Travel Mug Podcast
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Travel Mug Podcast
Plans Won’t Always Work Out...and That Is Okay! Travel Tip Tuesday
Meggan shares the story of an abandoned plan in Barcelona, and how they came to the decision to leave an experience they had already paid for. Sometimes plans don't work out when you are travelling, and it's okay to do something else!
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We are travel enthusiasts who do not claim to be professionals! Instead, we are two Halifax, NS natives with travel blogs who somehow found one another on the internet, and now, we have a podcast!!
Join us every week as we talk about our favourite destinations, travel tips, travel fails, and all things travel!
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Disclaimer: All episodes are based on our opinions and experiences. Always do your research and make travel plans based on your budget and comfort levels.
Hey everyone and welcome back to Travel Tip Tuesday. I am, of course, Meggan joined, as always by my partner. Jenn, how are you doing today? Lovely. I am good. I am excited to hear about what went sort of wrong on your trip. I know, I know. you teased us at the end of the last episode, I did Now I must know. well, here we are. You won't have to wait much longer at all. So as you know, we just returned from Barcelona and I wanted to talk about one thing that did not work out that we had planned and why that happened to be okay. So on the first Monday. Like I said in the episode about Barcelona, we were there and we had booked the Sagrada Familia in the morning, which went great. And then through the Facebook group I was a part of, I learned of a nearby hotel Sercotel Rosellon, uh, where they had a rooftop patio that overlooked the Sagrada Familia. You had to book it a few weeks out, and we had to pay what was the equivalent of about 23 Canadian to reserve a table. So based on what people were saying and the thought that after we visited the church, it would be a great idea to then grab a bite to eat and a drink and just sort of gaze at her a while longer, since we were already in the neighborhood, which was not our neighborhood. So it all seemed good in theory that we could take care of those things while we were there. Yeah, that, that makes sense to me. So far, so good. So we do get to the hotel and we check in, and of course it is a hot and sunny day, and by this time it was probably 1:00 PM so mid Okay. midday. The, the hottest part of the day Of course. And of course when we arrived I asked for a table with an umbrella, and I did know in advance that one was not guaranteed. So I'm not being a Complainy pants, I'm, I did know. So we were seated at what turned out to be like a bar style metal table. In the back, but without an umbrella. And like we immediately started sweating. We then started looking at the menu and we figured in advance, you know, prices would be elevated because of the location and the view. So it wasn't a huge surprise, but one drink was about 15 to 18 euros. A glass of wine was like 20 euros. So we were like, I know it was a bit steep. So we were like, okay, what do we do here? And like, so we weren't cranky at each other, but by this point we were a little, both like a little hot, and we were both like, this is, what is this? So we could have had really costly drinks and food, which honestly wasn't the biggest deal, but that on top of literally melting in the sun for the next 30 to 40 minutes. It didn't sound great. Or we could get some rooftop pictures, which is why people go there. Uh, leave and grab something to eat somewhere else cheaper in the shade, Mm-hmm. you know? So this is the traveler's dilemma. When you have something pre-booked and it wasn't what you envisioned, what are you willing to do to say that you did it? mm-hmm. And this was what faced me in this moment.'cause of course, in my mind, it all seems like it made sense. Mm-hmm. In the end, we took a few pictures and we left. It would not have been enjoyable in the blazing sun, first and foremost, which we realized was the risk we took. But then the expensive food and drink on top of that, which again, wasn't a shock, but overall it wasn't worth staying for us. And at first I felt like, but this was planned. We have to do it. Or could we just scrap it? And then Peter was like, do you wanna just leave? And I was like. Of course we could like, it was like the dawned on me like, yes, we can leave. It was our $23 and it's our vacation. And we, I guess get to do what we want. So all of this to say, there are times when you have something envisioned and planned and potentially booked, and when you get there, it's not what you want. And this can be disappointing, but unless you are out a ton of money, you get to make the choice to do what feels best for you at the time. And for us, that was getting out of the hot sun. Heading out for cheaper eats. And honestly, you can see this Sagrada Familia from many points all over the city, including your plane for God's sakes when you're landing and from this hotel, you were kind of looking at the back of it anyway. So yes, for some it could be worth it still. And I'm not, I'm not saying it isn't, but for us in that moment, it wasn't. And we made the choice to forego it. So Jenn, has anything like this ever happened to you on vacation and what would you, or what would you do in a similar situation? Hmm. I don't, this is so interesting. I honestly think that I probably would've stuck it out, but now I'm like asking myself why, like, our time is so limited and we should spend it, how we wanna spend it. And just because you paid $23 or 23 euros or whatever amount of money to do something, if, if the vibes are off, the vibes are off and you don't have to do it. Well, that's exactly it. And like, did I want third degree burns from this metal table? Yeah. I mean, brutal. are the, these are the, these are the, these are the deep questions and I think, I think it is a good question. Like some people, and maybe even old me might have stuck it out, but you're exactly right. You then should go, was it worth it? Like why am I, why am I forcing myself to do it for 23 Canadian dollars? I've wasted that at Starbucks on a Saturday morning like. I mean, for real, like I think I definitely would have the mindset or past me would have the mindset that like, oh, I already like paid money for this. I should stick it out. But like, is it worth then paying more money onto, you know, you don't need to throw good money on top of bad, That's That's right. That's what the old folks would say, and I think it's true. Well, that is it for this week's travel tip Tuesday. Let us know if you've ever had anything like this happen and what you chose to do. We'd love to sort of hear some feedback on that, and you of course. You can follow us to interact on Instagram and Facebook and YouTube at Travel Mug Podcast. You can find us on our website travel mug podcast.com. And if you like what we're doing here, you can click the link in the show notes to financially support the show by buying us a coffee or leave us a review. That always helps as well. And until next time, bye. Bye
