There is a moment in every serial traveller’s life when they end up at the wrong airport in a city, or the wrong train station or bus stop. I remember some vividly, like the moment my friends and I were racing through the streets of Venice in the back of a cab only to discover we went to the wrong airport. Luckily the cabbie took it upon himself to get us to the right airport and we still made our flight. I definitely haven’t been so lucky on other occasions.
The bumps in the road are why travelling prepares you for real life. That doesn’t mean I haven’t found myself crying on the ground of the airport before.
The thing is though, missing a plane isn’t the end of the world. Instead it leads to the next great adventure. You could meet someone great on your missed flight, or have time to buy a magazine with an article that changes everything, or you might have one last night in paradise.
This is a lesson here though, that I think translates directly to the real world. It’s the fact that when you definitely can’t sweat the small things.
Travelling teaches you that you might miss a flight, your baggage might get lost, something might get stolen, you might forget to book a hotel or a bus ticket, you might have terrible weather.
At the end of the day travelling teaches you that the little things are just part of the adventure.
So why can’t we bring that into everyday life?