Home – fresh ~

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After 48 hours of travelling from Central Turkey, we’re now home in Mudgee in Central New South Wales.

The trip was effortless.

We travelled economy class, had to transfer our luggage twice (in Istanbul & Rome) and had a total of 14 hours layover – with a wait of 75 minutes in the plane on the tarmac in Rome  while Muscat fixed its radio transmitters so that we could travel safely through its airspace.

It seemed that each time we had to get on or off a plane it was via a bus, which would then take the longest possible scenic route around the airport before depositing us at the arrivals hall, or the plane. So every little difficulty that we could encounter, it seemed we encountered.

Why then was the trip effortless?

For one reason:

We surrendered.

We surrendered to the time it would take, to the obstacles that would come our way, to the irritations and discomfit of long haul flights.

It was all out of our control, so why fret?

We relaxed.

Because we relaxed we slept on the flights. And during the layovers we found cafes or restaurants, and with all our luggage on a trolly (because we couldn’t check in until at least 3 hrs before the flight) we’d have a meal, have a coffee, watch the passing parade of travellers, and chat.

And the time whizzed by.
And the flights whizzed by.

What would appear to be an horrific amount of travel in fact turned out to be a breeze.

I’d like to try and apply this attitude to other aspects of my life.

Whistler

 

 

8 thoughts on “Home – fresh ~”

  2. That’s really all we can ever do, isn’t it? It so beats the alternative, which I have succumbed to so many times in the past. It’s funny that you were travelling one direction and me in the other all at the same times. I left Palm Springs 6 days ago on a free ticket that had me leaving at 12:40pm for Salt Lake City for a brief layover, then off to Charles DeGaulle, and then finally to Barcelona where my friends from London who were joining me, were to arrive just a few minutes later. How nice was all that? But instead on the Morning of my departure, just minutes before I was to head to the PS airport, I received an email saying that the plane taking me to SLC had a problem and they were now going to re-route my trip. I would now be arriving in Barcelona 2 days later! For a huge moment, I panicked and then decided that the solution to this problem existed but just had no yet been realized!

    I phoned Delta and after a 90 minute conversation was re-routed through LAX to Heathrow, and then Barcelona on Virgin America, a much nicer ride than Delta, getting me in only 3 hours later than my original plans! But, I only had 2 1/2 hours to drive to LAX and check in, which could be a problem if I hit any traffic. I decided before I left that I was going to make it on time and hit the road running. I was halfway out of town before I realized that they had only changed my departure out of LAX and my original ticket still had me flying back into PS. Since I was driving myself, my car would be parked in LA, so I really had to trust that I would be able to switch the return flight to LAX as well. Normally I wouldn’t have even fretted about the solution, but I was flying on a free ticket that had all sort of limitations. All I can say is thank goodness for Bluetooth car cell phones, because I was able to drive to LA, while talking to a Delta Representative who studiously worked with me on finding a solution. So now, intead of leaving Barcelona at 6:45am which I had been dreading, I am leaving tomorrow at 1:45pm, fly direct to JFK, with a short stopover then on to LAX arriving at 10:10pm! I should be back in PS by 1am!

    I know in the past, I would have created such a dilema for myself, would have become such a martyr or victim and been miserable the whole time. I feel blessed to be on this side of life and after reading your account of what most people would have considered a miserable trip home, see that you are there too! Of course, I’m not really surprised, cause you’re Bill and Jen!

    XOXOXO

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    • Hi Jill,

      firstly my apologies. Evidently Word Press has an algorithm that classifies any long comment automatically as spam, and what with all the traveling back etc, I didn’t check the spam folder till now – and discovered your wonderful posting there.

      So on behalf of Word Press, I’m sorry about that!

      Your journey sounds like it was a challenge. Fancy Delta telling you you’ll be arriving three days late. What Universe do they live in? Probably the same Universe my telco lives in – because I’ve been told my phone line – and hence my connection to the Internet – can’t be restored for two weeks!

      Anyway, it seems like you found an elegant solution, albeit somewhat fretful. But you handled it calmly and trusted that all would work out, and it did.

      The only downside was that you were in Barcelona, one of the food capitals of the world, and you couldn’t eat because of your training! How cruel is that! 😜😜😜

      Anyway no doubt you’re back, and I hope you had a trouble free flight back, and you’re settling back in to training again.

      Looking forward to seeing you in September!!

      With love
      Bill

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      • Bill,
        While waiting the two weeks for your phone line/internet connection are you handling it keeping in mind that you are a pilgrim and just renewed that status?
        Ooooh maybe you should have Jill deal with your phone company. She seems to get things done!!
        Ha!
        Lynda

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        • Yes, I’ve applied Jill’s calm, and been speaking to “deployment supervisors” and “team leaders,” who now tell me that they’ve escaped this to a “Level 5,” which evidently is the highest response possible, and I’m hoping that the line will be repaired tomorrow, fingers crossed. You get better responses if you put your case calmly and without getting agitated. It’s taken me many decades to realise this!

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  3. Great point, surrendering. When we let our higher power run the show it is amazing how we are less frustrated, and more tolerant. It works for me. Daniel >

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