Taking on a new challenge - travelling alone to Dublin

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simmerskan
Tufted Titmouse
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23 Mar 2018, 1:58 pm

Hi,

I don´t really know where I am going to start this thread and it´s going to be long (sorry!).
But for a long time I had a thing for challenges. I don´t know if it counts as a interest or my personality but it is something special about challenges. Both the small and big ones. You take out a path, make your decision about what you want to do and see where it takes you. Sometimes it´s both scary and overwhelming but when you succeed, even just a bit, it´s like you flowing a little bit over the ground.

So now I´ved started a new challenge. When I was younger, me and my family travelled to Greece a couple times. One time we took the train all the way down. We had a bit of bad luck, train strike, boat strike and a lot of other things that really tested my patience and ability to adapt to the situations. Two years ago I went with my brother and his girlfriend to Japan for two weeks. Japan wasn´t on my list on travel destinations that I wanted to visit but that journey changed everything. Literally everything was new to me. The culture, the food...you name it. But I realised that this is what I want to do. I want to travel to other countries and learn new things and challenge myself as much as possible.And to do that I want (and probably need) to travel alone. My plan is also to meet other auties or autism associations that promote acceptance.

My family have given their blessing and they think it´s a good idea as long as I have a plan. So I contacted an occupational therapist and said that this is what I want to do. They said that it was a unusal request but they said yes. So for the last couple of moths I´ve been training to read maps, talks about how to travel and making some list to use before and under at trip. So now I´m starting to prepare for my first trip with the destination Dublin.

So now to my questions. Is there anyone else that travels abroad alone? If yes, what are your experiences? Any advice? And if someone know a bit about Dublin and what season you should visit the city?

My apologies for the rant but I think thsi is the best forum that I can went this subject.


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elsapelsa
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23 Mar 2018, 2:33 pm

Hej! I'm Swedish-English but will write to you in English! I have travelled a lot - both with friends, family and on my own. My parents divorced when I was young so from about 8-9 I was sent back and forth between Sweden and England by myself on planes (literally covered in stickers!). I am not sure they do that now but I used to get to sit in the front or with the captain for a fair bit of the flight. My dad would take me backpacking around Europe for the summers. We went to Spain, Greece, Italy, France. I went abroad myself the first time when I was 15. To Paris with two friends. And then at 18 I spent a year travelling around South East Asia. I liked travelling by myself. I was lucky to never get into trouble and to meet nice people.

I went to Dublin about 10 years ago. It is a really nice city. I went in the late spring and I also caught a bus out to Galway and there were some beautiful villages there by the sea. I found it a very friendly place, Irish people seem lovely and open and very hospitable. If you want to stop in England on your way over, please message me! My home is a little bit crazy as I have two young children, but it is in a really beautiful part of the English countryside.

Anyway, Lycka till, friskt vagat halften vunnit! Tycker det later som en jattebra plan och hoppas det blir en fantastisk resa for dig! Skriv dagbok det blir sakert manga vackra minnen!


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YippySkippy
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23 Mar 2018, 5:15 pm

Bring a small, lightweight umbrella, as the weather changes very rapidly in Ireland. April is usually the driest month, and lovely because of all the spring flowers.
I'm fairly well acquainted with Dublin if you have any specific questions about the city. It is fairly small for a capital city, and you can walk from one side to the other if you're in decent shape. There is also a commuter train called the DART that can take you to towns north and south along the seafront. There's not much violent crime, but there are a lot of pickpockets, so guard your belongings carefully.



idntonkw
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12 Sep 2020, 11:17 pm

simmerskan wrote:
Hi,

I don´t really know where I am going to start this thread and it´s going to be long (sorry!).
But for a long time I had a thing for challenges. I don´t know if it counts as a interest or my personality but it is something special about challenges. Both the small and big ones. You take out a path, make your decision about what you want to do and see where it takes you. Sometimes it´s both scary and overwhelming but when you succeed, even just a bit, it´s like you flowing a little bit over the ground.

So now I´ved started a new challenge. When I was younger, me and my family travelled to Greece a couple times. One time we took the train all the way down. We had a bit of bad luck, train strike, boat strike and a lot of other things that really tested my patience and ability to adapt to the situations. Two years ago I went with my brother and his girlfriend to Japan for two weeks. Japan wasn´t on my list on travel destinations that I wanted to visit but that journey changed everything. Literally everything was new to me. The culture, the food...you name it. But I realised that this is what I want to do. I want to travel to other countries and learn new things and challenge myself as much as possible.And to do that I want (and probably need) to travel alone. My plan is also to meet other auties or autism associations that promote acceptance.

My family have given their blessing and they think it´s a good idea as long as I have a plan. So I contacted an occupational therapist and said that this is what I want to do. They said that it was a unusal request but they said yes. So for the last couple of moths I´ve been training to read maps, talks about how to travel and making some list to use before and under at trip. So now I´m starting to prepare for my first trip with the destination Dublin.

So now to my questions. Is there anyone else that travels abroad alone? If yes, what are your experiences? Any advice? And if someone know a bit about Dublin and what season you should visit the city?

My apologies for the rant but I think thsi is the best forum that I can went this subject.


I found I get lost without a smartphone. I was travelling for social reasons, hoping to expand my mind and have little social experiences.. it felt kind of lonely.. as a girl you have the increased robbery on the street or sexual assault risk like date rape drug in your drink or being sexually attacked by an Uber driver for example.. I would read descriptions of crimes against tourists and keep them in mind as always a possibility at any time.. on the other hand, that risk is not high, so you will probably be fine, but prevention is always the better strategy..

Looking up the top tourist destinations and points of interest on Tripadvisor and going to each and taking a photo there is a fun hobby..

Every city has a free walking tour that you only pay tips for at the end.. these are fun as they get random group of tourists together and they walk you around and tell you entertaining history and give you a break to go to a restaurant or coffee shop for lunch too.. https://www.dublinfreewalkingtour.ie/