Dr. Haus's Unsolicited Life Advice: F***ing Off to Spain

Spain via Trains, Planes, and Buses

The Trip

It is hard to believe but I am FINALLY embarking on my first trip to Europe. This trip has been 20 years in the making. My dream was to go to Spain and hopefully visit some other European countries in the process if possible.

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After saving for YEARS for this trip, having a 3-week trip to Spain during the summer of 2020 cancelled (thanks Ms. Rona), and (im)patiently waiting, I am now making it happen. This will be a long trip (almost 6 weeks) and I could not be more excited!

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For most of the trip I will be WWOOFing in southern Spain and I will round out the last 12 days of the trip visiting four cities in southern Spain and taking a 3-day layover in Lisbon on my way back. It still doesn't feel real (even though I am sitting at my gate listening to a recorded voice telling me to check my bag for firearms before I go through security, only in America 🙄).

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Getting to the Airport

My trip to the airport is not bad at all, I am lucky that I live within walking distance from the train that will take me to the airport. I simply switch from the regular train to the Air Tram and BAM, I am in the airport.

Photo by Dr. Haus

The train ride was uneventful and I spent the entire time filled with excitement for finally living out my travel dream. While sitting at my gate, I can't help but to wonder, why do they recommend getting to the airport 3 hours before an international flight? I got through security in all of 4 minutes time but let's be honest, I much prefer being too early than too late and will continue arriving at airports early for this entire trip (plus from here on out I will need to go through customs).

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Well, at this point I don't have too much to say besides estoy MUY entusiasmada y no puedo esperar a estar en España. Chao!

Photo by Dr. Haus

Short Layover in Lisbon

Well, what I suspected to be an uneventful trip to my layover in Lisbon turned into an interesting affair. Shortly after everyone boarded the plane someone was taken off the plane by four people, one of which looked like they had an air marshal badge. I didn't think too much of it until the four people came back on the plane to remove another person.

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This was very odd but I was like, well, let's roll with it. We aren't really sure why those two people were removed from the flight - the flight attendants said they were not told either. After the second individual was removed the flight attendants needed to go through every item in the overhead bin space to make sure it was accounted for by someone on the plane. Thankfully this didn't take too long, but it did mean we left the USA late (more on that later).

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The most exciting thing I learned on the flight was that free wine comes with the dinner on my flight! For plane food and plane wine I was a happy camper (can't say no to something I didn't have to make). As usual I didn't sleep much on the plane ride to Lisbon but they gave us a snack before we landed which was also quite nice.

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Now comes the drama (which wasn't really that dramatic). When we arrived in Lisbon we departed the train onto the tarmac onto a bus to get back to the airport. I was cutting it VERY close for my flight and was hoping they would let me go through the fast customs line. For some reason the person sorting people said my flight wasn't boarding yet (which was not true) but I rolled with it and went into the long line. I ran to my gate and was the last person to arrive at the gate to get on the bus to my plane (whew).

Photo of the stairs to the plane taken by Dr. Haus

Málaga

Now I am sitting outside the Málaga airport in a T-shirt (I know, so exciting, but it is fair to say I am the only one in a T-shirt, everyone else is bundled. Yay for growing up in a cold place). I can report that I had my two first conversations in Spanish (both asking for directions). I was nervous but successfully (in my mind) asked for said directions. The first person responded in Spanish (yay) and the second in English so I guess the security guard was like, naw, she's English speaking, I am not doing this.

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I can also report that just like the United States Málaga is full of pigeons looking for food - some experiences are clearly universal. I also learned that Málaga is famous for its golf courses (who knew?) and see a LOT of people with golf clubs. The more you know!

Photo flying into Málaga taken by Dr. Haus

The next step of my journey will be a bus ride to Estepona, Spain and then I will be picked up by the WWOOFERs to head into the mountains and the farm. I cannot wait to get there, I am so tired but also extremely excited to get this adventure rolling!

Photo of my T-Rex friend waiting for the bus to Estepona by Dr. Haus

Estepona

It is now two days after my arrival to the farm and I need to update you all about the trip from the airport to the farm! The bus ride from the airport to Estepona was uneventful minus the wonderful view of the Mediterranean Sea during the bus ride. At this point, I was starting to crash from the travel, lack of sleep, and jet lag.

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I was met at the bus station by one of the other people who is working on the farm and we headed up the mountain. This person mentioned that the ride up and down the mountain makes everyone feel motion sickness. I didn't think it would be that bad but alas, I yacked in the car. Great first impression for the other person on the farm, lol.

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The farm is in the mountains and it is completely beautiful - I will post some of the pictures from the first few days below: