triciafromoz

I plan all my trips very carefully and so far things, under my control, have gone very well. This trip has been a series of set backs and we are only on our third day . It started at the airport when I asked DD for her passport. A blank look, then fear, "I left it at home!" Luckily older brother was home and made the 60 minute dash to the airport in time for us to board. Then on boarding I dropped our duty free, smashing all the bottles. Yesterday we went to visit DD new university in Hertfordshire. Some sort of train breakdown meant chaos at the railway stationary and in my haste to get tickets to try and board I bought the wrong ones and paid £41 instead of £18. Then I went to the wrong half price tickets booth and bought tickets to a stage show and instead of getting cheaper tickets I paid £10 over face value. I knew it wasn't the right booth but I went ahead anyway, something I would normally not do. So my question is, is the die set? Is this a jinxed trip and I should reconcile to the fact that I will continue to make silly mistakes for the entirety of this trip?

jamikins

I would start over. Just put that stuff behind you (it will make a funny travel story later) and try to move onto today with a fresh slate.

If your daughter is going to be living in the UK she may as well get used to dealing with train problems and coming up with Option B on the fly so think of it as a learning experience

I hope today is much better for you - and remember, attitude is everything and if you can just laugh these things off and and enjoy the rest of your trip you will have some good stories to share with your daughter!

greg

Perhaps it helps to know that the original meaning of <i>alea iacta est</i>, the die is cast, is attributed to Julius Caesar in crossing the Rubicon from Gaul to mean taking an irreversible bold decision. In this case, it is up to you do <i>boldly</i> decide whether past experiences have impact on future outcomes on matters related to the past events only through you. Just as the any investment documents contain phrases like "past performance is no guarantee of future results," there is nothing tangible grouping what happened at the airport to the train breakdown.

Here is an account of how one couple enjoyed a trip in spite of snafus that came along before and during the trip. What you find is that there is a limit to what you can control. Many times things just happen, and it is up to you to decide what to make out of them:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...e-our-50th.cfm

triciafromoz

Thanks Greg, that was a lovely report. Yes jansj I haven't given up, my comments were somewhat tongue in cheek, despite those minor matters and the fact that my feet are covered in blisters and I don't understand why as I am wearing my usual walking shows, I am still in London- my favorite city- somewhat hobbling around and having a great time !

quokka

There is hardly ever a trip where everything goes wrong. There is hardly a trip where everything is perfect. I think you have already had your share of imperfections for this one! Probability calculation says the rest of your trip should go smoothly. Fingers crossed!

worldinabag

My parents are Italian immigrants and growing up I used to love listening to their stories of the "home country". At 43 years of age I finally booked a ticket to Italy for my first visit. You can imagine how excited (and emotional) I was. The year was 2001. Despite the outbreak of Mad Cows disease I was determined to go nonetheless. The date? 18 September. Yep one week after 9/11. For a brief moment in time the world had gone mad with anger and fear and understandably security was tight. Caused alot of complications, including missed flights. Despite the horror of this senseless act I was determined not to let it ruin my trip. In 2005, 3 weeks before we were due to fly to Spain, my wife snapped her Achilles tendon. Our travel plans were left in complete disarray as a result. Twelve months later we did go to Spain and had the time of our lives. I learnt from these experiences that despite careful planning there will be unforeseen complications in your travels and the trick is not to focus on the negatives but rather on your positive experiences.

qwovadis

Did a 5K roadtrip in SA last fall lots of hassle almost got kidnapped by the FARC a giant landslide blocked me for a couple of days but I still had a wonderful time and enjoyed many special things by adjusting my attitude.Travel snafus are common for me just do the next right thing and focus on the good stuff with an attitude of gratitude and what you think upon will grow. We are so lucky to be able to enjoy travel it is truly a special and wonderful experience most cannot afford to have.

Ackislander

Thank you for posting this, with its wry humor. You are taking it well.

It is important for people to read this who obsess over making every detail perfect, and there are a lot of them on this forum. It is also important for people who try to pack in way too much. All things revert to the mean. Horrible days are succeeded by better days, and vice versa.

To the more compulsive, I would say, "Breathe deeply, and be grateful to God that you are alive and sufficiently prosperous to travel at all. The vast majority of people in the world cannot."

triciafromoz

Here here, I know how lucky I am to be able to travel and I love doing it. I have always found that a glass of good wine can ease any problem, don't you think

mr_go

Our most recent trip started with a missed connection in Tokyo (Narita) to Bangkok. We and 42 others hoping to make that connection watched helplessly as we pulled up to the jetway and the Bangkok flight pulled out from the gate next to it. The man seated next to ms_go actually waved to his brother aboard the other flight as we passed.

Because of that missed connection, we also missed our one "splurge" night of the trip, an overnight stay at the 5-star Peninsula Bangkok. As well as an entire night's sleep.

And you know what? The trip turned out great. Memories I will carry with me to my grave.

Go figure.

immimi

Many moons ago, I 'lott' my paper ticket and thus we missed
our connecting flight and had to wait 6 hours for the next
one. When we arrived at our final destination - 14 hours
later - our luggage was in a locked compound where it had
been dumped open with all my belongings strewn around the
floor. No rental car - it had gone back to the lot in a
far-off suburb. Need I say my DH was beyond sleep deprived?
Oh, and I found my ticket; I'd used it as a bookmark in my
copy of Europe on $5 a Day.

After a night's sleep we continued on our merry way and had
one of our best trips EVAH! So - carry on regardless.

Nikki

Every one of these stories is worth its weight in gold. The aggravation is temporary, but you get to tell the story for the rest of your life.

Pegontheroad

On my last trip to Spain, a friend from college accompanied me. She had a streak of bad luck that seemed unending. First the airline lost her luggage, and she didn't get it for three days.

After 3 days in the same clothes, she decided to buy a pair of pants and a shirt, since we didn't know when she'd get her luggage. The pants, a sort of flowered t-shirt and a matching overshirt cost her $262--much more than she'd pay at home. (She's a big girl and had to buy larger sizes, not as prevalent as smaller sizes in Cordoba.} \

We also had to find medication, since she had only 3 days worth in her purse. Luckily, the pharmacies would sell the medication without a prescription.

Then she left her moneybelt with $200 U.S. in the bedclothes at our hotel in Madrid. (Luckily I'd told her not to bring much U.S.) Some maid in Madrid is $200 richer.

Then her ATM card did not work, despite the fact that she'd gone to her bank to ensure that it would indeed work in Europe. I had enough in my checking account that I could lend her what she needed.

As the trip progressed, we discovered her limitations as a walker. She just couldn't go more than a couple blocks without resting her hip, which I think had arthritis.

There was another problem, too, but I can't recall what it was.

She never lost her sense of humor--just accepted it all with a good-natured laugh.

nytraveler

Some details go wrong on every trip and the only real potenital problem was the missing passport - which you fixed. Everything else was minor.

For any trip you need to roll with the pinches. Assume you've had all you bad luck for this trip - and just move forward - but trying to slow down a little and not rush each step (so you're less likely to make missteps).

suze

Look at it this way... maybe you got ALL the little mistakes and near catastrophes (the no passport thing could have been a deal-breaker) out of the way at the beginning of the trip and it will all go smoothly from now on. Yes, I'm sure of it!

Nikki

"For any trip you need to roll with the pinches."

Just in Italy.

worldinabag

"Just in Italy." Luv that one ...

triciafromoz

The little mishaps continue. We lost a bag of DD's shopping. Then last night when we' were packing to leave for Paris we let the basement door close behind us, trapping us in the car park. After 20 minutes of frantic searching we found a door that gave way to "gentle"pressure and we managed to get out. Leaving for Paris this morning so we are giving ourselves extra time to get to the station, just in case!

cathies

Extra time seems like a very good idea! When you get to Paris I hope it is all smooth sailing for you.

greg

I think one contributing factor of the feeling of things going wrong is the expectations. If you expect everything is supposed to go right, you get disappointed especially in a new environment. Many "I am so smart, I know how to do everything right" type of people around me in the US outwardly claim they have no interest in visiting overseas. I sometimes wonder if they are actually deadly afraid of being seen as not knowing what to do in an unfamiliar environment.

In an unfamiliar environment, I admit that I don't always know what to do, so I allocate enough foul up time. With time and money, many foul ups can be worked around provided you have confidence that you can eventually do something about it.