Adulting Fails

Hola and welcome to The Summit, my weekly newsletter where I share my unfiltered thoughts on navigating the peaks and valleys of adulthood. From health and relationships to productivity and purpose, consider this newsletter a collection of naive wisdom from a 20-something year old summiting the mountain of life.

Today: Adulting Fails (and lessons learned)

Adulting: it's a rollercoaster ride of newfound freedom, exciting challenges, and... well, some pretty epic fails. But hey, that's how we learn, right? Today, I want to share some of the best fails that my friends and I have experienced in our first few years of 'adulting'. While they never seem funny in the moment, looking back, we always have a good laugh and learn a thing or two for next time.

1. In the woods without the goods

I figure I should probably expose myself first. This fail happened on my first solo travel venture as a naive 19-year-old to Hawaii 🏄️. As a broke backpacker, I was on a mission to travel CHEAP, groceries only, no eating out! So, when I arrived at my hostel, I found my options to be a grocery store (20 minutes away) OR an ABC store (1 minute away). For those who haven’t been to Hawaii, ABC stores are like a 7Eleven and are just about everywhere. They don’t sell groceries, but they do sell very cheap packaged sandwiches - chicken, fish or eggs. Sounds great right?

As you may guess, I thought it would be a great cost-effective idea to have these sandwiches for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. They were only a couple bucks and so close, so convenient!

But then, on the third day, something wasn’t right. My tummy started to rumble. Obviously, I brushed it off and decided to embark on a four-hour hike with a friend I made at the hostel - ‘Three Peaks’. We were just about at the first peak when disaster struck. I really cannot describe the feeling, but all I knew was that I had about 30 seconds to find a bathroom, 30 seconds ONLY. Desperately, I jumped into the bushes away from my new friend. And things only got worse throughout the rest of the hike. To keep a long story short, let’s just say I left my mark on each of the three peaks. Oh, and both socks!

I think the only thing more awkward than trying to explain what was happening to my new friend, was trying to pretend nothing had happened when I got in the uber, smelling a little funky …

Lessons:

• Balance being cheap with some common sense I suppose?

• Bring toilet paper on hikes maybe?

• I guess this could also fit under the umbrella of ‘don’t go broke saving money’, where broke refers to your own health.

Hey, it was a great hike though, and a hell of a story, so was it really a fail?

2. Getting Turned Away from a $1500 Flight: A Layover Lesson

This one still stings for my friend, let’s call him Ellian. We all love a good travel story, but Ellian's definitely falls into the ‘travel fails’ category. He got turned away from his $1500 flight to Canada. Why? Because he didn't have a visa. Now, you might be thinking, "duh, of course you need a visa for Canada". But here's the catch: it wasn't his Canadian visa that was the problem, but his US visa. He had a three-hour layover in LA, which he assumed wouldn't require a visa. But it did. So, as Ellian rocks up to the airport with friends and family there to wave him off, it was actually the check-in lady who ended up waving him from the flight. While Ellian tried to get his visa sorted on the spot (the process takes a few hours), the plane wasn't going to wait for him.

Lesson: Research the entry requirements of EVERY country you travel to, even for layovers. Plan for delays and get to the airport with plenty of time! If you're just going to be sitting around at home waiting to leave, get to the airport early instead. With an extra hour, Ellian might have had enough time to sort the visa and get on his flight.

3. Signing Up to Cycle 100km with ZERO Training: A Lesson in Preparation

Recently, a group of us embarked on a challenge to cycle 100km from Brisbane to Gold Coast. Three of us had put in some solid training, but one friend, let's call him Charles, had not. The rest of us were under the impression that Charles had some experience cycling. However, on the day of the cycle, we learned that it was actually the first time he had ridden his bike (it was his dad’s), the first time he had used clip-in shoes, and the first time he had ridden more than 10kms. Long story short, we all crossed the finish line, but it's safe to say Charles suffered considerably more than the rest of us. The journey took us nearly eight hours, which, if you know anything about cycling, is FAR longer than it should have been!

Lesson: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. Not saying the day was a complete disaster, but Charles' lack of preparation definitely put him on the back foot. However, there's also a positive takeaway: that we are capable of far more than we imagine. Charles proved that when you put your head down and keep moving, one step at a time, even seemingly impossible tasks like cycling 100km with no training can be done!

4. Sleeping on the Street in Prague: A Pickpocket Predicament

This one is a doozy, and a reminder to always be vigilant when traveling. You might think no one would be foolish enough to do this, but Ellian strikes again 😑. We had just arrived in Prague at 5 am. The hostel reception didn't open until 9am, and we were exhausted. While I decided to follow someone into the building and find a hallway to catch some sleep, Ellian, who believed it was too hot inside, decided to lay down outside on the main street. Fast forward three hours, and he comes racing back inside, frantic and phone-less. While I wish I had pulled a prank on him, it turns out a pickpocket had seen Ellian napping and snatched the phone from his UNZIPPED bag. But it wasn't all bad luck – despite his passport sitting in the same pocket, the thief kindly left it behind.

Lesson: Minimise your chances of getting robbed by not falling asleep in public, zipping up your bag, and keeping your valuables secure. However, this story also teaches us about perseverance. Despite the initial setback, we spent the next two days determined to track down the thief. Using the "Find My iPhone" app and some good old detective work, we eventually located him, contacted the police, and got the phone back! So, while it's always best to be cautious, this story shows that sometimes, a little hustle can make all the difference.

These stories may be funny (looking back), but they serve as valuable reminders. Adulting is full of trials and tribulations, but through them, we learn, grow, and become more responsible and resourceful individuals. So, the next time you experience an adulting fail, remember – you're not alone! Embrace the experience, learn from it, and most importantly, laugh it off (eventually).

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