Keeping My S*** Together
Last nights catastrophe in public transport left me frazzled and pondering a flight straight home to the USA. Although things could’ve actually been A LOT worse, I found myself having to deal with more travel logistics that I am currently not a fan of. Through this, I have come to realize what travel burnout feels like. I am experiencing it at the moment.
7 Signs of Travel Burnout:
- Lack of excitement in planning fun activities
- Exhaustion
- Grumpiness
- Becoming very introverted while staying at a hostel as to avoid the basic small talk about where I’m from and about my travels.
- Becoming emotional when thinking about how bad I want to be back home with friends and family
- Consistently eating out because I don’t have the energy to cook
- Not wanting to go explore the cities because it entails lots and lots of walking and I’m exhausted.
Although, I am experiencing these, I am not a complete monster, just keeping to myself at the moment.
So let’s talk about my night last night and HOW bad it could’ve been and the degree of badness that it was. :-p
Let me start by saying that Sarah Chapman is an angel and I am so grateful that she was able to drive me to the airport and keep me calm along the way. I was initially planning to take the tram and a bus to the airport to catch my flight and I had even already paid for my bus ticket there. However, Sarah was able to borrow a car from a family that she nanny’s for and offered to take me. At first I declined her offer because I thought well, I’ve already bought the bus ticket, I mind as well use it, but after pondering it a bit, I took her up on the offer. THANK GOODNESS I DID! You know Why?! Well If I would’ve gone on that bus to the airport, I would’ve been at the WRONG airport!!!! I had no idea that Melbourne had two separate airports!!! So yeah, we found this out because we drove up to the Tullamarine airport, got out to check in and they informed me that my flight was departing from Avalon which was ANOTHER 40 minutes away and I only had 1 hour until the gate closed on the flight. The customer service representatives were the LEAST bit helpful and I was left to have to ask for directions to Avalon from the baggage assistants outside the entrance. Sarah and I started booking it down M80 Freeway and got there in time. We then found out that my flight had been delayed 1 hour! I know you’re thinking, Oh that’s great news! Well, yes and no. Yes, that I was able to make my flight, but no because that meant that the bus transport that I had booked upon my arrival in Brisbane was now unable to be used because of the delay. Therefore, I had to spend $8 on a call to the bus company letting them know. Luckily, I can use the credit I have with them on another bus service at some point in my travels. Bad news, I had to spend $55 on a taxi to get to my hostel in Brisbane and after arriving at the hostel, the receptionist informed me there were others means of transport for cheaper, that I guess I never was informed of throughout my research! Not cool.
The hardest thing about this whole process was doing it alone. I know that if I had a partner in crime, I may have been a bit more relaxed because you know that there is someone there with you to relate to about the crazy experience. Since I don’t have that at the moment, I am learning a lot about how to maintain my emotions in these types of situations that are out of my control. I call this “Keeping Your S*** Together.” If I didn’t and I allowed myself to break down, I would’ve been totally screwed. My anxiety would’ve taken over, tears would’ve begun to flow and that would’ve been the end. One way that I Keep My S*** Together is through prayer and acceptance. I ask God to give me peace, understanding, and the strength to get through whatever I’m experiencing. Also, I am getting much better, as I’ve stated in the last post, of my acceptance of things and allowing myself to be okay with things being uncontrollable and riding the waves. I had no control over the flight being delayed and missing my transfer and I did what I could to find a cheap alternative transport. I just had to be okay with what needed to be done and move on with things.
I am looking forward to a relaxing week at the Arts Factory Lodge near Byron Bay. I know that once I get settled in, get some good rest, and meet some people, I will come back into the adventurous, vivacious person that I am. Life is crazy and unpredictable. You will never know what the next step entails, but the best way to approach life’s hiccups is to stay as mentally, physically and spiritually strong as you can so that whatever life throws at you, you will have the strength and ability to Keep Your S*** Together.
All the best,
Erica
Well you gotta be grateful for serendipity or divine intervention of having a friend drive you to two airports! I had a similar experience in Melbourne I think they need a better airport marketing team! Happy to hear you are safe and reaffirmed your strength through the power of prayer! Looking forward to hearing about your week in Byron I believe it’s a very healing place to be:)
Our family was on a flight from Boston to Charlotte with a connection in Dulles. Our three kids were young — 4,5, and 6 years old. When we arrived in Dulles we found out that the connecting flight was delayed, so we had to sit at the gate and wait… and wait. We were very thankful a fellow traveler had a cat in a crate who kept the kids entertained. After waiting 3 hours, we were told the flight was cancelled and so we found ourselves needing to get a hotel. My wife and I were each irritated and short-fused and the kids were exhausted, impatient and fussy, having missed dinner in the scramble to track down our luggage. We all trudged outside to wait for a shuttle to a hotel with about 20 other grumpy displaced passengers. The wind was strong, and we were getting blasted with sand while waiting yet another long time.
Suddenly there was a loud wailing from my oldest son, 6 years old, who started stamping/marching back and forth shouting at the top of his lungs — “WOE IS ME!! WOE IS ME!! I HATE FLYING!! I HATE AIRPORTS!! I HATE WAITING!! I HATE SAND!! WOE IS ME!! WOE! IS! ME !!” Suddenly everyone started laughing, thankful that a six year old could capture and give voice to what we all were feeling in that moment. The tension immediately dissipated.
You certainly have taken on a lot for one year and I’m sure your exhausted, but you are certainly not taking this journey alone, you have taken all of us with you through every step of this journey, and without your pictures and blogs where would we be. How strong you have become, don’t forget all you have accomplished and endured, we haven’t. More friends are waiting to meet you in Australia for new journeys, get some much needed rest and continue to lean into the wind. Keep Praying, lots of love