Mistakes I've Made Archives - Nessie Out of Water

Budget Travel, Europe, Mistakes I've Made, Travel Tips, Videos

The Story of How We Were Ripped off in Paris

It’s no secret that I often encounter problems when abroad. Let’s see; I’ve almost froze to death, had a German toilet refuse to flush, witnessed a man getting beat up in the streets, been yelled at for snoring, and now, I’ve experienced being ripped off as well! No one ever told me that travel could be so…

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Mistakes I've Made, Stories From a Female Traveler, Videos

Why I Thought I Was Going to Die in New Zealand.

This story happened in October of 2018. We hadn’t pack much winter clothing because it was supposed to be spring, but the temps dropped so much on this night, that I honestly remember lying there with my teeth chattering, too cold to move or come up with a plan b, thinking “this is it! This…

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Ghost hunting at the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

America, Mistakes I've Made

Adventures in Ghost Hunting

Let me tell you a little story. I am REALLY into ghosts. It’s kind of ridiculous. How into ghosts am I? Well, I 100% believe that every house I have lived in since college, including my college dorm, has been haunted. I believe in ghosts SO much, that I am actually writing a ghost novel…

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Budget Travel, Mistakes I've Made

Don’t Wake the Snoring Traveler

Poke. Poke. Poke. “Go away.” my brain screamed. “I hate you.” But it didn’t go away. Poke. Poke. “Psst!” My brain woke up, my eyes jumped open quickly. They attempted to fix themselves on the figure standing over my bunk in our 12-bed hostel in the 2 a.m. darkness. It was some older woman. She…

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Mistakes I've Made

Adventures in a Foreign Toilet, The Christmas Market

“Oh, no!” I thought to myself. “This is not happening!” I tried again. And again. And again. Six different attempts, yet nothing was changing. My husband would have said to me, “Nessie, the definition of insanity is repeating the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Darn it. He was right. This was…

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Europe, Mistakes I've Made, Travel Tips

Should I Book A Mixed Gender Hostel Room?

“But it’s so much cheaper!” I remember saying as we scoured hostels online. “Does it really matter? We will hardly ever be in the room! Let’s book it. What could go wrong?” Those were the words we would come to eat for breakfast our first morning in our hostel. We woke up and began…

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Europe, Mistakes I've Made, Travel Tips

24 Hours in Paris

If you recall from this post, our time for exploring Paris was cut short by an unexpected Airbnb cancellation. While we were already on a tight timeline, this delay had eaten significantly into the mere day and a half we had in the city. We now only had 24 hours to see the city! As…

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Europe, Mistakes I've Made, Travel Tips

How We Found Ourselves In Paris Without A Place to Stay

We had been at the airport in Paris for so long. For approximately three solid hours, we had sat in the terminal. Our butts were firmly planted to poorly padded pleather seats, eagerly waiting for a phone call to come in from Airbnb regarding our canceled reservation. Since we were relying on wifi for…

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Europe, Mistakes I've Made, Travel Tips

Fearing For Our Lives in Paris

I should preface this by saying that we were actually in no danger at all. Krystal and I spent nearly every weekend of our teenage years together. We were always at each others homes, driving around searching for a cool spot – any cool spot would do when you live in the boonies – and watching every…

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Europe, Mistakes I've Made

How I Slept On A Train

My friend walked me back to the Amsterdam Centraal Station. “Your train will come in there.” She said, holding my ticket and pointing down the station to my terminal. I thanked her and hugged her bye, excited to board a train all by myself down to Munich. I grabbed a bite to eat and…

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Europe, Mistakes I've Made

Exploring Arthur’s Seat (The Wrong Way)

My watch buzzed early, alerting me that it was time to wake up. Today, we were climbing Arthur’s Seat! I studied the printout hanging on the wall of our super awesome hostel in Edinburgh! It detailed how to climb Arthur’s Seat, the extinct volcano on the outskirts of Edinburgh. I not only memorized the instructions, I…

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Woman Taking Photographs in Paris Nessie Out of Water

Mistakes I've Made, Travel Tips

The Best Camera For Travel

We have all heard the saying “the best camera is the one you have with you”, and it’s very true! I have always traveled with my DSLR and my cell phone, finding myself using my cell phone for the majority of photographs. My real camera only coming along only if I knew of a specific…

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