Pro tip: If you are going to stay up all night before an early morning flight at a bar crawl instead of paying for a hostel, don’t send pictures to your Mom. She will get nervous.
I wouldn’t consider myself to be a crazy person. A little impulsive, a little outgoing, a bit of a (controlled) risk taker, perhaps, but fairly sane. This is my second year living in Spain, and I’ve been around the block a few times when it comes to early morning cheap flights. My flight leaving Edinburgh left at 7 AM, which meant I could have woken up at a God-awful time to get to the airport on time, or just not sleep. And if I wasn’t going to sleep, what was the point in paying for a hostel for the night? A quick google search turned up a branch of Sandeman’s tour company, whose bar crawls I’ve loved in the past, and that settled it. I was only paying for the first night in my hostel, then would spend my second night having fun until it was time to hit the airport. I was being young, adventurous, and saving money. Bam. I was ready.
However, when my trip to Edinburgh actually happened, I was much less confident and much more stressed about this particular life choice. My two days there started out nice enough. After a train ride sitting next to a friendly, cute boy, I checked in to my hostel, and went out to see the city. The castle was beautiful; I loved exploring all the hidden closes, or alleys, that I came across, and there were incredible views from Calton Hill. But the winter, as it often is in Scotland, was cold, and I found myself looking for heat escapes on the regular (Free art museum? Don’t mind if I do, UK). I started to dread the following day, where I’d be temporarily homeless from 10 AM- 12 PM before I could check in to my hostel at my next stop. I thought about getting a bed for the night, however, as it was the night before NYE in a city known for its NYE street party, the hostels were extremely expensive (if available at all) and that would have made for a way lamer story. Also, yolo.
And so came my second day. I packed up and threw my luggage in the hostel storage, and braved the day, which started with a walking tour of the city, a search to find Voldermort’s grave in the cemetery JK Rowling walked in for inspiration, visits to more free museums (at least something is affordable in the UK!), and finally a warm up/phone charge/dinner session at a pub. Then it was time to crawl.
I was a bit nervous showing up alone; I had done them before but always with someone, but I ended up befriending two really kind and inviting girls who I spent the whole night with. I took advantage of the free shots and drink specials from the bar crawl, but managed to have a relatively responsible night, despite what my snap story might have looked like (sorry Mom!). My new friends and I started to get a bit tired around 3, so after grabbing my bag and an awful, over priced kabob, I caught the bus to the airport at 4. In the end, I didn’t end up saving money per se, as what I spent on dinner + drinks could have been spent on a night in a hostel, but I gained friendships (I actually met up with the girls later on in Ireland!) and spent the night socializing and laughing. Was I dead the next day? That’s an understatement. Would I do it again? Well, you know what they say: Yolo.
