For those who are on quarantine and possibly bored, I've created a bit of entertainment for you!! For those overwhelmed with caring for children or other "pandemic-related chaos," feel free to save this for another time if it's too long!!
So when I last left you, I was unexpectedly back at Gredos and ready to start my third week of talking nonstop as a volunteer in the English immersion program! Durdaana had made it back home with her broken ankle (and has since had surgery to put in a plate to stabilize the bone so it will heal more strongly.) Needless to say, all hell has broken loose since then and my travel plans have been upended in wild and interesting ways!!
I'll fill you in on my unexpectedly wonderful time in Madrid in a future post, but since I've had numerous inquiries on how I'm doing and what's been happening, I thought I'd fill you all in at the same time!! (I've included lots of details and a "blow-by-blow" account of things, so feel free to skim through or soak it all in.... whichever you prefer!!)
Sooooo.... I was happily ensconced near Madrid with "my Spanish family" enjoying wonderful, meaningful experiences (but carefully watching the spread of the Coronoavirus towards the end of my time with them)!! Alicia is a nurse and works in the hospital there, so she would fill me in on the craziness in the ER and what was happening in the hospital, and we would watch the news every night to see the latest!!
(Sidenote: fear, panic and craziness comes across every newscaster's face, even if you can't understand the words!! I found it exhausting, but was also trying not to "stick my head in the sand" and be aware of what was happening as things progressed!! I was amazed how quickly I started feeling overwhelmed by the mass hysteria being projected out from the screen.... and not sure if it was worse or better not being able to understand the words?!?! It was a good reminder of why I avoid the news when possible.... even in other languages!!)
My original plan had been to go to Croatia and spend 6 weeks there before my flight was scheduled home in May (traveling outside the Schengen area to stay within my 90-day tourist visa requirements), but I wasn't feeling very "clear" about that part of my trip because I was scheduled to take a flight into Venice and a bus from there to Croatia. (Italy was already cancelling flights, but hadn't officially shut down yet). At first, I figured it would be okay since I was just flying into Venice and not hanging around more than a few hours (just long enough to catch my bus from the airport to Croatia), but as things rapidly progressed in Italy, I pondered the best path to take!
I kept discussing options with Miguel and Alicia about whether or not I should go to Croatia, and by the day before I left their house I had pretty much decided to cancel that part of my trip and see if I could change my ticket to fly home when Carol was heading back to the States. It wasn't so much that I was worried about getting the virus or not getting medical care, it was more about not being sure what would happen when I tried to get back home (and it turns out I was right to be concerned since 2 days after I made the decision not to go to Croatia, things started happening quickly and borders started closing)!!
After I decided not to go, Croatia imposed a 14-day quarantine in a "facility" for arrivals from Italy, so THAT wouldn't have been much fun!! Whew.... "dodged that bullet," as my sister said!! And luckily, within a few hours of when I decided to cancel my trip to Croatia, my flight and bus were cancelled and I easily received a refund.... yaaaay!! I had been researching for a few days what it might take to get a refund if I decided not to go, and I kept being told the tickets were nonrefundable. But when THEY cancelled the flight/bus, everything was easily cancelled and refunded! The hotel and AirBnb I had booked were very gracious and also gave me a full refund (even though it wasn't required because there wasn't a legal "state of emergency" there).
I was really impressed when the owner of the hotel in Pula said in her message to me, "No need to be so thankful....we believe not everything is about the money, and we are happy to help you in these difficult times." The kindness of her response and her willingness to give me a full refund (even before they "had to" as things escalated near Italy) brought into focus the two perspectives that seem to be coming more and more apparent during this crisis - are we in this as a community and reaching out to those in need!?! Or are we in this as individuals who are hoarding food, resources and toilet paper?!?
But I won't go down that complicated path or this post will never end!! So back to the story...
Off I flew to Barcelona to meet up with my sister, Carol!! It was bittersweet because I had grown so close to them, so I was sadly saying goodbye to my precious new "family" in Madrid while looking forward to enjoying what was next (and glad to be "escaping" Madrid just as things were escalating there)!! Things were shutting down in Madrid starting that day (they had just closed the schools and were limiting large events), but Barcelona, Valencia and the southern coast of Spain where we were headed was mostly unaffected (at this point). I figured Carol and I would be fine travelling as long as we stayed out of Madrid, but OH MY!!!.... how quickly things can change overnight!!
We had planned on exploring Barcelona for a few days, Valencia for a few days (which was to include a "Paella making experience" for Carol who has wanted to taste Paella for over 50 years!!, attending the Fallas celebration which is one of the "top 3 fiestas in Spain"), and doing a one-week English immersion program together!! We had everything booked and paid for, and we were ready to go and enjoy ourselves (and trust that all would be well and we were healthy enough to avoid getting the Coronavirus - or survive it if we did - little did we know what was coming)!!
We had a lovely first day exploring the city on the hop-on-hop-off bus on Thursday, but that was suddenly affected by an email from the English immersion program telling us they were cancelling the event.... Bummer!! We both continued to enjoy ourselves, but we both felt more "muted" with this news affecting our trip in a major way!! It was a pretty tough blow because that was the main reason Carol had come to Spain! We decided we'd just enjoy Barcelona and explore the Sagrada Familia on Friday.... until we found out they were unexpectedly closing it the next day for at least 2 weeks due to the "no large gatherings indoors" rule that was imposed by Spain (wise choice, I'm sure, but darn it)!!
Sadly, the main thing we had both wanted to see in Barcelona was the Sagrada Familia Cathedral, created by the famous artist, Gaudi. We had even chosen an AirBnb a few blocks from the place to make sure it was convenient to see without much hassle! Of course if we had known they were going to close the Sagrada on Friday we would have gone on Thursday, but I guess that's why they say hindsight is 20/20!! Oh well, maybe we saved ourselves from being in line with someone who had the Coronavirus....who knows? We got lots of beautiful pictures of the outside and wandered around the lovely neighborhood a lot, but we mostly just relaxed and talked about what to do about changing our flights!
It was amazing to see how quickly our plans were changing hour-by-hour (and practically minute-by-minute)!! With the cancellation of the Program, we decided it was best to also cancel our plans in Valencia and head home as soon as we could get our flights changed! With the US Presidental decree about closing the borders to non-Americans, we wanted to be sure and get home before someting crazy happened (like closing it to Americans, too)!! It started feeling a bit more intense, and we just wanted to be sure we made it home!
My ticket was a breeze to change on American Airlines! When I had checked it previously, it was going to cost me over $450 to change my ticket (even with the waived fees)!! But when I looked again, it was only going to cost me $10 to change it.... Woohoo!! So of course I jumped on it and booked it for Sunday (figuring that would give us enough time to get Carol's ticket changed, and we'd avoid the "crowd chaos" of everyone trying to get home by midnight Friday night... the US non-American deadline). Wise, right?!! Well, as wise as we could be in that moment with our ever-changing circumstances!!
As a former travel agent and frequent traveler, I always assume I can figure out a way around any travel barrier if I just think hard enough, but the "normal" expectations definitely changed with the craziness of the situation!! Airlines were just coping, and customer service agents weren't feeling very "service-y" (if we could even reach one)!! So poor Carol!! Her ticket had been a PAIN since before she left for Spain! It was booked and ticketed on United (which meant they were the only ones who could change her ticket), but she was actually flying on Swiss Air. (Note to self.... those code share flights can be a real pain in times of upheaval)!!
Swiss Air cancelled her flight the day before she left for Spain, so she was rebooked in another record - still a United ticket, but she flew on British Air! No matter how we tried, we couldn't change her ticket online (and the hold time was over 3 hours - if they even let us through on the line and didn't hang up on us before even getting on hold)!! Again, with hindsight being 20/20, we probably should have sat on hold, but we just figured we could go to the airport ticket counter and make the change - and talk to a real person to make sure she was able to get home the same day as me!
After much discussion about what we should do to get her ticket changed, we decided to just hang out and "lay low" in our AirBnb - only venturing out a few times for meals and a last look/pictures/souvenirs (for Carol, of course, since I don't usually buy souvenirs due to a lack of room in my suitcase)!! We decided at the last minute that a taxi straight to our hotel near the airport would be the best option (then we could drop our bags and take their airport shuttle to wait in line at the United ticket counter to speak to an agent and change her ticket.... easy peasey, right?!? We expected to wait in line for awhile, but little did we know there wasn't a "manned ticket counter" - and the agents only showed up when there was a departure - which was only in the morning very early!!
So we hopped in the taxi of a very nice man and Carol started chatting him up "Paul Puckett style" (in Spanish of course)!! He informed us that at noon, they would be declaring a state of emergency in Catalonia (part of Spain - think any state which is part of the United States, but also their own "entity")!! With that declaration at noon (it was now 11:30 am!!), the streets would be locked down and all roads and public transportation in and out of Barcelona would be shut down!! Because the aiport "belongs to Spain" (according to our taxi driver), he wasn't sure how soon (or if) it would shut down as well!! He encouraged us to go straight to the airport with our luggage and see if we could get out right away just in case!!
Very quickly we shifted from "meandering to the airport" mode into "holy crap!!" mode - Yikes!! Of course once we arrived, there was a sea of people waiting in various lines (and it took us awhile to figure out that the ticket counters moved around based on how many flights were taking off with various airlines using the same counters!! There was a screen to look up which counter to check in for your flight, but if there weren't any flights leaving on your airline, they weren't listed anywhere!
Not sure where to go to get the ticket changed, I left Carol with the luggage and wandered around looking for the United Ticket Counter! I finally settled on the Lufthansa counter (and of course they informed me that even though she was BOOKED on Lufthansa, they couldn't do anything to change her ticket because it was ticketed on United)!! Now I'm going to sound very old here when I say, "I really miss the old days where exceptional Customer Service was all that mattered when it came to travel!!" (And I say that as a former travel agent with undoubtedly high expectations!!)
The one thing we DID get from the Lufthansa ticket counter was the Spanish phone number for United Airlines. Every time we had tried to call the 800# previously, we had been told the wait time would be more than 2-3 hours (if they didn't hang up on us before even getting through)!! Imagine our DELIGHT when we called the Spanish number and got through within 15 minutes - woohooo!! Sadly, the news she gave us wasn't very helpful (and I tried all my travel agent "maybe you can you try...." tricks up my sleeve)!!
Carol could return on a United flight on Sunday, but it would cost her $1500!! Or she could wait until Monday and only pay $170. Hmmm.... that wasn't exactly what we had planned on, but we figured at least if she had a flight booked home on Monday, it would be "safe" for me to leave on Sunday because once she was booked they certainly wouldn't cancel her flight - or WOULD they!?!??! When we had checked into the Barcelona airport hotel, they had told us they would be closing Monday morning, so Carol definitely had to get home by Monday (or find a new hotel - which would've been a bit complicated with all the restrictions)!! So we crossed our fingers and prayed a lot - thankful that they were open one more night for her to stay!!
As I sat on my flight to JFK wondering what kind of lines would be waiting for me there, I just kept hoping all would be well with Carol and her flight. I made it through customs at JFK without any delays (and a surprisingly short line) - after the CDC checked us all for temperatures and they gave me a "fast priority" pass due to my close connection time for my flight to Chicago! I rushed through the airport (quietly meandering through customs - not wanting to trigger any alarms unexpectedly!!, picked up my bag, rechecked my bag, ran to the other side of the airport, waited in a long security line - apparently they missed the memo on my special "fast priority" bright orange pass I'd been given!! - and settled into my seat on my plane to Chicago with minutes to spare!!
"Ahhh....", I thought to myself, "that wasn't too bad!! This ordeal is almost over and since I haven't heard from Carol, everything must be on track.... whew!!" As we were ready to take off and I was about to turn the cell service off on my phone (always the obedient traveller), I got a message from Carol that her United flight had just been cancelled!! What?!? NOOOOO!!!
So I frantically started searching on my phone (hiding from the flight attendants since we were now sitting on the tarmac waiting for our turn to take off), and all I could come up with was for Carol to buy a ticket on the same American I was currently on for over $500 (for the next day, of course)!! Carol was going to try and get ahold of United to see what they could do on her end (long waiting times again, of course!!), so we decided I'd check back with her as soon as I landed in Chicago.... and off took my flight!!
As soon as the wheels of my plane hit the tarmac in Chicago, I checked back with Carol and she said "book it" cuz United was going to charge her ANOTHER $300 (and at this point I didn't trust that they would follow through on their flights)! So I frantically booked her ticket (down to only 8% charge on my phone and navigating the "getting off the plane" experience with all the other travellers) and just like in a movie before the counter turns to zero, I got the flight booked and the information sent to Carol just before my phone died.... whew!! What a wild, crazy experience!!
I probably could've waitied until I got into the airport, plugged in my phone and had a little less chaos around me, but with the way things had been going, I didn't want to risk losing that ticket for her! It could've been one of those, "Oh yeah, that was available 2 minutes ago, but not now" kind of experiences, and I'd had just about enough of THAT!! My travel agent anxiety definitely kicked in (after years of losing a ticket because the inventory changed in a split second), so I got her booked and breathed a sigh of relief (although I didn't really stop worrying until I woke up at 1:30 am - 7:30 Spain time - and saw that she had checked in and all was well..... or at least as well as could be expected after a crazy few days of chaos)!!
So now we are on day #8 of our self-quarantine and doing surprisingly well (other than missing her grandkids like crazy and doing our best to entertain ourselves and each other)!! Poor Carol, the extrovert, is having a much harder time with this quarintine than I am (although, as my sister Sheryl said, "this is pretty much your normal life, Judi, so of course it's not difficult for you!!") And yes, I was BORN for quarantine (my little introverted self is happy to have a reason to be alone and just putter - watch TV and recuperate from our wild and crazy experience!
And of course ponder.... you all know how I love to ponder about life when I get the chance!! So I've been pondering a lot about this experience and looking for the lessons (or whatever it is I might be able to learn from this experience and grow on my Journey)! I could share all my thought processes about the whole thing (but this post is already WAAAY too long), so I'll give you the bottom line....
When Durdaana and I were planning our portion of this trip, we discussed (and consciously chose) not to book every single night and experience (especially in Morocco - thank goodness)!! We decided we wanted to "hold things loosely" to see what miracles and unexpected experiences might unfold!! It's become very clear to me over the years that in travel (and in Life), the miracles have no space to explode into our lives if all our time is filled with doing something and we don't have time to just be!!
When I left for this trip in January, I had 5 pages of addresses and contact information for all the different hotels and experiences we were going to have over the next 4 months! Because I was travelling with 3 different people with various desires/expectations, I planned this trip much differently than I normally would (making sure all the details were in place so as not to disappoint my travelling partners or find myself caught short of funds for hotels, etc.). When I travel alone, I usually leave a lot more to "chance" or Divine intervention, but I wanted to be sure that everything was set up and paid for (as much as possible), so I could just relax and enjoy travelling with 2 of my sisters and my dear friend!
With Durdaana's broken ankle, I had to shift my plans unexpectedly, but that turned out wonderfully!! But with the chaos of ALL my plans changing (after expecting things to get "back on track" when I started travelling with Carol), I had to adapt my expectations even more!! As with the "snow globe" metaphor of my last post, it's a reminder for me to remember that just because I plan something, it doesn't always mean it HAS to turn out that way! And as I'll fill you in on my future post, sometimes the different experiences are just as good (and definitely just as meaningful) as the "planned experiences" that we think should happen (merely because we planned them in another moment before things changed)!!
Even though it was a crazy and wild end to a trip that looked very different than it did "on paper" when I began, I'm grateful for all the changes (although sad about all the deaths caused by the Coronavirus)!! I guess for me, being affected so directly by the Coronavirus (feeling like I've been "in the thick of it" in Spain and now here) has taught me to REALLY "hold things loosely" and trust that all will be well no matter what the experience ends up looking like!
It's not just how it affected my trip that I'm aware of, it's how our lives may change and be affected in the future because this has touched the life of every human being on the planet in many similar ways! I hope it's pushing people to explore with compassion and let go of the idea that we are different from other people in other parts of the world and instead becoming aware of the reality that we are all the same!! We all have loved ones we want to care for and keep safe - and we are all being affected by something outside of our control!!
So I guess I'll leave you with that!! If you're still reading and made it through, I hope you're not too exhausted! I'll write more again soon, but I think I'll go ponder more about life with all this lovely time and space of quarantine!! (Or maybe I'll go chat with my extroverted sister so she doesn't go into communication withdrawal!!) XOXO until next time!!
So when I last left you, I was unexpectedly back at Gredos and ready to start my third week of talking nonstop as a volunteer in the English immersion program! Durdaana had made it back home with her broken ankle (and has since had surgery to put in a plate to stabilize the bone so it will heal more strongly.) Needless to say, all hell has broken loose since then and my travel plans have been upended in wild and interesting ways!!
I'll fill you in on my unexpectedly wonderful time in Madrid in a future post, but since I've had numerous inquiries on how I'm doing and what's been happening, I thought I'd fill you all in at the same time!! (I've included lots of details and a "blow-by-blow" account of things, so feel free to skim through or soak it all in.... whichever you prefer!!)
Sooooo.... I was happily ensconced near Madrid with "my Spanish family" enjoying wonderful, meaningful experiences (but carefully watching the spread of the Coronoavirus towards the end of my time with them)!! Alicia is a nurse and works in the hospital there, so she would fill me in on the craziness in the ER and what was happening in the hospital, and we would watch the news every night to see the latest!!
(Sidenote: fear, panic and craziness comes across every newscaster's face, even if you can't understand the words!! I found it exhausting, but was also trying not to "stick my head in the sand" and be aware of what was happening as things progressed!! I was amazed how quickly I started feeling overwhelmed by the mass hysteria being projected out from the screen.... and not sure if it was worse or better not being able to understand the words?!?! It was a good reminder of why I avoid the news when possible.... even in other languages!!)
My original plan had been to go to Croatia and spend 6 weeks there before my flight was scheduled home in May (traveling outside the Schengen area to stay within my 90-day tourist visa requirements), but I wasn't feeling very "clear" about that part of my trip because I was scheduled to take a flight into Venice and a bus from there to Croatia. (Italy was already cancelling flights, but hadn't officially shut down yet). At first, I figured it would be okay since I was just flying into Venice and not hanging around more than a few hours (just long enough to catch my bus from the airport to Croatia), but as things rapidly progressed in Italy, I pondered the best path to take!
I kept discussing options with Miguel and Alicia about whether or not I should go to Croatia, and by the day before I left their house I had pretty much decided to cancel that part of my trip and see if I could change my ticket to fly home when Carol was heading back to the States. It wasn't so much that I was worried about getting the virus or not getting medical care, it was more about not being sure what would happen when I tried to get back home (and it turns out I was right to be concerned since 2 days after I made the decision not to go to Croatia, things started happening quickly and borders started closing)!!
After I decided not to go, Croatia imposed a 14-day quarantine in a "facility" for arrivals from Italy, so THAT wouldn't have been much fun!! Whew.... "dodged that bullet," as my sister said!! And luckily, within a few hours of when I decided to cancel my trip to Croatia, my flight and bus were cancelled and I easily received a refund.... yaaaay!! I had been researching for a few days what it might take to get a refund if I decided not to go, and I kept being told the tickets were nonrefundable. But when THEY cancelled the flight/bus, everything was easily cancelled and refunded! The hotel and AirBnb I had booked were very gracious and also gave me a full refund (even though it wasn't required because there wasn't a legal "state of emergency" there).
I was really impressed when the owner of the hotel in Pula said in her message to me, "No need to be so thankful....we believe not everything is about the money, and we are happy to help you in these difficult times." The kindness of her response and her willingness to give me a full refund (even before they "had to" as things escalated near Italy) brought into focus the two perspectives that seem to be coming more and more apparent during this crisis - are we in this as a community and reaching out to those in need!?! Or are we in this as individuals who are hoarding food, resources and toilet paper?!?
But I won't go down that complicated path or this post will never end!! So back to the story...
Off I flew to Barcelona to meet up with my sister, Carol!! It was bittersweet because I had grown so close to them, so I was sadly saying goodbye to my precious new "family" in Madrid while looking forward to enjoying what was next (and glad to be "escaping" Madrid just as things were escalating there)!! Things were shutting down in Madrid starting that day (they had just closed the schools and were limiting large events), but Barcelona, Valencia and the southern coast of Spain where we were headed was mostly unaffected (at this point). I figured Carol and I would be fine travelling as long as we stayed out of Madrid, but OH MY!!!.... how quickly things can change overnight!!
We had planned on exploring Barcelona for a few days, Valencia for a few days (which was to include a "Paella making experience" for Carol who has wanted to taste Paella for over 50 years!!, attending the Fallas celebration which is one of the "top 3 fiestas in Spain"), and doing a one-week English immersion program together!! We had everything booked and paid for, and we were ready to go and enjoy ourselves (and trust that all would be well and we were healthy enough to avoid getting the Coronavirus - or survive it if we did - little did we know what was coming)!!
Sadly, the main thing we had both wanted to see in Barcelona was the Sagrada Familia Cathedral, created by the famous artist, Gaudi. We had even chosen an AirBnb a few blocks from the place to make sure it was convenient to see without much hassle! Of course if we had known they were going to close the Sagrada on Friday we would have gone on Thursday, but I guess that's why they say hindsight is 20/20!! Oh well, maybe we saved ourselves from being in line with someone who had the Coronavirus....who knows? We got lots of beautiful pictures of the outside and wandered around the lovely neighborhood a lot, but we mostly just relaxed and talked about what to do about changing our flights!
It was amazing to see how quickly our plans were changing hour-by-hour (and practically minute-by-minute)!! With the cancellation of the Program, we decided it was best to also cancel our plans in Valencia and head home as soon as we could get our flights changed! With the US Presidental decree about closing the borders to non-Americans, we wanted to be sure and get home before someting crazy happened (like closing it to Americans, too)!! It started feeling a bit more intense, and we just wanted to be sure we made it home!
My ticket was a breeze to change on American Airlines! When I had checked it previously, it was going to cost me over $450 to change my ticket (even with the waived fees)!! But when I looked again, it was only going to cost me $10 to change it.... Woohoo!! So of course I jumped on it and booked it for Sunday (figuring that would give us enough time to get Carol's ticket changed, and we'd avoid the "crowd chaos" of everyone trying to get home by midnight Friday night... the US non-American deadline). Wise, right?!! Well, as wise as we could be in that moment with our ever-changing circumstances!!
As a former travel agent and frequent traveler, I always assume I can figure out a way around any travel barrier if I just think hard enough, but the "normal" expectations definitely changed with the craziness of the situation!! Airlines were just coping, and customer service agents weren't feeling very "service-y" (if we could even reach one)!! So poor Carol!! Her ticket had been a PAIN since before she left for Spain! It was booked and ticketed on United (which meant they were the only ones who could change her ticket), but she was actually flying on Swiss Air. (Note to self.... those code share flights can be a real pain in times of upheaval)!!
Swiss Air cancelled her flight the day before she left for Spain, so she was rebooked in another record - still a United ticket, but she flew on British Air! No matter how we tried, we couldn't change her ticket online (and the hold time was over 3 hours - if they even let us through on the line and didn't hang up on us before even getting on hold)!! Again, with hindsight being 20/20, we probably should have sat on hold, but we just figured we could go to the airport ticket counter and make the change - and talk to a real person to make sure she was able to get home the same day as me!
After much discussion about what we should do to get her ticket changed, we decided to just hang out and "lay low" in our AirBnb - only venturing out a few times for meals and a last look/pictures/souvenirs (for Carol, of course, since I don't usually buy souvenirs due to a lack of room in my suitcase)!! We decided at the last minute that a taxi straight to our hotel near the airport would be the best option (then we could drop our bags and take their airport shuttle to wait in line at the United ticket counter to speak to an agent and change her ticket.... easy peasey, right?!? We expected to wait in line for awhile, but little did we know there wasn't a "manned ticket counter" - and the agents only showed up when there was a departure - which was only in the morning very early!!
So we hopped in the taxi of a very nice man and Carol started chatting him up "Paul Puckett style" (in Spanish of course)!! He informed us that at noon, they would be declaring a state of emergency in Catalonia (part of Spain - think any state which is part of the United States, but also their own "entity")!! With that declaration at noon (it was now 11:30 am!!), the streets would be locked down and all roads and public transportation in and out of Barcelona would be shut down!! Because the aiport "belongs to Spain" (according to our taxi driver), he wasn't sure how soon (or if) it would shut down as well!! He encouraged us to go straight to the airport with our luggage and see if we could get out right away just in case!!
Very quickly we shifted from "meandering to the airport" mode into "holy crap!!" mode - Yikes!! Of course once we arrived, there was a sea of people waiting in various lines (and it took us awhile to figure out that the ticket counters moved around based on how many flights were taking off with various airlines using the same counters!! There was a screen to look up which counter to check in for your flight, but if there weren't any flights leaving on your airline, they weren't listed anywhere!
Not sure where to go to get the ticket changed, I left Carol with the luggage and wandered around looking for the United Ticket Counter! I finally settled on the Lufthansa counter (and of course they informed me that even though she was BOOKED on Lufthansa, they couldn't do anything to change her ticket because it was ticketed on United)!! Now I'm going to sound very old here when I say, "I really miss the old days where exceptional Customer Service was all that mattered when it came to travel!!" (And I say that as a former travel agent with undoubtedly high expectations!!)
The one thing we DID get from the Lufthansa ticket counter was the Spanish phone number for United Airlines. Every time we had tried to call the 800# previously, we had been told the wait time would be more than 2-3 hours (if they didn't hang up on us before even getting through)!! Imagine our DELIGHT when we called the Spanish number and got through within 15 minutes - woohooo!! Sadly, the news she gave us wasn't very helpful (and I tried all my travel agent "maybe you can you try...." tricks up my sleeve)!!
Carol could return on a United flight on Sunday, but it would cost her $1500!! Or she could wait until Monday and only pay $170. Hmmm.... that wasn't exactly what we had planned on, but we figured at least if she had a flight booked home on Monday, it would be "safe" for me to leave on Sunday because once she was booked they certainly wouldn't cancel her flight - or WOULD they!?!??! When we had checked into the Barcelona airport hotel, they had told us they would be closing Monday morning, so Carol definitely had to get home by Monday (or find a new hotel - which would've been a bit complicated with all the restrictions)!! So we crossed our fingers and prayed a lot - thankful that they were open one more night for her to stay!!
As I sat on my flight to JFK wondering what kind of lines would be waiting for me there, I just kept hoping all would be well with Carol and her flight. I made it through customs at JFK without any delays (and a surprisingly short line) - after the CDC checked us all for temperatures and they gave me a "fast priority" pass due to my close connection time for my flight to Chicago! I rushed through the airport (quietly meandering through customs - not wanting to trigger any alarms unexpectedly!!, picked up my bag, rechecked my bag, ran to the other side of the airport, waited in a long security line - apparently they missed the memo on my special "fast priority" bright orange pass I'd been given!! - and settled into my seat on my plane to Chicago with minutes to spare!!
"Ahhh....", I thought to myself, "that wasn't too bad!! This ordeal is almost over and since I haven't heard from Carol, everything must be on track.... whew!!" As we were ready to take off and I was about to turn the cell service off on my phone (always the obedient traveller), I got a message from Carol that her United flight had just been cancelled!! What?!? NOOOOO!!!
So I frantically started searching on my phone (hiding from the flight attendants since we were now sitting on the tarmac waiting for our turn to take off), and all I could come up with was for Carol to buy a ticket on the same American I was currently on for over $500 (for the next day, of course)!! Carol was going to try and get ahold of United to see what they could do on her end (long waiting times again, of course!!), so we decided I'd check back with her as soon as I landed in Chicago.... and off took my flight!!
As soon as the wheels of my plane hit the tarmac in Chicago, I checked back with Carol and she said "book it" cuz United was going to charge her ANOTHER $300 (and at this point I didn't trust that they would follow through on their flights)! So I frantically booked her ticket (down to only 8% charge on my phone and navigating the "getting off the plane" experience with all the other travellers) and just like in a movie before the counter turns to zero, I got the flight booked and the information sent to Carol just before my phone died.... whew!! What a wild, crazy experience!!
I probably could've waitied until I got into the airport, plugged in my phone and had a little less chaos around me, but with the way things had been going, I didn't want to risk losing that ticket for her! It could've been one of those, "Oh yeah, that was available 2 minutes ago, but not now" kind of experiences, and I'd had just about enough of THAT!! My travel agent anxiety definitely kicked in (after years of losing a ticket because the inventory changed in a split second), so I got her booked and breathed a sigh of relief (although I didn't really stop worrying until I woke up at 1:30 am - 7:30 Spain time - and saw that she had checked in and all was well..... or at least as well as could be expected after a crazy few days of chaos)!!
So now we are on day #8 of our self-quarantine and doing surprisingly well (other than missing her grandkids like crazy and doing our best to entertain ourselves and each other)!! Poor Carol, the extrovert, is having a much harder time with this quarintine than I am (although, as my sister Sheryl said, "this is pretty much your normal life, Judi, so of course it's not difficult for you!!") And yes, I was BORN for quarantine (my little introverted self is happy to have a reason to be alone and just putter - watch TV and recuperate from our wild and crazy experience!
And of course ponder.... you all know how I love to ponder about life when I get the chance!! So I've been pondering a lot about this experience and looking for the lessons (or whatever it is I might be able to learn from this experience and grow on my Journey)! I could share all my thought processes about the whole thing (but this post is already WAAAY too long), so I'll give you the bottom line....
When Durdaana and I were planning our portion of this trip, we discussed (and consciously chose) not to book every single night and experience (especially in Morocco - thank goodness)!! We decided we wanted to "hold things loosely" to see what miracles and unexpected experiences might unfold!! It's become very clear to me over the years that in travel (and in Life), the miracles have no space to explode into our lives if all our time is filled with doing something and we don't have time to just be!!
When I left for this trip in January, I had 5 pages of addresses and contact information for all the different hotels and experiences we were going to have over the next 4 months! Because I was travelling with 3 different people with various desires/expectations, I planned this trip much differently than I normally would (making sure all the details were in place so as not to disappoint my travelling partners or find myself caught short of funds for hotels, etc.). When I travel alone, I usually leave a lot more to "chance" or Divine intervention, but I wanted to be sure that everything was set up and paid for (as much as possible), so I could just relax and enjoy travelling with 2 of my sisters and my dear friend!
With Durdaana's broken ankle, I had to shift my plans unexpectedly, but that turned out wonderfully!! But with the chaos of ALL my plans changing (after expecting things to get "back on track" when I started travelling with Carol), I had to adapt my expectations even more!! As with the "snow globe" metaphor of my last post, it's a reminder for me to remember that just because I plan something, it doesn't always mean it HAS to turn out that way! And as I'll fill you in on my future post, sometimes the different experiences are just as good (and definitely just as meaningful) as the "planned experiences" that we think should happen (merely because we planned them in another moment before things changed)!!
Even though it was a crazy and wild end to a trip that looked very different than it did "on paper" when I began, I'm grateful for all the changes (although sad about all the deaths caused by the Coronavirus)!! I guess for me, being affected so directly by the Coronavirus (feeling like I've been "in the thick of it" in Spain and now here) has taught me to REALLY "hold things loosely" and trust that all will be well no matter what the experience ends up looking like!
It's not just how it affected my trip that I'm aware of, it's how our lives may change and be affected in the future because this has touched the life of every human being on the planet in many similar ways! I hope it's pushing people to explore with compassion and let go of the idea that we are different from other people in other parts of the world and instead becoming aware of the reality that we are all the same!! We all have loved ones we want to care for and keep safe - and we are all being affected by something outside of our control!!
So I guess I'll leave you with that!! If you're still reading and made it through, I hope you're not too exhausted! I'll write more again soon, but I think I'll go ponder more about life with all this lovely time and space of quarantine!! (Or maybe I'll go chat with my extroverted sister so she doesn't go into communication withdrawal!!) XOXO until next time!!
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