We wanted to use our stopover to explore but I forgot to check the visa rules

My fiancé and I have the talent to assemble flights for the budget, and last August, we put our skills to the test to attend a wedding in Crete.

To save a few hundred dollars during our New York trip, we reserved a flight which included a 13 -hour stopover in Istanbul and a brief stop in Athens.

Many people in our lives thought that stopping for more than half a day in one place seemed miserable, but we had a plan: we maximized our stopover and would use it as a chance to explore a new city and visit an old friend.

However, shortly after our arrival in Istanbul, things took an unexpected turn.

Unfortunately, our stopover did not go as planned

My friend did not feel well, so we scratched our plans to meet her in the city center.

We were not worried because we could still explore Istanbul by ourselves – and we decided to take advantage of the free city visit to Turkish Airlines for steepness.

However, when we arrived at the tour office, we learned that the Americans needed a transit visa if they want to leave the airport in Türkiye. We had no idea and had not made any provision in advance.

We are generally very prudent to verify directives and travel regulations – and I could not believe that such apparently weak surveillance would completely change our plans.

Although we could have tried to ask for emergency visas, it would have cost us much more expensive than we would have budgeted only our brief stopover.

So we now had 1 p.m. to kill without leaving the airport.

We took advantage of the maximum stuck, and I learned a precious travel lesson

We tried to get the most out of hours of passes for hours for walking at Istanbul airport, which is actually quite beautiful.

As an interior designer, I really liked to adopt the details of the architecture and the design of modern and elegant space. We also ended up shopping and buying airport food that is too expensive.

Between meals, drinks, memories and the spontaneous purchase of my fiancé of a drone, our scam costs are quickly added.

Unfortunately, in a few hours, we had mainly spent the amount of money we had saved by reserving a flight with steepness instead of a non-stop.

The next stage of the trip was not without its own obstacle set. When we finally reached Athens, my luggage broke out while we leave the plane.

After 24 hours without sleep, several steepness and unexpected expenses, we were exhausted when we arrived in Crete.

However, even with these misadventures, our stopover of Istanbul was a unique experience that I did not radiate completely – although we would certainly be better prepared next time.

The biggest lesson we have learned is that it is crucial to dismiss the entry requirements of each country before supposing that we can explore a new place during a stopover.

And, if you need a visa to leave an airport, ask it online before traveling to save time and money.