I think I went to Dublin...

Well friends, I had my first scary solo international travel moment. Glad I can check that box.

I arrived in Dublin around 11pm and hitched a bus to my hostel. I walked by it, not realizing it, because it was closed! I had a moment of panic as I went through the possibilities of what I was going to do. Would I just walk around until I found a hostel that was still open that would take me in?!

As I sat there panicking slightly, I noticed a gentleman standing vaguely near the entrance of the hostel. I asked him if I missed my chance to check in, and he pulls out all these keys and let's me in. Whew!

So I had a short night's sleep, then woke up early for my 6-day tour of all Ireland. There were so many people. A whole bus full. Super intimidating. My heart sank a little bit as we made our first few stops, as I was stuck sitting near 3 Austrian girls who only spoke German to each other and kept taking selfies around me. I didn't connect with anyone.

I figured this was going to be a miserable 6 days rather than the fun friend-making time I had hoped it would be.

Luckily, during our jaunt in Belfast, there were a handful of us that decided not to pay extra for the tour of the company that built the Titanic, so we went to a pub instead. And now I have friends!

Oh thank goodness. It would have been a long week otherwise.

We went out to a local pub called Filthy McNasty's and had some whiskey, Guinness and tequila, because duh.

Today we are leaving Belfast and heading out to Derry, with a couple stops along the way.

Our tour guide is named Rory, and he is funny as hell. My new friends and I have a couple of goals for this trip. The first is to take over the front seats so we can hear all the comments he makes when the microphone is off. The second is to get him drunk.

He also told me he would give me a whiskey lesson later in the week, so all you snobs better prepare yourselves.