On the road

When I planned my short side trip to Poland in October 2023, it was with fear and anxiety, but also a little bit of excitement. I had never been there, knew no one from there or anyone who had been there, except for an old friend of Polish ancestry previously based in the UK and currently in the US but with whom I was now out of touch. The parameters of my trip were the cause of my worries: I was traveling solo on a tight budget with limited time. The side trip was designed to fit into the 48 or so hours I had, between the end of a health conference in Berlin that I attended and my scheduled flight back home, and my concern was that any misstep or mishap, a missed or delayed train for example, would cause a domino effect and make me miss my flight home.

But not knowing what would happen could also be sort of exciting, to paraphrase a line from a children’s book. I simply trusted that all the arrangements I made would work out, and thankfully they did. 

I arrived in Krakow in the early evening, took a cab from the train station to the address of a small inn which was right in the center of the tourist area known as the Old Town, the inn’s name being, what else, Old Town Apartment. This time, I wasn’t burdened with my luggage which I had left at the Berlin train station; I was carrying just a tote that had my important stuff and a change of clothes. At the reception, I was given a color-coded set of keys to a room in a separate building a few meters away, according to the map they provided. Written at the back of the map were instructions on how to get to the building and which key to use for which door, and how to check out. It’s the kind of accommodation that suits people who want privacy and minimal interference. I didn’t see anyone else during my stay, didn’t run into other guests. 

I walked round the town looking for a place to eat, and to buy some necessities and food to bring for my trip to Auschwitz the next day. I returned the next evening, after dropping by the mall for dinner and then again went walking around, hoping to get to the inn on foot. But again failing to read the map correctly, reminiscent of my Berlin misadventures, I decided to just hop on a cab and quickly get some rest for the early train back to Berlin, en route to the airport for my flight back home. 

The only negative thing that happened I discovered only upon my return home. Checking my credit card charges, I found that just a few minutes after my dinner at the mall, someone had charged a manicure/pedicure to my card. It must have been the counter girl at the fish and chips restaurant where I had dinner. Petty thieves come in all shapes, sizes and nationalities. 

And now the last of my Berlin side stories. Coming from Krakow, I got off at the wrong Berlin train station, apparently because there was more than one. I realized it when the station itself looked unfamiliar and I couldn’t locate the luggage storage section. I then decided to take a cab to the next station, which was the Central Berlin station. My bad for not paying attention. 

Not paying attention (and some confusion too) also caused me to miss the train to the Berlin Brandenburg airport but because there was one every 15 or so minutes, I still managed to reach my destination on time. 

In all, I spent no more than 48 hours in Poland, a good part of it on trains breezing through the countryside, then parachuting into Krakow, and spending a day in Auschwitz. I met a lot of people but mostly kept to myself.

The downside of solo traveling is that you’ll often feel lost with no one to turn to, to consult or discuss with, when in doubt about anything in a foreign land. You wander alone, when you could have gotten lost with a friend or partner. But the upside is that solo traveling is also a voyage of self-discovery. You find yourself, discover a lot of things you didn’t know you were capable of, and have lots of time to reflect and appreciate people, places and history.  ###

#Krakow, #Poland, #travel, #Berlin, #solo-travel