In January I traveled to Puerto Rico, which was my first
time going there. I was so excited! I’ve been really lucky on previous trips, and the weather has
always cooperated. That is, until this
year (insert sad face). I had everything
planned so that I would arrive at the resort before dark because I had to
drive about an hour after landing to get there, and being in a new place, this
helps reduce my travel stress levels!
Maybe you’ve heard the expression “It all started when…”,
well, that was this trip. I had a three-hour
delay for my flight, which meant I was going to miss my connecting flight. When I arrived at the airport to check in, I
asked them to change my connecting flight since I knew I would miss it due to
the delay. After some weird interactions
with the lady working the counter (she seemed reluctant to change my connecting flight though we both knew I wouldn't be able to be on it), she changed that flight to a later one. Okay, I thought, now we’re ready to go!
Well, not so fast.
First they had to de-ice the plane - another hour's delay. We finally took off. This was fine because I still had
plenty of time for my connection.
Finally, I arrived in beautiful San Juan, Puerto Rico. But first, rental car. Over an hour wait for my car to be
available. Maybe I was lucky to get one at all,
but I finally did and started driving. I arrived at the resort with no issues,
thank goodness! By now it is 9:15 PM and
I am exhausted, and starving. I had been awake since 3:30 AM.
There was not a restaurant on the property, but several
within close walking distance, so I wasn’t too worried until the lady at
registration told me most of them close at 10:00 PM. Grrrrr.
By the time I’m all checked in it is past 10:00 PM. I saw that a bar was open nearby, and figured
they would have food too, so I headed over there. I asked in my broken Spanish
if they served food, and they answered me in English (haha it was obvious I
wasn’t a native Spanish speaker, I guess) that they had just closed the kitchen. My face fell.
I’m so hungry and tired by now. He
had some compassion on me, and had the kitchen fix up something quick for me,
which I greatly appreciated.
While I waited for my food, I went to the outdoor seating area
(because, you know, it’s warm!) and saw a young lady in her late 20s or early 30s
sitting by herself, and asked if she would mind if I sat with her until my food
came out. She heartily said yes. Between my broken Spanish, her broken
English, and two translator apps, we had the loveliest conversation. She made some suggestions of places to see,
and I’m happy to see they were already on my list, so it was nice to know I was
on the right track. These are exactly the kinds of
interactions I love to have when I travel, and it made all the stressful delays
of the day worth it. I wish I had thought to take a picture with her. Such a great memory of that trip.
Inevitably, we run into delays during travel. It’s important to take a deep breath, calm
our nerves when at all possible, and enjoy the journey, though it may not follow our original plans.
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