So this one time on the Barcelona subway…

What do you do if you get separated from your friends on the subway?

Oh, it’s story time, pals.

Picture this: Spain, Fall 2017. A bright-eyed, significantly shorter-haired Taylor (If you don’t know me, I’m the hapa girl with a lighthouse tattoo on her left arm) is hitting the streets of Barcelona with her oversized backpacking gear and study abroad friends.

Your girl and co. decide it would be fun to go to Park Güell. We’re on a budget, so the subway is the transportation move. At this point everything is going smoothly. I’ve got our subway route pulled up on Google Maps, but my attention slips away from my phone for a second since we’re chatting away in the subway car.

As many of you know, Google Maps does this thing where it freaks out sometimes and just reroutes for no reason. That doesn’t mean that you should freak out (spoiler alert: like your girl did!) We’re at a stop and Google Maps is *wrongly* telling me to get off here. So what do I do? Like any wise person, I panic and tell my friends we have to get off, and I jump out onto the platform…right before the subway doors slide shut. I turn around and stare at my friends through the sealed doors, mouths gaping open, as the subway zips away.

Oh, it gets BETTER. I look down, and my phone dies right then. Straight up as I’m staring at it. Also did I mention that I don’t speak Spanish?

So I’m lost. Separated from my friends. Riding aimlessly on the subway with a dead phone for three. Whole. Hours. Talk about building character.

I eventually find my way to the Park Güell stop by using hand gestures and repeating “Gaudi” over and over again. And luckily, my friends were there waiting for me. But this all could’ve been avoided!

This is my long-winded, dramatic way of saying that if you get separated from your friends on the subway, get off at the next stop on your route and wait for them. If you are the separated friend, don’t panic. Just get off at the next stop and reunite with your buddies. Problem solved.

4.30.19 | Taylor Kissinger