September 16th, 2025. I had been anticipating this day for a while. The long haul to a different continent over 6,000 miles away from home. This was also going to be the longest flight I had ever been on: A nine-hour flight from Denver International Airport to Heathrow Airport in London. Right after that I would have another five-hour flight that I would have to run to catch from Heathrow to Cyprus, because I only had an hour between the two flights, leading the total time sitting on a plane to be around 14 hours.
I was already particularly nervous because it was going to be a long way from home, in a place I was unfamiliar with, and the flight was going to be uncomfortably long for me. The only thing I hoped for that day was to have an unproblematic travel day. No delays, no re-bookings, no getting lost in a foreign country. This did not end up being the case. My flight to Heathrow from Denver ended up being delayed by half-an-hour due to weather and issues with the aircraft. This caused us to miss our layover…which ended being quite the task to get re-booked. We ended up having to wait at the airport for nine hours for our new flight. We also ended up having some immigration issues, and some of the bookings agents were not too helpful. Our flight ended up landing in Larnaca, Cyprus around 3 A.M. It was quite exhausting, and I got little to no sleep and found myself in tears a few times, but they did give me a 10-dollar drink voucher (which was only enough for a cheap beer), so it wasn’t all too bad.
After some reflection, it definitely wasn’t the absolute worst travel day possible, and I’d say I learned quite a bit from it. So how did I get to Cyprus safe and sound despite all the issues? First thing, my dad flew me out, which was a lifesaver. He is a well-traveled guy and has been to a ton of different places across the world, so I knew I could trust him to help out. Second thing, there were other people in my study abroad program on my flight, so we were able to flock together and work through it. Having people in the same boat as you will make things better. The last thing, communicating. Communication with global semesters (my abroad program), customer service representatives (even if one isn’t helpful, another one will be), and even parents who were not present all proved to be very beneficial in helping me through the travel.
Nobody is immune to travel issues. Stuff happens that is out of anybody’s control, and you just got to roll with it. Here are some key things to take away from my travel experience:
- Know your resources – Have phone numbers and emails of people who can help you out in a sticky-situation. This can be a program coordinator, an educated adult, or anybody else that you think would be helpful.
- Connect with people on your flight that are in your program – We had a large group chat organized by our program with all the students in it. People from my flight were able to text about the delay and we were able to connect.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for help – A foreign place is scary, but I’ve discovered that there are many people around that are willing to help out.
- Keep your phone charged – My phone died a few times and the only reason I could find my gate number is because my dad was with me, and not everybody is in a situation where they are traveling with somebody.
I’m not writing this to scare anybody about traveling, as I would do it again if it meant I still got to come to Cyprus. I more want you all to remember this in case you encounter struggles too – because they can come up. Traveling isn’t easy for everybody, and that is alright.
