If Heels Could Talk…Stories From The Road

That one time At the Lima Airport

It was around the 24^th of August 2011 and three of us (N, M, and I) were spending two weeks travelling through Peru and Bolivia.  We’d just spent our first three days based in Lima and aside from my luggage not arriving, we’d had such a great time. We had celebrated a lot of firsts on this trip so far; first time on South American soil, first time in a dune buggy exploring sand dunes (ok, more like flipping in the air over sand dunes), and first time paragliding! Lima was good to us!

Now, it was time to step up our altitude game (literally) and head to Cusco, the gateway to the Incas, on our way to Macchu Picchu. We were flying with Latin American Airlines (LAN) and had arrived at the airport way ahead of our flight. Three hours early perhaps! I’m usually at the airport right when I need to be there so I’m not entirely sure what happened here.

So we wandered all over the airport, I had an Empanada (similar to meatpie) and te con leche (tea with milk). We still had just over an hour before our flight when  all three of us needed to use the bathroom at the same time. Off we went separately and then we just planned to return and sit again for the last hour or so. I emerged from the bathrooms to find flight attendants right at the entrance (stalkers!) and beckoning us.

Wait……… what?

Did the airport burn down in the 2.5 minutes it took us to pee and wash our hands?

Picture this: I’m trying to communicate in my non-existent Spanish. At the same time M also comes out from the bathroom and attendants were literally taking our hands and walking us to the gate. I didn’t quite understand what was going on…. we still had an hour! I probably will never understand how our flight time was moved up by an hour as no one cared to explain that part to us.

But wait, I told them ‘My amiga, N, is in el bano’ (My friend is still in the bathroom)! They wouldn’t let me go back in to even just to yell for her to hit fast forward on her business, skip washing the hands bit (N is super-duper OCD clean so she very well may have been washing her hands 5 times). They said they were sending someone to get her and told us to swipe our boarding passes and get on-board. Frazzled, but taking their word for it, we did.

As soon as we got on, we heard the’ jam and click.’  You know, those doors that are never opened once closed. I felt as though I was watching a horror movie. I literally could see the biggest banner across my forehead head and it was totally deserved! Worst friend ever! Who leaves their friend at ANY airport, not to talk of in another country, …… for whatever reason?

If will mattered, the doors would be flung wide open and I’d run out in dramatic fashion. Instead, the plane started to pull away and I sat there in shock at how everything changed in a span of five minutes. It felt like 30 seconds and ten years at the same time. M and I were so shocked and guilty!

We flew over the Andes and the whole time I was trying to picture how my friend would be feeling after emerging from a leisurely bathroom break to find us … gone!  The shock!!!

We landed in Cusco without incident and headed straight for the airlines desk. They were expecting us, the dramatic bathroom-loving duo that lost their friend. Thankfully, it turned out she was on a flight that left maybe 45 minutes after we did and was on her way already. She arrived shortly after and we apologised 347,653,468 times. Of course she was shocked when someone met her outside the bathrooms to say her amigos were gone. She didn’t initially believe them.

Somehow she was gracious and forgave us because she’s cool like that. Me on the other hand, I would’ve flipped and then given  the silent treatment for at least a day.

We went on to have a great trip with no one left behind (I had an issue within Bolivian immigration but that’s a story for another day). We have travelled together since then and are travelling together again this year to her home country! I can’t wait!

That’s my crazy story that I’m  not proud of, I haven’t really talked about it much until recently out of shame. It turns out I didn’t even tell my sister until I was writing this up. N thinks the whole thing is funny! Oh well, life happens and I’m here for it anyway!

Now, I know there will be different reactions to this story,  and that’s totally okay. I get it! However,  if there’s anything if I’ve learned from being on the road, it is that just like life,  Shit happens and you can only plan so much for it. Be open, sulk about it, vent, be angry, but accept it, have a good attitude,  give yourself permission to move on and forgive and do just that.  Don’t be too hard on yourself (like I was even to the extent that I really didn’t want to talk about it for years).

Life continues after shit happens; friendships  thrive, most wounds heal, and frankly, not everyone would be sulky like me for that long. It is all part of a journey, and your triumph  makes your life story  and travel story even more beautiful. Of course I don’t always see things like this when I’m in the middle of one of those ‘stuff hit the fan’ moments, but a step back and a look at the grander picture always helps.  I’m preaching to myself here too!

So, what would you have done? Have you had not-so-pleasant surprises on the road or in life (if you want to go so deep)?  Share in the comments section below.

I’m thinking of making a series out of these, once a quarter or something so stay tuned for the next story !!

 

 

Xoxo

Dee