Before arriving in a place, I spend maybe an hour or so doing some quick research about it. I start a hit list of must-see sites based on other tourists’ information, historical and interesting places, gardens, churches, landmarks, a handful of restaurants and bars and try to find out if there is a special happening. From that list, I’ll make pins in my Google maps to get an idea of how everything is laid out. From there I can organize a way to see the sites efficiently, eat at cafés or restaurants that have already been sussed out and can choose to linger or move on without the dreaded what to do next? I can feel accomplished for knocking out the must-sees first and am always open to suggestions and recommendations.
Prague has so much to offer, it’s helpful if you have an idea of where to go and what to do. Three days there and I felt I had crushed the tourist game. I had visited sacred sites, ate at historic and Instagram worthy cafes, had an adventure partying on the boats along the river with a stranger and did a pop-up yoga class in the park.
My fourth morning, I was taking it easy sitting at an outdoor café people watching and noticed a young girl with a hefty backpack running to catch what was most likely a train. I smugly reflected on the past few months never having to hustle like that. I like to arrive with time to relax before long travel.
As I am going through my hit list and planning my day, I notice that I have done and seen all the things I had anticipated and found I had a day with nothing planned – a free day. How is this possible??? With that in mind, I enjoyed my croissant, read some of my book, strolled through some new neighborhoods and made it back to my hostel a few hours later. I scrolled through my Facebook and WhatsApp messages, posted some pics, followed by checking my emails. I received a new one from Odyssey Airlines telling me I missed my flight. Oh shit! That’s what I was supposed to be doing today – flying to Turkey. I sucked up the loss, bought a new flight, got a much-needed pedicure, and made it an early evening to wake up fresh for a stress-free travel day to Istanbul. Timing is everything.
