Cyclone Xavier: Surviving A Travel Disaster
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Tips and recommendations for the travel days when it all goes wrong.
Sometimes, despite all the best planning and preparation, the gods of travel decide to ruin your plans. I wanted to share a few pointers we learned during a recent travel disaster. Maybe it will help you navigate a similar situation.
We were amped up with excitement for a two week trip to Germany. Having slept for most of the journey we anxiously waited to deplane in Amsterdam. After a short layover, a final 90-minute flight would take us from Amsterdam to Berlin where our German itinerary would begin.
The flight was set to land in Berlin at 8:20 am. A full day of sightseeing was planned. Soon I would be eating a pretzel standing below the Brandenburg Gate. We had a hotel booked for just one night, with plans to take a train to Hamburg late in the evening of our second day, packing the two days with all Berlin had to offer.
A Cyclone Arrives
Unbeknownst to us, Cyclone Xavier had spent much of the previous day and night pounding northern Germany. The fast-moving storm had blasted the region with 115 km/h wind gusts and rain. All flights to Berlin were grounded and an entire day’s worth of passengers were already trying to rebook their flights before we arrived.
We followed our fellow passengers and lined up in the KLM Airlines customer service line. Still hoping to get to Berlin before nightfall, we pleaded our case to the customer service representative. Given no other option, they gave us directions for the train assuring us that it would be the fastest way to get where we were going.
The train left an hour later from the central train station in Amsterdam.
Train To Berlin
Upon arriving at the train station I was thankful to have remembered to put a handful of leftover euro coins into my backpack before leaving Los Angeles. We spent nearly all of our remaining euros at the pay toilets before boarding the train.
In six hours we would be in Berlin. I figured if we skipped the Berlin Zoo the following day we could still see much of the city as planned and still line back into our itinerary. We settled into the train for the journey, thankful to be back on track.
The train car was pretty empty. Just two other couples filled the 30 or so vacant seats around us. There were lots of unscheduled stops and starts. With each one, I saw something else on my itinerary disappear. The train ride was quickly turning into an all-day adventure. I retreated to the dining car for a hot dog to calm my nerves. As I ate we crossed the border into Germany. Small victories, I thought.
Six hours into our journey, about when we were scheduled to arrive in Berlin, the train screeched to another stop. The English language cabin announcements had disappeared since crossing the German border. This stop was uncharacteristically longer and every few minutes a conductor made an announcement in German, each time sounding more and more agitated.
With Haste
The train started moving, this time slowly. It quietly rolled into a station. Now surrounded by two cement platforms passengers were able to get out of the train for some fresh air (or mostly, it seemed, to smoke cigarettes.) The train station was desolate, with no bathrooms, no vending machines; just a few benches, and empty bicycle racks. The station, with a flair for irony, was named Haste.
The announcements continued. By now we had been stalled at the station for two hours. The train bathrooms had started to run out of supplies and the dining car had completely run out of food and was closed.
I decided to try to find a train employee who spoke English who might be able to give us some more information. Shockingly it was almost impossible to get any English language information. Another couple on the train had been sharing some translations, but we wanted news from the top as night was beginning to fall.
The couple let us know that there was a local pizza shop just outside of the station packed with passengers from our train and that the word was we weren’t going anywhere anytime soon. We went out to explore, learning that the pizza shop was no longer serving. Hoping for a 7-11, or something, we eyed up the small commercial district that paralleled the station. Literally nothing. I should have had two hot dogs.
We saw people rushing to the train. We gathered we were about to be on the move again. Happily, we got back into the seat and prepared for departure. A German-language announcement came on. Here we go, I thought.
The announcement ended. One of the other couples on the train reached overhead to their bag where they pulled out a travel pillow and a blanket. They reclined the available 2 inches and covered up with a thin brown blanket. The couple that had been translating for us informed us that the train was to spend the night here and we were welcome to sleep aboard.
Spend The Night on a Stalled Train?
I saw red. The frustration with not knowing what was happening, combined with my hangry rage boiled over. Fuck this. We’re not sleeping on a train. Leaving the train, we stood in the rain, trying to hail a taxi.
After a few calls we learned that the town of Haste had just one taxi, and he had been a very busy guy all day. After pleading and negotiating we talked him into taking us to Hanover, the largest nearby city about thirty minutes away.
Don’t Hijack our Taxi
A few minutes later the taxi mini-van pulled up for us. Shockingly a family pushed their way in front of us, trying to hijack our cab. Their family of five, the two of us, and a single Asian tourist crammed into the van and headed to Hanover.
Having about a dollar in loose Euros between us we were shocked to learn that the driver would not take credit, only cash. At the Hanover station, we were thankful for the Asian tourist who covered our share and waited while we found a local ATM at the station. He was either kind or felt bad for riding our taxi coattails without being invited.
Unplanned Night in Hannover
After a short subway ride and a long walk through a very dark park, we arrived at a hotel in Hannover. The pricy hotel was a sight for sore eyes. We fell asleep instantly and woke up early the next morning. First thing in the morning we headed back to the train station.
The train station was packed. Hundreds of people were there all trying to get to where they were going. We learned that the train system had been systematically disrupted all over Northern Germany due to downed trees and other damage from the storm.
Five Hours in Line For a Train
We decided that morning that it was probably best to forgo Berlin altogether and try to get to Hamburg, which was closer, and where we had hotel reservations for that evening. We got into a line to try to get on a train. This was a long line—an epic line. We waited for nearly three hours. When we finally reached the front of the line, we learned it had been the wrong line. The customer service agent pointed to another equally epic line, where we were to stand for another two hours.
Having spent all day in line, enjoying both breakfast and lunch using the top of our rolling suitcases as tables we finally reached the front of the line. Explaining our desire to go to Hamburg the agent gave us a taxi voucher and told us to use it on any taxi outside.
Free Taxi Voucher
Thank. God. We had done it. We celebrated on the inside as we thrust open the doors of the train station to hail a cab. Then we saw it: The line for the taxis.
At this point, we were just happy to be outside with something new to look at. We laughed at the ridiculousness of the day and swapped war stories with a couple from Belgium in line behind us. At this point, we had been standing in lines for over eight hours.
Back on Track
As the sun began to set we got into the taxi for the free 90-minute ride to our hotel in Hamburg. We checked into our hotel at 7 pm and began our Hamburg adventures with a delicious dinner and some well-earned drinks.
What We Learned
Document everything
When we asked our travel insurance to cover the expenses for the extra hotel in Hanover we were declined because we were unable to provide documentation that our flight was canceled. Additionally we never actually got a train ticket, the airline had an arrangement with the railway where we could use our canceled boarding pass as a ticket, so we also couldn’t prove that we were on the train, or that the train was stalled in Haste overnight.
We should have asked the airline for proof that the flight was canceled and asked the railway to provide proof that the train was stalled overnight. This cost us both the extra money we paid for the hotel night in Hannover and a complete loss of the money we paid for the hotel in Berlin that we never used.
Get cash before leaving.
Before this trip we would always travel without any local currency, planning to find an airport ATM and withdraw cash on arrival. Since our trip was interrupted mid-journey we were left without cash. We assumed that credit cards would be widely accepted and that there would always be an ATM nearby. That was not the case. Furthermore, if not for the pocketful of leftover change we wouldn’t have even been able to use the bathrooms at the station without cash.
Pack a snack.
Relying on the dining car was a mistake. It was impossible for me to think that they could simply run out of food or that there wouldn’t be (at the very least) a vending machine in the station. This all proved to be true. Now on any long flight, train, or boat journey, I will always have an emergency power bar at the bottom of my bag.
Prep your phone in advance.
We were not set up to use our cell phones internationally when we boarded the train. Again we planned to set this up at the airport in Berlin. Thankfully we were able to use local free Wi-Fi at the station in Haste and were able to purchase a German SIM card in Hanover. Without these two strokes of luck, we would not have been able to call a cab or book a hotel. We would have spent the night (and who knows how much longer) on that stalled train unable to help ourselves.
Now, before we leave, I check to make sure that our phones will work the moment we hit the ground. I also make sure that there is access to free wifi in connecting airports and, depending on the location, how to access it.
