A Trip to Berlin: Our First Adult Getaway
“Adult” Planning at its Finest
For the first time since “becoming real adults”, Lexa and I packed our bags for a weeklong international trip to Berlin to reunite with our friend Mai. This trip had been months in the making and required a lot more coordination since we both work full-time.
Despite the amount of pre-planning needed to coordinate schedules and pick a meeting point, we did surprisingly little research on Berlin itself. Since we only had a few days together, we wanted to make the most of our trip but not overpack it with activities. Berlin has so much rich history too and we took that into account so we could absorb all that Germany’s capital had to offer.
Why this Trip was Different
If you’ve kept up with our travels, then you know that our travel style is pretty frugal. But for this trip to Berlin, we splurged (if you count $30 each per night splurging) on a hostel right in the heart of the city. While we’re huge proponents of using hostels as a way to meet other travelers, we decided to focus this trip on our reunion with Mai, who we hadn’t seen in over a year.
A New Perspective in Berlin
Usually on our trips you can find us closing down the bars or chatting with locals, but one thing we really noticed about our first trip as “adults” was that our view of exploring a city changed drastically. Before, we thought not going on the hostel bar crawl or checking out the local pubs meant you weren’t making the most of your time in a new city. We came to realize that exploring a city didn’t mean just checking out the nightlife. Suddenly we felt no pressure to push ourselves in a way that didn’t feel natural.
Catching up at our hostel or heading home after a casual drink was a welcome change on this trip. We realized there are so many ways to really see and experience a new place. We ate different cuisines every night – Thai, Indian, Italian, Spanish, etc. You name it, we ate it and really connected with how vibrant and culturally diverse this city was. We also took a much closer look into the history and diversity of the city by checking out museums all over the city and taking a tour of a concentration camp.
A New Pace
For the first time, we didn’t feel like we were missing out if we didn’t stay out late, go to clubs, etc. We enjoyed the city at our own pace and really focused on appreciating the things we chose to see. Our days actually felt longer and we got to see everything we had hoped in our three day Berlin tour. While we still like to travel frugally, spontaneously and have some fun stories to share back at home, we no longer feel the pressure to do what seems “cool”.
