my hotel area, but I’m trying to get today’s post out before that, so no picture proof if I end up doing so. Cheers, and see you tomorrow.