Travel can be the best thing that has ever happened to you, or it can be the worst.

Okay, maybe not the WORST – but it can be full of stressors and unknowns.

Once on a work trip, I slept through my alarm clock and woke up two hours before my company-booked flight was scheduled to leave.

I jolted out of bed and went straight into panic mode. But productive panic mode. You know, the mode where you’re internally screaming but externally, you’re like, “EVERYTHING’S FINE” as you shove shirts into your suitcase.

Yeah, that was me.

With the universe's blessing, I packed my bag, got to the airport, stood through over an hour of DELAYED security, and made it onto my plane just as the doors closed.

To this day, the timing still does not make sense. There was absolutely no way I should have made my flight. But I did.

A time before that, I was traveling for a personal trip. I thought I had planned everything perfectly. I got to the airport on time, was prepared for my flight, and ready to go. All I had to do was wait for the plane.

We boarded, but the plane was delayed an hour. Then two. Then three.

I booked this flight because it was the cheapest option. Now, I was cutting it dangerously close to a connecting flight I had to make later that evening. They had locked the doors already. I was stuck on the plane with no way out.

In my head, all I was thinking was “This is fine! It’s all going to work out! We’ll make the connecting flight!”

Spoiler Alert: We did not.

The flight took off, and I spent the entire time talking to my seat neighbor. I quickly learned she was heading to the exact destination I was. We realized:

A. We’re not going to make our connecting flight.

OR

B. We’re going to cut it VERY close.

When we landed in Vegas we ran together to the other side of the airport where our connecting gate was. When we arrived at the gate, they officially told us we missed our flight.  

I started researching as we both wanted to be to our destination by the next morning.

There were only two seats left out of Vegas that evening to our destination. Two. Seats.

I talked her through booking her ticket, then I booked mine.

The kicker? I had been talking about how I wanted to take a solo trip to Vegas. I laughed as I booked my second ticket and realized I had no desire to spend a solo night in Vegas. The universe in that moment was both protecting me (and the future dollars I would have spent on a Vegas trip), while providing me the opportunity to get exactly what I asked for.

At the same time, my being on that flight, it being delayed, and having to book a brand-new ticket may have had nothing to do with me. Maybe it had to do with my seat neighbor, the mom whose daughter was currently in the hospital on the opposite side of the country where we were headed. The daughter she was desperately flying to while concern poured through every one of her features.

Maybe in that moment, the universe knew she needed someone to run across the airport with her, talk her through booking a ticket, and let her silently know it was all going to work out. Maybe the universe knew I would gladly accept that role without even being asked.

 You may never know why things happen the way that they happen.

At the end of the day, I made it to my destination. Yes, the journey was a little bit different than I imagined, but I made it. So did the mom who was with me along the way.

When it comes to travel and life, you are meant to be EXACTLY where you are. Wishing you were somewhere else, circumstances were different, etc. is a waste of energy. Laugh at the chaos. Embrace the uncertainty and enjoy the community of people around you who are probably in the exact same position. (Try to remember: The puzzle is always the messiest before all the pieces are put together.)

YOU GOT THIS.