u/Charming_Key2313

I’m officially old and naive at 40 apparently. I have traveled the world over multiple times and this time I don’t know what happened, but I have officially become a traveling idiot.

I reserved tickets (for one, because I’m solo traveling) to the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona and the Alhambra in Granada during my adventure through Spain, through websites that popped up first on Google searches (obnoxiously, I DID try to be smart about it and Googled these facilities with the words “official website“…not that it mattered), and long story short, I bought scam tickets on the websites that seemed legitimate but now I know weren’t.

So now I’m out probably a total of like $300 USD and I’m here in Spain during a fairly busy season and these things are completely sold out on the actual official websites for any days that I’m actually within the cities.

I’m extremely devastated. I’m embarrassed. And I spent pretty much multiple years of savings to do this big trip through Spain and see these big sites and now I’m not able to.

I know all the tricks because I’ve read now hours of online information that I can visit these websites at midnight and refresh and refresh and refresh or that I could show up first thing when they open or last thing when they close to try to get tickets, but I’m already here and literally out of time. It’s very unlikely at this point that I’m gonna be able to see this Sagrada Familia because I leave Barcelona in two days.

I don’t go to Granada or about another week, but I have the option right now to potentially cancel my entire Granada stay (of which I’m staying for three full days and four nights) and use that time instead for another city, since the only reason I was going to Granada was for Alhambra and if I cancel within the next 24 hours, I should get a full refund of my hotel stay….But I’m very conflicted cause a part of me wants to hold out hope that these website tricks will work and it will not be a wasted time, but I don’t know if my nervous system can take going and spending all this money to stay in Granada and not get into Alhambra at all. I’ve already dealt with the heartbreak here in Barcelona.

Again, I’m traveling fully solo, so there’s no “making up for it” with long strolls through pretty parks with a friend or partner or something. The big sites are why I’m doing this.

What would you do?

I’m roadtripping through Ireland right now (from USA). I pulled up at a circle k jsut to chill for a few minutes right in front of their car wash. It’s literally raining, has been off and on all day in the area…yet, three people in less than 15 minutes went through the car wash. Is this an Irish thing?? Why wash your car in the rain??

I’m not new to solo travel or travel in general! But last big trip I did was through various parts of Asia about 5 years ago, just before I turned 34. I’m now 39. I’m on a trip now, I have two months through UK and France and I find that I can do about 3 maybe 4 hours of things (which tbh isn’t even actual “things” as I feel like half of that is just transportation/ walking and eating), before I’m wiped for the day and want to just go back to my hotel and veg out.

Maybe I was like this on previous trips and just blocked it out, but something about this just feels abnormal. Is it just age? Less excitement or desire to “do it all” because I’ve travelled and am less anxious?

I am about the same weight I was then and maybe a tad bit more out of shape (I also now have really intense plantar fasciitis that no amount of stretching or shoe differences fully eases), but overall - I’m same same just a few years older.

Anyone else experience this?