Some Backstory
In March 2020, I was having the time of my life. I was studying abroad in Madrid and living on Calle de Arenal just off the Puerta del Sol. I had great roommates, I was taking weekend trips all over Europe, I had just reached my goal of competing in an Irish dance competition in Ireland, and I had just accepted a great internship for the fall semester in DC to give me more time to figure out my career goals, as well as being accepted to a summer program in Japan to learn more about electric vehicles.
Then, the Coronavirus hit.
In the blink of an eye, everything changed. On Tuesday, the president announced that anyone who wanted to return to the US would have to do so by Friday or else they would be refused entry. Before we could even confirm the details of this, everyone in the apartment, and most Americans living abroad, was booking a flight home. Each time you refreshed the page, prices went up by $100. You couldn’t trust certain layovers because those countries already had closed their borders, or were rumored to be doing so in the next few days. After struggling to book a flight in Spanish and having my credit card declined for suspicious activity, I finally had a much overpriced flight booked directly to Los Angeles on Friday the 13th. The minute I had time to take a deep breath, I was told that the rule only applied to foreigners and that Americans would not be denied entry after Friday. The thought crossed my mind that I could stay, but no one else seemed to be thinking the same so I didn’t cancel my flight.
The next few days were a blur. I think all of my roommates and I were a bit in shock that the dream life we had been living for the past 2.5 months and had expected to be living for at least 2.5 more was coming to an end. We tried to take advantage of the last few days by visiting some of the sites we hadn’t seen yet, or revisiting sites we particularly liked as each of our friends left one by one for the US.
I was lucky to make it back to the US without any complications with my flight or immigration, and was able to book the best travel deal I’ll probably ever encounter home- $30 from LA to DC direct on Spirit Airlines (not to mention the ridiculous amount I paid to get all my baggage home, however). I spent a couple days in California for the first time, and then on March 16, 2020, my 21st birthday, I arrived at IAD at 6 am.
From there, I mistakenly took a COVID test which took 16 days to come back and legally required me to stay at home (even though I was fine after a few days and it was obviously just a sinus infection exacerbated by lots of flying). I finished my studies at Carlos III virtually from the US, just barely passing all of my classes. I didn’t get to go to Japan like I had planned, but I was able to start my internship as planned. The internship confirmed to me that I didn’t want to do a typical engineering career, so I decided to turn my CS minor into a degree and pursue a career in tech from that point on. It also caused me to get a late start to internship applications for the summer, and I wasn’t quite qualified yet for the ones I wanted in tech (with my little CS experience), so I decided to take a full load of summer courses in order to speed up my dual degree.
In March and April countries started opening up for tourism, and there was rumors that most European countries would open up for tourism in the summer. At the same time, flight prices were still low for late May and June, and COVID refund policies were still in tact, so when I saw a $130 flight on Delta from BWI to MAD, I snagged it.
That brings us to today.
May 20, 2021
Now, I didn’t say that Spain actually opened up for tourism, and guess what, they didn’t! A couple days ago, I bought the most reasonably priced flight to a country that was possible for me to enter in Europe: Dubrovnik, Croatia. That cost me about $65.
I also didn’t say that the $130 flight to Madrid was a direct one. This morning I arrived bright and early at BWI with my Away carry on and Everywhere bag in tow. The Delta attendant gave me my boarding passes and marked my documents as fine without checking them. I arrived at the gate and had my bag checked for free since the flight was fully booked. Shortly after, my flight departed to Atlanta.
The Atlanta airport was ridiculously crowded, which I was okay with since it meant people were traveling again. I got a blueberry bagel with cream cheese and strawberry banana smoothie from Caribou Coffee which was decent but overpriced. Then I boarded my flight to JFK. I got the window seat this time which was a nice change from the middle seat I had on the last flight, and I sat next to a group of college aged boys who were going to Italy to study Landscape Architecture for a couple weeks.
The Delta terminal at JFK wasn’t very busy and had some decent food options so I settled for Shake Shack and tried to occupy myself during the long layover while thinking about how I would convince the flight attendant to let me on the flight without a negative COVID test (which was required to enter Spain but not to enter Croatia).
They let me on the flight without the QR code you get after taking a COVID test, and I got the window seat with a free seat next to me (yippee!). Delta gave us pillows and blankets, and while I will never eat airplane food on principle, I did eat the mini Ben and Jerry’s cookie dough ice cream they gave me. I broke my caffeine fast already by getting a Coke for no reason and I did not pee the entire time, keeping up the streak of not using airplane bathrooms (because you asked). I was able to get some sleep on this overnight flight, but not enough to make up for the long travel day I just had, and the even longer one that was to come.
May 21, 2021
I landed in MAD and walked to the immigration line. There were confusing forms to fill out, and I knew I could not pass through immigration without a QR. I discovered that they had a bus that would take me directly to Terminal 4S (for flights outside the Schengen zone), but I couldn’t collect my bag from Delta.
I had to communicate with the Delta employees in Spain which I could luckily call through WiFi calling (still unsure how this works or whether it ended up costing my dad the daily international fee from AT&T). I wasn’t really able to get through with Delta corporate but then, a Delta agent called me and asked me if I had forgotten my bag. I told her no and explained the story. She told me to come back to the other terminal and get my bags because otherwise they would have to mail them to Dubrovnik since they don’t have flights there (aka I would most likely never see them again). I told her I would try my best but technically I couldn’t enter the Schengen Zone and once I left the terminal I wouldn’t be able to to communicate with her because I wouldn’t have WiFi.
My next task was to convince the border police to let me pass through immigration and into the Schengen Zone. I did so successfully with my broken Spanish and received my first passport stamp of the day and trip. Then I convinced several COVID safety people to let me go to Terminal 1 by bus despite having an American passport. Terminal 4S is actually very far from the rest of the airport so it took quite a while, but I made it to Terminal 1. I went into arrivals through the customs area and the lady recognized me immediately as the only non-Spanish looking person in the vicinity. She gave me my bag and told me I was brave, and I told her it was no big deal because MAD is my home.
With my bag in hand I did have the thought that I had successfully snuck into the Schengen Zone. I thought about hopping on the metro and ditching my Croatia plans, but that meant forfeiting the money I had spent on my flight and accommodations already, so I decided against it. After all, how would I explain that to the police when I left? I hadn’t even researched the state of Madrid at the time, so I didn’t know if tourist attractions or restaurants were open. I also thought about going into town just to grab Takos al Pastor, but wan’t too sure how long that could take and was exhausted, so ultimately, I took a bus all the way back to Terminal 4S, where I promptly exited the Schengen Zone and received my 2nd passport stamp of the day.
Back in Terminal 4S, I ate a croissant with ham and cheese from Starbucks, which tasted amazing since I was literally starving and very dehydrated, and after several uncomfortable hours, I boarded my flight to Croatia.
I was a bit nervous about going through customs in Dubrovnik. I thought I had followed all the rules but you just never know. My particular concern was whether my vaccination documentation would be accepted since it wasn’t European. Thankfully, the flight attendant congratulated me on being vaccinated, and I hopped on the plane, where I got the window seat with a free seat next to me. So far so good.
At immigration I just showed them my passport and vaccination card and was let in without having to show any other documentation, which according to the Croatian immigration website, should have been necessary. I had previously booked and paid for (over the phone to a random Croatian lady) my accommodation and had receipts in hand. I also had no return flight which I had been a bit worried about, but planned to say I was going to take the bus out of the country or buy a return flight at immigration.
With my 3rd passport stamp of the day in hand, I found the “official shuttle” that I had read about towards town. It cost $8 one way to Pile Gate. They played suspicious music that was almost certainly racist and would never be played on a bus in the US. It was expensive for the age and condition of the shuttle bus, but the cheapest option if you are solo.
The bus dropped us off at Pile Gate and now it was time for the final challenge: finding my hostel in the old town without phone service. I had watched a video provided by the hostel earlier since they said it was difficult to find the hostel without it. I set off, figuring I could ask a restaurant for help if I got lost. Luckily, I was able to find the hostel from memory and went inside.
Angelina Hostel ⧉
Right away, I met an American girl who has been traveling since 2019 and got stuck in Jordan during COVID. I also met T, who went to West Point and taught me about GoogleFi. The hostel was very busy with serious travelers. I met a French guy named Leo who is biking around Europe. He came from France and went all the way to Turkey before coming to Croatia and will continue to Norway.
The owner of the hostel (who I had talked to on the phone), Anamarija, is so nice, and the hostel is small, but the vibe is friendly. It is clean, has a typical locker, kitchen (yet to use), big refrigerator, and she gave me all of her recommendations. They had a decent setup for charging electornics as well. Konzum (a grocery store) is right next door. I was staying in the lower (annex) building but you may also stay in a different building that is in the upper part of the old town. There was a bar right outside that people were hanging out at. They invited me, but I declined because I have been traveling for almost 2 days.
Pizzeria Castro ⧉
Before going to sleep, I decided to grab my first pizza of the trip. This restaurant was right near the Hostel, and recommended by Anamarija. I got a personal sized margherita pizza for $11.50. Seating is only outdoors. It’s a bit chilly, but the patio had blankets that people were using which was romantic. The pizza was pretty good, but nothing to write home about.
Tips for Dubrovnik So Far
No masks are necessary in the hostel or outdoors in Dubrovnik, but you will be asked to put one on in shops and indoor restaurants.
SIM cards are expensive (T-Mobile $13.50 unlimited for 1 week) here so I’m not sure when I will change mine out since Old Town is easy to navigate and getting to Pile Gate is very easy with buses. There’s also free Dubrovnik WiFi that reaches at least the Old Town. I downloaded offline maps of Dubrovnik and bought a cheap SIM for emergencies, but haven’t activated it yet.
Check Out My Guide to Dubrovnik ⧉
My Google Maps Guides have all the important locations I mention in my blogs, and you can open it right in Google Maps to make it easy to plan your own trip!