Travel in a time of choas

This morning I sat outside on my sister’s front porch to smell the pine trees. We do not have pine trees where I live, or at least not close to my house.

I arrived in Boston a few days ago. My travel day started typically. I walked 15 minutes down the hill to wait for the bus on the side of the road, like always. I sat down and took off my backpack to wait for the bus to the city. Then I heard a moto looked up and it was my boyfriend.

It was too early for him to be coming home from work; it was only 10 am. He told me the road was closed, and I had to go to town to take the other bus. It is not unusual. Sometimes there are mudslides because of the rains, which shuts the roads down. So he picked up my pack and drove me into town.

I hopped on the 11 am bus and headed to the airport. I left early, just in case. I was mentally prepared for a horrible day of travel since I had been watching too much news.

I had read about airlines being short staffed, craziness at the airport, and people going crazy. I was prepared for the worst possible scenario.

When I arrived at MDE, I expressed my concern about a very tight international connection in Miami, and she upgraded my seat. Come to find out, I had plenty of time, and all went smooth.

My second layover was to be in Charlotte. I was supposed to have a 9-hour layover, and I have learned that if you have a long layover, always ask customer service and see if you can change to an earlier flight.

So as soon as I was off the plane, I went to the AA customer service station. The man was so lovely and joked about the layover; he said I would switch you to leave here in an hour.

I was shocked, and he upgraded my seat! The only thing that happened was my backpack decided to take a later flight.

When I landed in Boston, as I expected, my bag did not arrive; I went to the customer service counter and asked what to do. I found out the man was from Guatemala, and we started talking about my living in Colombia.

He then called over his coworker, who was from Colombia. So we all stood and chatted for about an hour in Spanish. They were so sweet and friendly, and I knew why my bag was delayed. It was to make new friends and chat.

Yesterday, my bag was dropped off, which wasn’t a big deal since I had clothes from my sisters and I always have a toothbrush in my carry-on. So we went about our day as usual, and when we arrived home, my bag arrived.

Tonight we are getting ready for a road trip headed to Tennessee. It’s funny how easy it is to recalibrate, yet there are things about being here that now seem strange to me.

The first and most notable is the air conditioning, everywhere! I have been freezing since I got on the plane in Medellin. I landed in Boston and told my sister it was freezing here and had to get some hot tea and stand in the sun to dethaw. I am now sitting on her couch under a big blanket, with a sweatshirt on.

We are headed to the mountains, and I plan on being outside in nature as much as possible. I have noticed how much living is indoors here; this is something that never crossed my mind. I miss my outdoor-indoor living and the fresh air with all my windows open.