As mentioned in my previous blog, this is my first time traveling by myself. I was filled with excitement and nerves as I made my way to the airport. There, I met with a few other students going on the study abroad program with me. We were all on the same flight to Athens. It was very comforting to know that I was not completely alone. Our flight from Miami to Istanbul went well. They served three meals on the plane. I watched a few movies and played games on my phone, because I was unable to sleep. When we arrived in Istanbul is where things got interesting. After we landed, we checked for our connecting flight but there was no gate number assigned yet. We took the opportunity to freshen up, grab some food, and then check back. When the gate number finally appeared, we set off to find it. We had no idea how HUGE the airport was. It took us a solid 30 minutes to get to our gate, only to find it empty. We asked a nearby airline employee about our flight and due to the language barrier he signaled with his hands that our flight had left. I immediately began to panic. We rushed over to the nearest customer service desk, hoping to be put on the next flight out. Instead, the customer service representative explained that in order to be put on the next flight out we would have to pay the penalty fee of 1450 euros, plus an additional 600 euros to keep our return flight home. After a lot of back-and-forth with the airline and several phone calls, we decided to book a new flight with another airline. I was in such a hurry that I ended up booking the wrong flight that was departing in less than an hour. At this point I was on the verge of tears due to the frustration and stress I was under. Thankfully, one of the students I was traveling with managed to help me book the correct flight, but with an additional fee. Finally, after what felt like the worst travel experience ever, we landed in Athens in the early evening. Since our day was not going bad enough, the Uber refused to take all four of us because our luggage wouldn’t fit. We then had to order and wait for another Uber. By the time we got to the hotel, I was beyond exhausted. Jet lagged and drained from the day’s chaos, I could barely keep my eyes open. We dropped off our luggage at the hotel and headed straight to dinner to join the rest of the study abroad group. Though I hadn’t really ate throughout the day, I had no appetite. The stress and exhaustion killed any desire to eat. After dinner, we went straight back to the hotel, took a quick shower, and fell asleep. Despite having a rocky start to the trip, I am very excited to see and experience Athens.