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| getting a picture from one of the ladies who made the Team USA taberds |
So I finally did it. I trained hard and succeeded in joining my fellow knights on the battlefield of Barcelona for Team USA's 21 man team. I lost seventeen pounds, hit new strength personal records, and I also had plenty of cardio to fight well.It was an honor to join these great men and women on the field to test our mettle against those who would stand against us. We won and lost on our own merits. We stood side by side and faced the challenges together. We broke bread, we made new friends. This is one experience and memories I will keep as a treasure and look fondly upon it as the first of what I hope to be many more campaigns.
Below, I wish to dedicate my thoughts and time to communicate some of the lessons learned to travel abroad. I hope to reflect upon this so that I combine the thoughts of those who have shared many of these lessons before my writing this.
Flight Mistakes
When I purchased tickets, I bought the travel insurance that came with it. This insurance covered some medical as well as lost baggage, etc. However, I wasn’t sure that the insurance would cover my actually participating in medieval combat, so I purchased another insurance package for roughly the same price. This covered the combat, plus lost baggage, etc.
I purchased tickets at a pretty good price, but found out later if I used Scott’s Cheap flights, I could possibly saved a bunch more. There were people who flew to Barcelona on 300 bucks each round trip.
I am too big for Delta’s exit row seats. Because they have the tray tables locked, they want you to use the built in trays like in bulkhead seats. I just cannot fit in those seats comfortably well. I ended up having to fly 2 hours both ways in very uncomfortable position because we chose those seats due to leg room.
Flight Successes
I signed up for Delta Sky Miles and got the American Express card. This allowed me to get a bunch of miles which I can use for upgrades later. Plus with more international travel, I will be able to use those points and convert them. This also allowed me one free checked bag. Delta has the option for comfort plus. Comfort plus is basically the right size for me. When I travel, I will pay for the comfort plus if it is an option.
Accommodations
Airbnb - We found a great airbnb and was really happy with the choice. We shared with others which brought our price down to roughly $130 per person for the entire week. I am assuming smaller apartments or rooms are available when traveling abroad. I will choose to use this service more often. Our apartment did have a washing machine. They didn’t have a dryer which I heard is common in Europe. We took full advantage of the washing machine and hung our clothes out to dry. It did rain a lot so we often had to rely on an electric fan and hanging them inside to finish drying. It really wasn’t a problem.
Packing
Jen and I packed three sets of clothes along with options for layers such as long sleeve shirt and jacket to combat most of the weather. The rest of our bags where armor and garb. We brought two sets of garb, but after experiencing the event, we could have easily gotten away with one set of garb.
There were some fighters who went through screening that they forced to check their bag at an extra cost if they packed their helmet. Others were able to to through screening without problem. I packed my gauntlets and shoulders in my carry on. Every time, screening asked to open the bags and look at them.
Make sure that you have pictures of you in your armor, copies of the event literature, to show that you are using this as sporting equipment. I had copies for each bag that I packed.
Pack a rain poncho in your carry on just in case. You cannot carry an umbrella and roll all your bags with armor at the same time.
Our friend Toni taught us the ‘puzzle piece’ packing method. Basically layering pattern that allows for more use of the space to pack. This really helped us on our return trip when we were coming back with a lot more than we originally came with.
Phone/Communications
Unlocked Phone
For my wife’s unlocked phone, it was as simple as going to the local cellular store and switching out the sim card. I had to go to https://www.att.com/deviceunlock/#/ to unlock my phone. Once verified, it was good to go when we arrived in Spain. I paid 35 Euros for 3 Gb 120 minutes of talk and unlimited text.
Locked Phone
I found that I was miserable without using my phone. I made a game of collecting wifi passwords like kids collect pokemon go. I had a ton of wifi passwords all around the place where we stayed, ate, or visited. Most places have no problems sharing the wifi passwords; just ask. I did find a less than reputable store that would unlock my phone for 45 Euros and then allow me to use the local SIM card. I was a little leery if this was legit and would it ruin my ability to use my phone when I got back to the states.
I discovered when I switched off my phone from airplane mode, ATT sent me a text message that basically said for $10 a day I can use my US plan internationally. This just means anytime you want to use your phone over there, if you use the cellular network for connection or data, ATT will charge you $10 bucks. I only used it for 4 days but it was so nice to be able to use my own phone to get around using maps, etc. Originally ATT tried to sell me an international package for seventy dollars roughly for the week I was there. Glad I went with this option.
Money
We had no problem exchanging cash for Euros. Unfortunately we got hit on the exchange rate but it wasn’t bad. We had enough money to do what we want. There are lots of ways to save money. The biggest cost savings is the food. We chose not to save money there. There was so much to try. There was a small cafe below our apartment that served great breakfast. However, there are tons of supermarkets around where you can pick up cheap food to bring back and cook for yourself. Breakfast and lunch options are easy pickings to save money. Supermarkets have easy and quick options. If you are shopping, there are always quick and cheap options to eat.
We also found out there was an upcharge to eating outside. The restaurants will even encourage you to do so without you knowing of the extra charge. One restaurant items cost 10 Euros inside, but 15 Euros outside.
There are usually ATMs everywhere and just pull out what you need. Most places will have an option to select your language so it is easy to understand and secure your transaction
For the less thrifty travelers who seek to eat out every meal, plan 10 Euros for breakfast, 15 Euros for Lunch, and 20 Euros for dinner on average.
Public Transport
When we arrived, Taxis were on strike. So, we were forced to quickly learn the public transit system. Luckily our AirBnB host gave us easy directions to follow to get from the airport to the apartment. I think that was the most stressful part of our travel because we didn’t speak the language well, plus the names were not particularly clear. So, it is best to do your homework to have a backup solution if Taxis are not available. We took a train, then purchased subway tickets. Unfortunately it was raining hard and we got soaked walking the few blocks from the station to the apartment.
Once we learned the metro, we got around town like pros. It was fast, really inexpensive and allows you quick access to all the fun places in town. I bought a two day pass, while my wife bought a ten use pass. I think she got more for her dollar spent. But I did use my pass those two days for like 7 trips.
For the ride to the airport, we used a taxi service like Uber.Taxi Options that use your google maps location and saves you problems with translation as well as ability to reserve a future pickup:
Cabify
MyTaxi
Experience
Traveling
I am a big man. I found that Delta offers the comfort + option which allows a little more room and slightly bigger seats. I found the overseas trip in comfort plus the only way to travel. Further note that exit aisle seating in the smaller commuter jets from major airports to smaller airports are not acceptable on Delta flights. They use the bulkhead style seats with the trays built into the seats instead of trays on the back of the seats in front of you. That inch or so less seating was the difference between somewhat comfortable and sheer misery.
I also spent a lot of time downloading movies and audiobooks for the trip. I used none of it. If flying with airline that offers gogo, you can download the app on your phone and have access to all their inflight entertainment. This includes smaller regional flight jets. This will not cost you money unless you choose to surf the web. The International flights offered an awesome selection of current movies and television shows. They also offered games, and music to keep you entertained. If you forget your headphones, they provided a set to you.
Fighting
Fighting in the 21s was a great experience. I was humbled. It seems every time I step on the field of battle, I find myself in ever increasing battles of intensity. Watching the videos, I did my job. I was a meat shield. I held the line until I didn’t. I made some mistakes and went down earlier than I would have liked. At times, I held up three men to allow the second line to rain down pole arms.
Take aways, for me was lighter armor and start working the polearms. With my power, driving down hurt boms with a polearm would be tremendous as long as I am accurate with it. I am going to buy upgraded and lighter armor. My current kit is a tank and has full coverage everywhere. I can get away with less plates and coverage and allow myself better mobility. I am really interested in custom cased greaves as well. However due to my size, that may or may not be in my price range.
Last thoughts
The biggest wish I had was to have had been able to take more vacation time to spend traveling and sightseeing. The city was absolutely wonderful. My favorite part was just walking and discovering all these neat little shops in nooks and crannies. There old world made new feel was very cool. Walking on streets that were no wider than a small car to find cool little bars and three star plus restaurants just blew me away. There was so much hidden to discover. I don’t regret the money I spent, I loved finding museums, old churches, and experience the culture. I bought gifts to take home to our kids and mementos of our campaign.
I plan on learning more Spanish as this is the second time I have visited Barcelona in my life and how much I fell in love with it, I plan to return. Next time with a better working vocabulary. I will say that the Google translate feature was amazing. You can literally use the camera on your phone and Google translate will translate the the foreign text to English for you. I used it during our cab ride to translate between the Spanish our driver was speaking and my English using the microphone. We found it to be 70-75% accurate and at least understandable enough to roughly translate things.
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