don’t panic and freak out.

This week I began my trip to the west. First stop: Vancouver. My flight from BWI to PDX unfortunately had 2 stops. We stopped in Salt Lake and most of us were suppose to stay on the plane that continued to Oakland. I was one of those people.
However, I decided to become illiterate and strolled off of the plane to, you know, find the gate for my next flight.
La dee da la dee da la dee…fuck.
“Kaitlyn Lee, please report back to gate 24…”
My heart dropped. That was MY name they called. Isn’t this only suppose to happen to the not-so-bright people?
Meanwhile, I was already on the other side of the airport, literally as far as I possibly could be from the gate I came out of.
I bolted. When I approached the woman at the gate entrance it looked like I had just finished a marathon.
She knew exactly who I was.

So I get to Oakland [applaud] and…looks like I have a 2.5 hour delay now. Great. So I try to be constructive with my anger by Indulging myself in a meal instead of drinking alcohol. But after eating an entire pizza I find out my plane is delayed again.
Fuck it, I’m going to the bar.
I sit down by myself and order a Stella. Meanwhile, three guys, also waiting for delayed flights had befriended one another…and so I joined right in.
Before you know it we’re all laughing and having some great conversations. I have some more beer and I pull my GRE prep book out and have three guys helping me with math problems, including this middle aged man, Bob, who lived in Salt Lake and ‘managed a lot of people’ for his job. He looked important. That’s all I know.
My flight was delayed a third time. At this point I could care less. I made friends, I am studying, I have beer…the day didn’t go as planned but I am definitely enjoying myself.
As time progressed, Bob left, the guy with a crazy beard left, Kristian who worked for Clifbar left…and it was Jordan and I. He too was going to Portland. 4.5 hours later we board our plane and sit next to each other. We continued to drink and laugh our asses off about silly things that we observed around us–we are both sarcastic in our humor. It was indeed a delightful flight to Portland. At the baggage claim I shook his hand and thanked him for his company…and we were off on another adventure.

That experience has taught me that every single part of the day doesn’t need it’s own itinerary, and living that way only leads to disappointment. If we just let life happen we will be pleasantly surprised.

…or end up in Japan.