It seems to be the most timeless joke that I have the worst luck with my travels. I’ll admit, some are self-inflicted, but I tend to have terrible luck even when things are out of my control. In fact, I have a handful of friends who just straight up refuse to travel with me. No one said travel was easy or glamorous, but they do say it’s worth it! These are some of my biggest travel mishaps (so far!)
Getting Diverted 2.5 Hours Away
I was on a red-eye flight from Reno-New York after spending a weekend in Lake Tahoe. Scheduled to land at JFK around 6:00 am, I’d have plenty of time to grab some breakfast and make my way into the office. I slept pretty terribly on this trip, so decided to double-down on NyQuil to get as much sleep as I could. The good news is, it worked!
I woke up to my ears popping as the plane descended into (what I thought was) JFK. Shortly thereafter, the pilot comes on the speaker and announces that due to weather, we were rerouted and told to land at a nearby airport. I immediately started doing the math in my head, figuring how long it would take me to get into the city from area airports like LaGuardia, Newark, White Plains, or Islip.
Turns out that was just a waste of time because we ended up landing in Hartford, Connecticut.
AKA a two and a half hour drive outside of Manhattan. I will give the airline credit, they did all they could (they gave us taxi vouchers, instructions on how to submit transportation for reimbursement, etc.). However, the city of Hartford was not prepared for hundreds of stranded passengers needing cabs to NYC. I waited over 2 hours for a cab, and hardly moved up in line. Ubers and Lyfts were rejecting our rides because it was so far away. Busses and trains were few and far between, and otherwise completely sold out.
I made friends with a few other stranded passengers and eventually, we were able to lock down an Uber driver that would take us to Manhattan (after a promise of a hefty cash tip). I made it back to my apartment just after sundown and immediately crashed for the night. Needless to say, I never made it into the office that day.
“Oh Honey, It Dropped”
This is an absolute iconic Megan travel story, and continues to be a running joke between my friends to this day. I was preparing to go back home to Buffalo for a couple weeks vacation over Christmas and had waaaay too much stuff. I had all my ski equipment, a huge suitcase, and my backpack as a carry on. To say I was an absolute mess would be an understatement.
After arriving at the terminal, I took my backpack off my back and shoved it into my suitcase (which was only about 2/3 full).
Spoiler alert: I should not have done that.
By the time I finally make it to a kiosk, tag my bags, and go to the bag drop, I’m so drained and just want to get these giant things away from me. I drop my suitcase, drop my skis, and off they go down the conveyor belt.
Immediately after walking away, I realize that my wallet (that had my ID in it) was in my backpack, which was in my checked bag, that I just sent away. I ran back to the woman, and in as few words as possible told her I needed my bag back. She took one look back and goes, “oh honey, it dropped.”
Dropped?! What does that mean?
Turns out, it means you need to beg workers to help you, shed a few tears, and pray to all the airport gods that they can retrieve it. By the time the terminal workers got through to the grounds crew to explain the situation, my bag had already boarded the plane. Them working to retrieve my bag from the belly of the plane literally delayed the flight. I picked it up on an empty bag carousel, took out my backpack, and shamefully rechecked the suitcase. I then proceeded to wait 4 hours for the next 50 minute flight to Buffalo. Merry Christmas!
Didn’t I Just See You?
My friend and I were in Hawaii, about to fly from Honolulu to Kona. We arrived at the airport about an hour before our flight, returned the rental car, and rode the shuttle over to the terminal. Just enough time to grab a quick bite to eat and board our flight. Again- I should have realized that things were going too smoothly.
Immediately after going through security, my heart sank.
I realized I left my emergency cash in the glove compartment of the rental car. On big trips where I have a lot of cash on me, I always try to keep some in a different location. Just in case what I have gets lost or stolen, I always have back up money. However, since we were not staying in a private Airbnb, I decided to keep it locked in the glove compartment of the car. Tsk tsk, self!
I had about one second to decide what I wanted to do. Did I want to forfeit about $300, or did I want to make an effort to go back and get it? Deciding on the latter, I (literally) ran back to the rental car shuttle and explained the situation to the driver. Without hesitating, he closed the doors and made our way back to the cars. “You run over to the car, I’ll wait right here for you to come back” the angel disguised as a bus driver said to me. “Mahalo!” I scream back as I run back to the car.
Thankfully, the car was right where we left it, doors unlocked, and keys in the cupholder. I unlocked the glove compartment, grabbed my money, and raced back to my angel driver. He shut the doors right behind me and raced me back to the terminal.
I threw him an unknown amount of cash and ran off the bus into the terminal, thanking all the travel gods that I had TSA PreCheck.
“Didn’t I just see you?”
The TSA agent looked confused as ever when I handed her my ID and boarding pass (again). I couldn’t get into the whole story (mainly because I was still out of breath), but I was able to get back through security and to my gate a cool 10 minutes before boarding.
With that 10 minutes, I was able to grab some Burger King breakfast. Win, win!
JFK-JFK
I was on an early-morning flight to Burlington, VT in the Fall of 2019. I was super excited to road trip over into New Hampshire and knock off my 31st state!
Everything was going smoothly that morning- I got an affordable Uber ride, easy security line, and my flight was right on time. I should have known that my luck was about to run out.
About halfway through the flight, I feel the plane take a sharp turn to the left. Shortly thereafter, the pilot comes on and tells us that there is a small mechanical issue and we need to return back to JFK. Cue the collective groans… we were almost there!!
When we finished our JFK-JFK flight, we all had to deplane and go back into the terminal while we waited for a new plane. An hour goes by… then two… before we finally had a new plane to take us on the quick flight. In the end, we did only end up losing a couple of hours (which I know could have been much worse), but I will never forget how #ISurvivedJFKtoJFK.
11 Hours, a Screaming Toddler, and a Throbbing Migraine Later
I’m sure if asked, we can all tell a story of our worst flight ever, right? I had just boarded a Hawaiian Airlines flight, flying nonstop from JFK to HNL- a whomping 11 hour flight! I sat down at my window seat, got settled in, and was ready to take on this long flight.
Right as they were about to close the boarding door, a mother and toddler son came on the plane. Everyone on board knew they arrived because the child was screaming bloody murder. “Please don’t sit near me, please don’t sit near me” I prayed over and over again.
Clearly I forgot to hit “submit” on my prayers because they ended up sitting directly behind me. I take a deep inhale and remind myself that once we get in the air, the kid will calm down. There’s no way he can keep screaming this hard for much longer, right?
I could not be more wrong.
Hours and hours into the flight and the child is still screaming non-stop, just as hard as when he started. His stamina was impressive! Both myself, as well as the people around us gave the mother plenty of side eyes, and some even asked if she could calm the child down. Absolutely no effort was made by the mother. She had her headphones in her ears and completely drowned out her screaming child. Coooooool.
About half way through the flight, I couldn’t take it anymore and I asked the flight attendant if I could be moved. “Unfortunately it’s a sold out flight” she replied. I died a little inside. I asked for migraine medicine, but all they had was Tylenol. It wouldn’t do anything, but I took it regardless.
By the time we landed in Honolulu, I could not wait to get off the plane. My head was throbbing, and it got so bad that I started to get auras in my vision. It was such a disappointing start to a Hawaiian vacation- and a flight I will never forget!
A Classic Megan Travel Experience
By far, the most “classic Megan” travel experience was when I was making my way back home from my first Hawaii trip. I had a big day ahead of me: Maui to Honolulu to Las Vegas to New York. With my luck, what could go wrong?
Maui to Honolulu flight went off without a hitch.
Honolulu to Las Vegas flight was the same.
I walk over to the gate for my New York flight about a half hour before boarding. I couldn’t believe my eyes (and luck) when I saw that flight was on time too! This was unprecedented luck in the life of Megan.
We board the plane and start our taxi right on time. I’m sitting middle seat between a lovely elderly couple who were flying to New York to visit their grandchildren (and for those of you wondering- I asked if they wanted to sit next to each other. They said they were happy with their seats. I’m not an animal!). We chatted a bit as we taxied and heard the pilot come on the speaker letting us know we were #2 for departure.
“Guys, I have to tell you something” I say to my seat mates/new friends with a smile.
I explained to them my unprecedented luck with not one, not two, but three on time flights in one day. Immediately after those words left my mouth, the pilot says we have a minor mechanical issue and need to return to the gate. I face straight ahead in disbelief as I feel my new friends turn their heads and stare at me. Yep, I’m a complete jinx.
We ended up having to deplane and were told to be back at our gate in 2 hours time. After killing time walking laps around the airport, I return to my gate and find our pilot talking to a crowd of people. He explained that there was an active shooter situation and he had no update on when we would be able to leave.
Before you ask, “Megan, why are you telling us this story? That sounds terrible!” – don’t worry. I wouldn’t share this story if anything bad happened to anyone.
After some frantic Google and Twitter updating by myself and a few others in the terminal, we discovered that there was a man in a cemetery that bordered the airport grounds that had a gun and was possibly going to commit suicide. Again, don’t worry. He survived and (from what we read) was in recovery.
After a few hours, the airport reopened and we were able to take off. While I can roll my eyes and laugh at my luck most of the time, it’s moments like this that humble you. They make you realize that a few hour delay isn’t such a big deal after all.
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