Did you know today is Ekadasi? Me neither, and even if I did, I likely would not have considered this when deciding to travel today.
I am generally blessed by the travel fairies. I have been ubber late for flights before and still made it onboard, I usually get a great seat, have been given free hotel rooms, dinners, upgrades, and free drinks. I really feel like I am blessed. Today it is a little harder for me to see it this way. I suppose I may still be blessed, perhaps some terrible calamity lay ahead, all these obstacles which I have experienced today could have been to protect me from some bigger travel folly.
I didn’t pack last night, my flight was later in the day today , so I made the uncharacteristic decision to pack the day of travel. I was ready more than an hour early. We went down to town for coffee and even spent some time chatting since we were way ahead of the game. With time to spare, and plans to use that spare time shoe shopping, we, Michael and I, headed for the border. One forgotten passport and an unexpectedly long border crossing wait meant I missed my flight, but would be put standby on the next flight. One colicky starter engine later, I sit at the airport with a ticket for a 7:10 flight tomorrow morning...sigh...where are you travel fairies? I took a cab to the airport, a 23 dollar expense in order to save myself 104 dollars. If you miss a flight Southwest Airlines will fly you standby on the next available flight so long as you show up within 2 hours of your scheduled departure time. I got here with 20 minutes to spare and am waiting to hear from Michael, who is in the parking lot of Huckleberry's (a natural foods grocery store) waiting for the darn car to start. We are going to meet back up soon, and find a place to stay, maybe with my friend Arika, who once told me “If you ever get stuck in Spokane.....”; we are stuck in Spokane. My friend KD was suppose to pick me up in Oakland, actually my plane is landing there as I type this. When I called her she informed me that today is Ekadasi, a day in Vedic astrology which is reputed to be a terrible time to travel. I will have to consult her in future when I book travel dates.
I do trust it all, you know the old “everything happens for a reason” mentality. I know this experience has lessons and opportunities, potential for growth. What I am wondering is do you think it is an opportunity to go stay at a swanky hotel, learn a lesson about great restaurants in Spokane and a growth opportunity in that I can eat a pint of ice cream while sitting in bed watching TV, try to put back on some of the weight I lost in the last month? If only I was still doing the indulgence commitment!
“Have you ever been on a trip that went very differently than it was planned?” is the question in
12 days journal #185
