Solo travel in Ireland
It was the start of 2018 when I took the plunge and booked my flight to Dublin Ireland. It was both the most frightening and most alive I had felt in quite some time.
Before I begin on how making this journey impacted me, let me first explain why I went in the first place.
I was suffocating in the relationship I was at the time. Home life wasn’t any better. Trying to make the best of a 3 bedroom rental with a house of 5 and a dog was a challenge. Knowing there are far worse situations this for us was new. We had grown accustomed to our space and privacy. Thankfully this was just a temporary situation, that year felt excruciating long.
My romantic life had driven me insane at this point. All I wanted was to leave this place and leave everyone behind. I needed a breather, a break from all the chaos.
Upon checking flights and destinations I only had one requirement, can’t drain my bank account. I got in contact with some very good family friends who were living in Dublin at the time to see if they would be around and let me crash with them for a new nights. This family, who I will formally introduce at a later time, have always been so kind and supportive of me. They gave me the green light and that was the last ‘push’ for me to go ahead and book my flight.
I knew buying the ticket and leaving would cause so much trouble. Not so much with my family, but with my boyfriend. Weeks prior to leaving me made me feel so guilty for leaving without him. Giving me so much shame and talking down on me on what a terrible person I was for doing this. He worked as a school teach therefore couldn’t take days off during certain time of the year. I couldn’t wait until it was a good time for him, part of this trip was to get away from him and clear my mind anyhow. I braced myself and didn’t let him take the joy out of something that was so special to me.
I remember feeling numb, afraid, nervous going through the airpot and boarding the plane. I only needed to land, see my friends face and feel her hug to feel alive again.
So now starts my ‘solo’ adventure in Dublin Ireland for approximately 3 days.
I had landed around 8-9am and immediately was told that I needed to start activities before the jetlag settled in. I hadn’t any planned or in mind for that day, as I wanted to spend time with them as well. She took things in her hands and dropped me off at Guinness Brewery first thing that morning. A small part of me was shocked at the thought of drinking that early in the morning, but as they, “when in rome”. Or in this case “when you’re in Dublin for a few days” you take advantage and start drinking ASAP.
There I was, dropped off at the doorsteps of Guinness brewery alone. There were very few people walking around that morning. I can remember the crisp air hit my face and I mustered up the courage to go inside.
I should quickly mentioned, that I am a very anxious person and doing certain things alone make me very very nervous.
If you haven’t been, the entrance of the brewery feels very small, a few hallways until you are greeted at the front desk where you can purchase your ticket. My young looks granted me a student discounted ticket. score
At the main level you can do some shopping while you wait around for others to gather and start the tour. I was amongst the first so I wandered around and made a mental list of the gifts I wanted to get my loved ones.
I started to see more people enter, “ah thank god I’m not the only alcoholic”.
The tour was grand, and I highly encourage everyone to go to it if you haven’t already. Great people too.
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My 2nd biggest adventure I did while there was take a tour to see the Cliffs of Moher. You wake up before anyone else, and wait outside for a bus to finally arrive to take you. There are more than 1 bus at the same location so be sure to get on the right on.
The morning was cold, and wet. Thankfully the bus was warm. I was among the very few that were there completely alone. Everyone had their partner, or family. This was when I felt lonely and like I might have made a mistake of doing this. I sat alone for a little while, until we got notice that the bus was going to be packed therefore to fill in any gaps. Another young woman around the same age as me was also there alone. We sort of locked eyes and smiled, and she sat next to me. Thus began a friendship who we shared so many stories that day. We had agreed to take pictures of each other as we weren’t fans of ‘selfies’ and to do the tour together!
Upon arriving to the Cliffs of Moher, were breathtaking. We raced to the top to see over the edge, and we just stood there in silence. Taking it all in. The fog cleared just as we arrived too. This tends to be very common during January. Luckily for a good 20 minutes we were able to see across the sea.
The feeling I had standing there by the cliffs was like no other. That feeling was what I was searching for. What I needed. At that moment, I had forgotten about all the mess and heartache I had left home. Being in the moment, enjoying the company of a new friend and taking in the scenery made the entire trip beyond worth it.
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Day 3, my last full day in Dublin. I had left all of my shopping and city exploring for this day. I went out after breakfast to catch the bus downtown. I had done some research on bookstores that I wanted to visit. I have a deep love for vintage, old-timey books.
After a few shops, and several books later I made my way to Trinity College. For years, I wish I studied abroad or just attended a university elsewhere. But just for that day, I fancied myself a college student. To my surprise it actually worked! I had a tourist approach me to ask for directions and asked if I was a student there.
One thing you must do when visiting Trinity College is visit the library. Which is called, The Long Room Library, or the ‘Old Library’. If my memory serves me right, it is a ‘tour’ therefore you do pay a few euros.
I told myself as I sat in the middle of the room, taking in the beautiful old books, “this is where I want to die".” How peaceful it would be….I closed my eyes and imagined that this library was my own. To climb on the ladders to find a certain book. To hide from the outside world in a corner of this library. Wishful thinking..
I spent probably too much time here, but I finally decided to explore the rest of the city.
Many shops later, I met up with the Neff family. Whom I had stayed with, for dinner.
2 Guinness and an Irish whiskey later - we all wandered around the city, wobbling around more like it, chatting and laughing.
That is what life should be about. I want more moments like this.
