Travel in Real Life

Travel in Real Life

Travel in real life isn’t always pretty and anyone who has traveled for an extended period of time probably has their own stories about just that.

On my journey from New Mexico to Morocco, things did not go as planned. My flight from New Mexico to Los Angeles was fine and easy but once I got to Los Angeles things started to get a bit complicated. My flight from Los Angeles to Barcelona was delayed by 2 hours and when we finally did take off I ended up getting quite airsick along the way.

Missed Connections

Once I landed in Barcelona, I realized that I was most certainly going to miss my flight to Casablanca. Yup, I cried. I grabbed a sandwich and some wine and I’m pretty sure I cried again. After being sure I was going to sleep at the airport that night I was told I had accommodation at a nearby hotel. I took off out of that airport so fast. It was after midnight and I had already been there for 6 hours.

I made it to the hotel to find they had emailed me along the way and changed hotels so I had to take another taxi to another hotel. Once I finally made it to the 2nd hotel I was told there was no reservation made for me. After crying yet again, I was so tired and worn out and just wondering what it was all for and why do I do this? I felt utterly defeated.

Due to the confusion, I decided to just pay for the room myself and figure it out later. It was after 2am and I had to be back at the airport before 10am the next day. I got into my room and was able to take a hot shower and crawl into the bed and those few hours of sleep went so quickly, I don’t remember ever feeling so exhausted before.

Let’s Try This Again

I made it back to the airport and got some coffee and breakfast and finally made it to my destination after almost 2 days of travel. It was not how I had hoped to arrive, but I arrived nonetheless.

Now I don’t share all of this to evoke sympathy but to simply say a couple of things about what travel in real life can really be like.

1. It is the most challenging and the most rewarding thing I have ever done and will ever do with my life.
2. Travel gets difficult at times and things rarely work out how we plan.
3. It is okay to ask for help from anyone. From Everyone. Even if we are traveling alone that does not mean we are entirely alone and have to do everything that way.
4. It is okay to cry. My strength is not dependent on whether or not I cry when I am sad, mad, frustrated or just plain tired.
5. When things don’t work out remember this story…. a friend of mine told me this a while back and it has really stuck with me.

Keeping Some Perspective

“One day a farmer’s horse runs away. And his neighbor comes over and says, to commiserate, “I’m so sorry about your horse.” And the farmer says “Who Knows What’s Good or Bad?” The neighbor is confused because this is clearly terrible. The horse is the most valuable thing he owns.

But the horse comes back the next day and he brings with him 12 feral horses. The neighbor comes back over to celebrate, “Congratulations on your great fortune!” And the farmer replies again: “Who Knows What’s Good or Bad?”

And the next day the farmer’s son is taming one of the wild horses and he’s thrown and breaks his leg. The neighbor comes back over, “I’m so sorry about your son.” The farmer repeats: “Who Knows What’s Good or Bad?”

Sure enough, the next day the army comes through their village and is conscripting able-bodied young men to go and fight in war, but the son is spared because of his broken leg.” 

Transcript from David Allen