rawdogging a new country and a new city with zero experience, zero money, and zero internet

i went to paris by myself a while back ago without knowing french and stayed there with my sister for like 10 days in her (as she calls it) "shoe box". it was my first time abroad and my first time traveling by myself and also my first time on a plane i was scared shitless. my sister was staying in a small ass airbnb on some apartment's 6th floor and THEY DIDN'T HAVE AN ELEVATOR my sister was reallllly busy and couldn't stay with me throughout the day bc she had shifts so i just had to find my way around. i had no clue about the metro lines, the transportation systems OR where tf i was supposed to find metro stations AND i had zero internet for 3 days which was a whole nightmare. i had to use public phones to check in with my sister throughout the day so that she knew i wasn't dead in a ditch somewhere i was also a minor, which meant...free entry to museums and galleries!!! that fact alone made me visit nearly every single museum/gallery near ternes, charles de gaulle, belleville, anvers etc. basically almost all of M1, M2 and RERC lines lol.

even though i stayed for a bit more than a week, i can confidently say that i truly, truly lived every single second and roamed all the nooks and crannies. i got up in the morning and just went out and didn't come back in until 11 pm (my sister would take me out everyday after her shifts, too). if you have even the slightest chance to go, JUST GO. chase cheap plane tickets. find a cheap ass airbnb that is literally the size of a shoe box. drink cheap beer and wine near the opera and maybe be horribly nauseous. spend like 5 euros daily. walk EVERYWHERE. live and breathe the city. i promise if you ever get the chance, no matter how miserable your conditions will seem, you'll be glad you went.