HUMOUR
An Action-Packed Travel Fiasco With a Financially Broke Ending
The cover photo is an apt explanation of my story.
Do you have a story which you’ll change the first thing when you get a time machine?
We all have at least one story that hurts us forever, not because of the magnitude of the loss alone, but due to the length of stupidity that we showed.
If you’re normal, you’ll have an army of such stories.
The memorable ending
A similar incident happened with me where I missed my return flight to Bangalore from Delhi. I saw the plane take off in front of me, and all I wished was to bend a few chakras so that I was inside the plane.
After many negotiations, I had to burn an extra 10k INR to get the next available flight, but that hole in my wallet is still memorable.
It’s not because of the penalty I paid but due to all the tension I survived for the seven hours leading up to it.
Broke the rules without getting caught.
My flight was at 10:10 pm. I was on my way from Roorkee to Delhi in a bus. The bus driver said we would reach the Delhi bus stand by 9:30. Even if I had raced from the bus stand to the airport while breaking all the traffic rules, there was a high chance I would barely make it to the terminal on time.
That’s what your friend did. He requested the conductor not to stop at any junction between Roorkee and Delhi as the bus was already puffed.
When I landed in Delhi, I took the next available metro for the airport route. But since the schedule was spaced out in the night, I still had to take an auto.
From the moment I took the bus from Roorkee to the metro, auto and me running with my luggage on my head and fingers, my roommate Ash back in Bangalore watched my movement in the shared location on Google Maps. Not only him, but his parents were also binging on the action.
They were praying for me to reach the airport on time. I even told the auto driver to break all the traffic rules if possible because I didn’t want to miss my flight. In my head, I already knew I was late.
We avoided red signals and jumped on the speed breakers. We didn’t catch the eye of the traffic police because it was late in the night and we didn’t cause any accidents.
The ending of real-life stories.
When I finally reached the airport precisely at the time of my flight departure, I saw the plane fly in front of my eyes, where I showed the red signal to Ash back in Bangalore.
Although I lost 10k INR in booking the next available flight, the stupidity I did was booking the bus from Roorkee to Delhi online.
The bus was 2 hours late. I could’ve onboarded another bus on the fly and reduced my loss to 6oo INR—the cost of a bus trip from Roorkee to Delhi.
Since this incident, I’ve never missed my flight in the last two years.
What are some of the action-packed experiences that still haunt you in your dreams?
I wrote this article because I have nightmares about the incident all the time. That’s why the memory is so clear, and I blurted out everything in sequence like I am living the story while writing.
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Sanjeev is a writer, mentor and recovering shopaholic from India. He writes about lifelong learning, personal growth, and positive psychology. When he’s not busy with his muse, he’s sweating either in a workout or badminton. He also chronicles his writing and fitness journey on Instagram. He shares daily inspiration with #ThoughtForTheDay on Twitter.
