I saw I could stay within Europe while abiding by Schengen laws if I traveled to one of the orange, yellow, or gray-colored countries on the map above.<\/strong><\/p>\nI was so emotionally drained by everything that had happened to me throughout that month that I really did not want to dwell on the details of my trip. To keep planning simple, I only looked up flights to the United Kingdom, Romania, and Croatia.<\/p>\n
I was only going to decide between those three places (and only those three places) no matter the cost.<\/p>\n
Let’s keep it simple, <\/em>I told myself.<\/p>\nWarsaw’s Chopin Airport is a Major Hub<\/h2>\n When I first flew to Poland, I landed at Warsaw’s Chopin<\/strong> airport. Chopin is the largest airport in Poland and it serves the capital. The airfare rates I’d seen in the past had always been so low that I felt extremely confident I could get an affordable rate flying to almost any country by leaving directly out of Chopin.<\/p>\nWhen I looked up flights from Chopin Airport to Croatia, the prices were reasonable.<\/p>\n
Not wanting to dwell on it for any longer than I needed to, I paid for a ticket scheduled to leave two or three days out and went straight to bed.<\/p>\n
Next Destination: Croatia<\/strong><\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
I had a day or two to repack my backpack and prepare for the next phase of my trip.<\/p>\n
I made the most of my final hours in Warsaw. I ate a few more pierogies, fed a few birds, and got myself ready to check out.<\/p>\n
Leaving for Chopin Airport<\/h2>\n On the morning of my flight, things were calm and peaceful. I checked out of the room I was staying in. Since I booked an early afternoon flight, I couldn’t do much with my final day in Poland. I decided to go to Warsaw’s Chopin airport a little earlier than usual.<\/p>\n
I would check-in, locate my gate, maybe grab a sandwich or something for lunch, and relax there while waiting for boarding to begin.<\/p>\n
Great plan, right?<\/em><\/p>\nHere’s What Happened to Me at Chopin During Check-In<\/h2>\n I hailed an Uber to bring me to Chopin Airport.<\/p>\n
(By the way, for a country where most drivers practically yield a mile away from where a pedestrian is seen crossing the road, ALL OF THEIR UBER DRIVERS DRIVE AWFULLY FAST…)<\/p>\n
While my final Uber driver did double the speed limit, I questioned whether or not I would arrive at the airport in one piece.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Once inside Chopin airport, I began to look for the RyanAir gate.<\/p>\n
I Could Not Find RyanAir ANYWHERE<\/h2>\n I circled all of the check-in counters inside Chopin airport trying to locate the check-in area for RyanAir. I couldn’t seem to find it anywhere.<\/strong><\/p>\nConfused, I took out my iPhone to make sure it was definitely RyanAir I was flying with. (Sometimes airlines will sub out flights to smaller airlines with lesser-known names.) As I originally thought, my flight was\u00a0<\/strong>with RyanAir.<\/p>\nAt the front door, they had check-in tablets set up that listed all of the airlines so I walked over to those to give them a try. RyanAir wasn’t on any of those home screens either.<\/p>\n
I rushed over to the customer service booth hoping to get some answers. Thankfully, the employee sitting there DID speak some English. (Such a blessing since I really struggled with many older people not understanding spoken English in Warsaw.)<\/p>\n
When I asked her where the check-in counter for RyanAir was, she informed me that RyanAir does not have any flights departing from Chopin airport.<\/p>\n
“Sir, I’m afraid RyanAir is only located at Warsaw’s Modlin Airport.”<\/h3>\n What!? Modlin? Impossible. <\/strong>I even checked to make sure it was Chopin.<\/p>\nI took out my phone again and zoomed into the details of my flight.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sure enough, it read, “Warsaw (Modlin<\/strong>)” right above “Gate Closes: 12:55 PM.”<\/p>\nI couldn’t believe my eyes. Modlin? <\/em>How!<\/em>?<\/p>\nSomehow… I misread it.<\/p>\n
I think I told myself so many times that I needed to fly out of Chopin airport that I actually … almost brainwashed myself to see “Chopin” instead of “Modlin.” That is the only way I’ve been able to process it because to this day, I’m still confused about how I messed that up.<\/p>\n
What really boggled my mind was that Jorge flew out of Modlin airport days before me. I specifically booked a flight out of Chopin, and not Modlin,<\/span> because I knew Chopin was just a few minutes away from where I was staying. How did I still manage to miss that distinction while knowing both airports existed? While staring straight at it!?<\/p>\nMentally Preparing to Miss My Flight<\/h3>\n Immediately, I began to panic. So much for being early.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nI urgently thanked the lady who helped me and ran outside the airport while trying to hail an Uber as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n
I felt so foolish. I messed up.<\/p>\n
I Hailed a Second Uber<\/h2>\n I nearly wanted to cry at the thought of entering another Uber in Warsaw. I already felt like I risked my life once that day, a second Uber was too much.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Within minutes, I was being whisked away from Chopin Airport to Warsaw’s “Modlin” Airport.<\/p>\n
Off to Modlin Airport<\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
What was supposed to unfold as a peaceful and calm morning turned into the total opposite as I sat in the backseat of this Uber trying to somehow (politely?) explain to this elderly man who barely spoke any English that I really needed to get to Modlin as fast as possible.<\/p>\n
Of COURSE, for the FIRST TIME EVER in Poland, I got an Uber driver who didn’t\u00a0<\/strong>speed like a mad man. Even if he wanted to go fast, he couldn’t have. There was an accident on the highway connecting the two airports so traffic was at a standstill.<\/p>\nI had one hand squeezing my stomach because I was so anxious I would miss this flight out of the country and I had my other hand holding the Uber map open with the “ETA” countdown on display. I was rapidly tapping my screen as if Uber were some videogame and tapping the car would somehow help me get there faster.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It was 11:45 AM. The original ETA said I would arrive at Modlin at 12:15. My flight’s boarding was supposed to end at 12:55. That meant I had about 60 minutes<\/strong> to do everything: get there, check-in, go through security, find the gate, and board.<\/p>\nOkay. Probably…. doable??? Right?<\/p>\n
You might think that sounds like plenty of time. I only got lucky with that much time to “wager” because I chose to go extra early to Chopin in the first place. If I was late to Chopin (or even just on time), it would have been a lost cause. Still, 60 minutes is not a lot of time to work with when you are in bumper-to-bumper traffic and still 30-40 minutes away from the airport you’re actually supposed to be at.<\/strong><\/p>\nRush, Rush, Rush<\/h2>\n When the Uber driver got to the airport, I think I had one foot out the door before the car even came to a complete stop. I sprinted inside.<\/p>\n
Instead of arriving at the estimated time of 12:15 PM, I actually arrived at 12:35 PM. 20 minutes left to GET ME ON THAT PLANE.<\/p>\n
I was met with both good news and bad news.<\/p>\n
The Good News<\/h3>\n First thing’s first: THERE WAS A SIGN THAT SAID RYANAIR THIS TIME.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
GREAT.<\/p>\n
The Bad News<\/h3>\n Just my luck,\u00a0<\/em>I thought to myself as I was met with a long line wrapping around from the RyanAir check-in counter.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
The clock was ticking and I did NOT have time to dilly-dally in a line. To make matters worse, there were a bunch of check-in stations, but of course, RyanAir had ONE PERSON WORKING.<\/p>\n
A long line… and one person doing check-in. Wonderful<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
The universe wanted to reward me for leaving extra early that day.<\/p>\n
I contemplated asking if I could cut ahead of everyone. I felt so selfish, but I was desperate<\/strong>. As much as I wanted to do it, I couldn’t bring myself to ask. Between all of the self-inflicted guilt and fear of a language barrier, I decided to risk my flight and suffer in line in silence.<\/p>\nOne by one, I waited in line while staring at my clock the entire time.<\/p>\n
THANKFULLY, Modlin is Tiny<\/h2>\n I’ve never been to an airport so small.<\/p>\n
I’ve also never been so happy to see an airport so small.<\/p>\n
Seriously, this was the tiniest airport I have ever been to. There were just two flights on their schedule: mine and one other.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I was able to quickly check-in, get through security, and RUN to the gate. “Run to the gate” is a little bit of an exaggeration because once I got through security, the gate was practically on the other side of the door.<\/p>\n
Still, I ran because I needed to get onto the airplane. The gates were scheduled to close in a matter of minutes.<\/strong><\/p>\nSomehow, I Made It to My Flight on Time<\/h2>\n I boarded my plane at 12:52 PM: 3 minutes before the gates were sealed.<\/p>\n
There was not a moment of down-time from the moment I first arrived at Chopin: no relaxing, no sandwiches, it was a stressful situation to be put in.<\/p>\n
At the end of the day, I made it onto the airplane and that is what counts.<\/p>\n
I Arrived in Beauvais<\/h3>\n From Warsaw, I flew to Beauvais-Till\u00e9 Airport in Till\u00e9, Picardy, France. I remember there was little to no air conditioning inside and I had to wait at the airport for several hours.<\/p>\n
That airport had two terminals (T1 and T2) and to switch between the two, you needed to walk outside between them.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I am so used to always getting transported by a bus, AirTrain, or shuttle to switch terminals (never mind the high-pressure, high-level airport security like you experience at airports like Newark EWR) that I felt extremely uncomfortable about the idea of casually “walking outside” to walk on my own to another terminal.<\/p>\n
I needed to ask several airport staff members for an explanation in English before I felt confident enough to know that walking outside those doors wouldn’t mean that I’d have to go back through security all over a second time…<\/p>\n
The signage was not clear, in my opinion. I didn’t want to accidentally leave the airport.<\/p>\n
In Croatia at Last<\/h3>\n <\/p>\n
The best feeling in the world was when my feet hit the ground in Croatia and I knew that through all of that mayhem over the preceding 24 hours, SOMEHOW,\u00a0<\/strong>I still made it to Croatia.<\/p>\nI don’t know if that was pure luck or what.<\/p>\n
Pin It!<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Let’s rewind to around two years ago. In September of 2018, I was backpacking in Warsaw, Poland. After I had …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43819,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"no","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5777],"tags":[5435,5782],"yoast_head":"\n
Here's Why You Should Never Rush While Booking a Travel Itinerary | The Rocky Safari<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n