Giving My First Solo Travel Presentation
While I was browsing a few websites of low-cost flight companies, I came across a 20€ return ticket with Vueling from Zurich to Gran Canaria, one of the most renowned islands of the Canary Islands. Without any further thought I decided to book it right away. What I did not know in that moment was that I was also going to do a presentation at the Asociaciòn Atlas, a cultural association that doubles up as a hostel.
After three days spent busking and staying in squats on the island, Wednesday the 23th came. The day of my first solo presentation! How did I spend it? I woke up on a mattress inside a tent inside a cave in the south, close to San Agustin. With my two friends from Spain and my friend from Norway, we walked the whole touristic area, with our backpacks, handcraft items and musical and juggling instruments, until we got to the lighthouse in Maspalomas, after what were at least 10 kilometres. Right after we arrived, I had to take a 1 hour bus to Las Palmas, Gran Canaria’s capital. I managed to get into the hostel at 7.15 pm, and my presentation was to start at 8 pm. After a short time to prepare, and a local beer which I drank in two minutes, my presentation about hitch-hiking and error fares started.
For one hour and fifteen minutes I told stories about my past hitch-hiking travels and I dedicated the second part of my presentation to error fares. What are error fares? Very cheap plane tickets that cost little because someone made a mistake in the pricing system. Anyway, after telling details about my life in English and Spanish question time arose. Travellers from Spain, Israel, Finland, Italy, Poland and other countries asked me questions and started a debate about whether it is safe to travel as a solo female. I was also asked about what my travel diet is and how much money do I normally spend on travels. After a round of applause, the presentation was over. I ended up spending the night with the volunteers and other guests in a local bar where we watched a flamenco jam session.
I wanted to publicly thank Asociaciòn Atlas and Manupalooza for this opportunity.
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