Go Anyway
This post is written by one of my good friends who I have known for the past thirteen years. As a flight attendant she has found herself all over the United States, and to a few other countries. Adventures come both big and small, and this is the story of her big solo adventure in Ireland.
I remember very distinctly the moment I decided “I’m going to be a flight attendant.” It wasn’t a childhood dream, or anything like that. I actually call it my “pre quarter life crisis.” I decided that if I want to do anything with this life, it’s to travel; but how on earth were all of these kids that were 22 and 23 years old like me able to afford it!? For me it was a simple solution, get a job that means traveling for a living.
Here’s a moment of honesty. It took me almost an entire year of being a flight attendant before I finally went on the trip that actually was a childhood dream, Ireland. It wouldn’t have taken me so long to actually take that trip if all of my travel companions actually followed through on our plans. So, in March of 2018, I boarded a plane in San Diego that took me to Washington Dulles, and then onward to Dublin, Ireland—all by myself.
I grew up being told that my lineage was full of Ireland. My great grandfather immigrated here in the early 1920’s and worked as an indentured servant for a carpenter for years. So, I decided that if I am going to keep identifying with my Irish lineage, I must go visit the homeland.
Let me back track to Washington Dulles. When I was leaving San Diego, I was still too tired from a four-day work trip to fully comprehend what I was doing. Once I landed in Dulles—I went into complete mental breakdown mode. What in the Sam heck was I doing?? A 24-year-old woman traveling overseas by herself!? I called a couple different friends to have them reassure me that was I was doing was, in fact, not totally stupid. Of course, they all said that was I was doing was totally awesome and they wish they had the strength that I had to travel alone. What strength!? I was calling them on the verge of tears! So, I called my mom, hoping she would tell me what I wanted to hear—which of course she didn’t, what good mother would tell me NOT to live out a lifelong a dream. Side note: my mother also had the travel bug when she was my age and her very first solo international trip was Singapore. Her stellar words of encouragement; “At least they speak English where you’re going.”
I have to back track again- I had not yet reached one year with my company at this point. Which meant I was earning pennies, and still on probation. Thus, I ventured off with only 200$ converted into euros (which for anyone wondering, that’s just over 150 euro) for my 5-day adventure in the homeland (only 4 days ACTUALLY in Ireland and three to explore, if you take out travel time).
I landed in Dublin at 10:30am local time. My first tour was scheduled for 2pm. My best advice for anytime you travel east (where you’re losing time) get right into your day. Do not nap, do not live on your home schedule. Get on a local time schedule as soon as possible to optimize your travel experience. My first tour was of the Malahide Castle, Howth (pronounced H-ow-t) Fisherman’s village, and the Dublin Bay. I was exhausted from being on information overload. The Malahide Castle was a full tour of information on the Talbot family who lived there for nearly 800 years, the most recent occupant having lived there up until the 1980’s and chose to leave the family home to the government of the Republic of Ireland to conduct tours, while she now resides in Australia.
I ended my fist night with some fish and chips. Took the city bus back to my Air BnB in Ballymun (a Dublin suburb). And had a good night’s rest.
Day two, I was going rouge. I booked no tours in advance, except for one, and I had a very crude map that looked as though a 3rd grader had drawn it with crayons to get me around the city. I wandered the city on my own two feet. My Air BnB hosts explained the bus routes to me and showed me the best stops to get on and off at. Day two was jam packed! My dad had told me that I if I did anything in Dublin, it was to go see the Book of Kells at Trinity college. Well, If I’m going to go see Trinity college, I’m going to see the whole thing! Who wouldn’t want a tour of Oscar Wilde’s alma mater!? And yes, I saw Oscar Wilde’s old dorm room. I was outside, looking up from the quad, But I saw the building and the window he must have looked out as he was writing the genius quotes that I still live by today.
Trinity College is also home to one of the most beautiful libraries I have ever seen (thus far), and the greatest sight was The Long Room. Fun fact, many think that the Long Room at Trinity College was in inspiration for the Great Hall from the Harry Potter movies, which it isn’t. It was actually George Lucas’ inspiration for the scene in Star Wars: Episode 2 Attack of the Clones in which Obi Wan is attempting to locate Kamino in that long library room. From the Long Room our tour took us to the Book of Kells. If you ever get the chance to visit you will understand the level of awe over these manuscripts, over 1000 years ago, monks, or scribes, sat by candlelight transcribing the four gospels into one manuscript. The manuscript has since been divided into 4 parts and only one is ever on display at one time. They only expose one page for 24 hours and turn to the next page each day to preserve the document.
From Trinity College I headed toward the Dublin Castle State Apartments. Most of the original castle structure now sits underground. They take you through and underground tour of the original aspect of the walls and towers. In the year of 1204 King John of England had a structure built on the site and became the most important fortification in Ireland. The Castle has since had many face lifts and now resembles a building similar to our Congress Building. After the Irish War of Independence, ending it 1921, The castle has since become the site for the Inauguration of the Irish President every 7 years. One of the most interesting Irish facts I learned on this tour; Guinness had been around longer that the government of the Republic of Ireland. So, when they went about designing their Flag, the government wanted the Irish symbol of a Harp on their flag. Well, that was the symbol for Guinness beer, and therefore a copyright infringement. Anyway, Guinness graciously said “Keep the harp, but make it a mirror image.” Thus, the harp on the Irish flag is actually a backwards harp. Erin Go Bragh!
At this point, it was time for my tour at the Irish Whiskey Museum, the only tour I had previously booked for the day. A wee preface, I don’t drink when I’m alone, unless I’m locked away in a private room; such as a hotel room, or my Air BnB room. As safe as Ireland is, I didn’t trust myself to be drinking alone abroad. If you know me or have ever had the pleasure of drinking with me, this is a very easy thing to understand and possibly one of five smart decisions I have ever made in my life. Thank goodness for a local couple who took me under their wing the moment they saw me sitting alone in the first room of our tour. They found me during the introductions. Every group went around the room and said where they were visiting from. Germany, Slovenia, England, France, there was even a family of 5 from Arkansas. I was the only person in the room traveling alone, and the only Californian. They were the only couple in the room that was local to Dublin. We were a match made in heaven. Might I add this couple were the perfect Irish Grandparents. Mrs. Dublin (Because I have forgotten their names since) was telling me about how they were both born and raised Dubliners, out for a day of playing tourist in their own hometown. She was not a huge whiskey drinker, and neither was I. I signed up for the premium tour giving me 4 drams of Whiskey, rather than the standard 3. Mr. Dublin was a huge whiskey drinker. On top of all the info our wonderful tour guide was giving me, he had many interesting tidbits to add as well. He taught me the secrets of enjoying whiskey, cut it with a bit of water. I can now say thank you to Mr. Dublin for making me a fan of Irish Whiskey!
When our tour ended, I was perfectly inebriated. Great. I’m off to wander the streets of Dublin with no cell service, and alcohol coursing through me. My new Irish grandparents helped me with directions to St. Patrick’s Cathedral along a route that took me by Christ Church. At this point I was only sightseeing. When I got to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, they had a 7-euro entrance fee, no tour, that was an additional 5 euro. I thought quick on my feet and asked for a mass schedule, like any good Catholic girl would do. Score, I only had to wait 35 minutes until I could come back and get a good look without paying 12 euro to enter a church and Light a candle and say a prayer for my grandparents in Heaven. I wandered the gardens and sat on a bench as the rain started to come down. I didn’t care, it felt nice on my hot face from all the whiskey. I don’t have any pictures of the inside.. because well, I was in mass.
The end of day 2 brought a great treat! I got to meet my Dublin cousins Dierdre and Kieran. If you come from a big Irish Catholic Family like mine, we’re all cousins. You might have to trace the lineage back a couple generations, but we’re all cousins. Now I started my trip with only 150+ euro. I was down to my last 100 and it was my intention to buy dinner and drinks that night for us. I had been planning this dinner with them for several weeks and was so beyond excited to meet my Irish family. We met at the Brazen Head, which they later told me was a tourist trap. It turned out to be a good call with some amazing food and such a quirky atmosphere!
It’s the oldest bar in Ireland. The Brazen Head has been on that sight since 1198. They just keep building on more rooms and stories. There were about 11 different “bars” to sit at with additional seating in each room. It was a complete mad house.
An interesting thing I noted, when women approach the bar to order a beer, they are automatically served a “short” or a half pint unless specified, the men are automatically served a “tall” or a full pint unless specified. I was not in the least upset because I was still buzzing from that whiskey- although that didn’t stop me from drinking far too many “shorts” of Guinness. When I had asked for the check the waiter had told me it was already taken care of and Deirdre smiled and handed me a Brazen Head T-shirt to take home with me to remember my dinner with long distance cousins! I couldn’t believe it. Deirdre had been worried about me staying in Ballymun and compared it to Compton (like near LA) when I had been making my travel arrangements the weeks prior to my visit. She insisted on taking me back to my Air BnB to make sure that I was safe. I got the Deirdre stamp of approval and went to bed drunk at nearly 12:30 and set my alarm for 5 am to get to my tour bus the next morning for the Cliffs of Moher.
I woke up sleep deprived, hungover, and really craving some Kraft Mac n Cheese. But I carried on. Pulled out my bus map and marked my route to get to the meet up spot. It was 30 F. I get to my bus stop to see that there are no busses running until 6am and I couldn’t get the MyTaxi app to download the night before (Uber in Ireland). Sure enough the only car that drove by that morning came around again and I thought “This is it. I’m going to get murdered at a bus stop in Ballymun at 5:30 in the morning and I can’t even feel my toes.” Turns out he was a MyTaxi driver. He asked me if I was waiting for the bus and as soon as he heard my accent and tale of woe, he told me to hop in. Now kids, I did not just hop in a strange man’s car. He had tried to order a MyTaxi ride for me and it wouldn’t work since he had the app opened as a driver and not a rider. I explained to him where I was trying to go, and he took me right up to the steps of the tour bus meet up location. I asked him what the fair would be, and he told me not to worry about it. So, I handed him a 20 euro note and thanked him for his kindness, again he told me it wasn’t necessary. I instantly felt guilty for assuming he was coming to murder me.
I waited on those cold hard steps for an additional hour. This tour was going to take us to a site of Monastic ruins, the Cliffs of Moher and the City of Galway. Our guides and busses arrived and as we boarded, we gave our names. The guide told me “If not for your accent your name might assume that you’re a local headed out on a day trip.” I chuckled and got on board. This is when I met Georgia from North Carolina, also a 22-year-old traveling alone. I had an empty seat by me and offered it to her as she got on. Georgia and I were perfect travel companions. We took each other’s pictures, so we didn’t have to go home with a camera roll full of selfies, and when I fell asleep on the bus, she didn’t wake me. The perfect overseas friendship. The monastic ruins were beautiful, dated back to the 800’s through the 1000’s. I was still hungover, and my legs were wobbly.
Next stop was the Cliffs of Moher. You’ve seen the images on google and every “Travel to Ireland” brochure. I even have my own pictures on my phone to look back on. But absolutely NOTHING, compares to the majesty that are the Cliffs of Moher in person. The sky was completely clear, Not a cloud in sight. It was still freezing cold, the wind was harsh, and the water was so blue. I can still smell the sea breeze. Hear the seagulls. Feel the squish of the mud under my boots. If you do anything with this life, see the Cliffs, and don’t try to take too many pictures because you’ll never be satisfied. Georgia and I took turns trying to get that perfect “gazing off into the distance” picture. The wind had other ideas. We broke off to do our own wandering and I found another Irish Grandpa playing his heart out on and accordion. I stopped for a moment and just enjoyed his playing and the beauty.
Next stop was Galway. If you’re looking for a bit of Irish culture, mixed with a bit of party. Welcome to Galway! There is live music on every street corner and all the pubs you can dream of. My personal favorite, Quays Bar on Quay Street. It’s an old church converted into a bar. All original flooring and stained glass. The wood even smells old, I personally love a pub that smells more like old wood than stale beer. Georgia and I sat down for a short glass of Guinness (which I can never drink again after drinking it in Ireland) and enjoyed some live music. Our time in Galway was cut short due to mechanical difficulties on the tour bus, thus ending my third day. We rode back to Dublin, I fell asleep (AGAIN!) and when we reached Dublin, I pulled out my bus schedule and did my bus route marked for that morning backwards and headed towards my Air BnB. Once I arrived, my hosts, Kate and Larry, were still up and had just finished making fresh Irish Soda Bread, one of my absolute favorites. Kate and Larry are only a couple years older than me. They asked how my trip had been and I filled them in on all the details! One of the highlights of my trips was them thanking me for being such a considerate guest. Who me!? They appreciated that I was quiet and kept to myself and that I always cleaned up after myself (People don’t!?) Anyway, the next day I was getting on my plane back home and Larry was my ride. We chatted for a couple hours and ate fresh warm soda bread and my trip was complete. Although my flight wasn’t until 2 pm I’m a very nervous traveler. Yes, I understand the irony, a flight attendant who is a nervous traveler.
Non-revving is a travel beast!! Yes, I get to fly pretty much for free, but I don’t get a guaranteed seat. I can fly IF there is an empty seat. Guess who forgot to check loads the night before… this dummy. The flight was oversold by seven seats, meaning the airline booked seven more people than they had seats available. Good Job, Meghan. So, I brought the gate agents chocolate and sat and prayed that 8 people wouldn’t show up. Sure enough, I got the VERY last seat, 2 minutes prior to door closure because someone was stuck in customs. Thank you, person-who-was-even-less-intelligent-than-I for not getting to the airport on time. Here’s the kicker, that was the last flight out of Dublin to the states that day. And I had to be back at work in two days. Oops. Glad I made it. I traveled back through Dulles and onto San Diego with out a hitch after that.
Like I said, Oscar Wilde is one of my favorite poets, to quote him…
“To live, is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all”
Go on that trip. Buy the plane ticket. Take that risk. Live a life that will make your grand kids proud. And if no one wants to join you, Go Anyway.
