Travel Stresses

The last twenty-four hours have been incredibly lonely and scary. 

I was bound to enter Siargao Island yesterday morning but the flight was cancelled due to bad weather. 

We actually flew all the way there and then couldn’t land so flew all the way back. The flight itself was so cute - the air hostesses play a game with the passengers, asking questions about safety procedures and if you guess it right you get a prize. I’d never experienced that on a flight before so it really added a nice touch. 

The views from out of the window were incredible. There's thousands of deserted jungle patches on the water that look just like this:

My camera picked up the propellor's on the plane

After we landed back in the Mactan Cebu Airport no one told the passengers what to do or where to go, so every question possible was flying through my head. Where will I stay tonight? What is going on? Will I be reimbursed? W.T.F???

I was being really strong for as long as I could. Three Canadians my age adopted me and we started to discuss ways to get to Siargao Island together. We could take a ferry to Surigao and then another ferry to Siargao! That would work! So they opted to get their tickets refunded in full while I ran the idea past my folks. My folks told me if there are storms there and planes are unable to land then a ferry ride sounds too dangerous and they told me to just wait it out while they called my travel agent. So my three Canadian friends whose names I can’t remember because I was too busy trying to control my anxiety, left and I was left alone. 

Being alone in a foreign country with no idea where you should go or what you should do is so daunting. I sat there on the airport floor watching everyone else that was on my flight cuddle their partners and talk about what they should do. Two heads are better than one. I had no one. The time difference between Philippines and back home was also frustrating because most people back home were still fast asleep. 

Eventually the tears came in big heavy drops. I couldn’t stop it… and once someone finally approached me to ask if i was OK that just made it worse. I’d never felt so afraid and alone. 

Eventually my travel agent managed to book me on a flight for the next day (today) and booked me back into my accommodation I’d stayed in the previous night again. 

To calm down I crossed over the road and did some retail therapy by buying a discounted Louis Vuitton purse. It’s amazing how sometimes a materialistic item can really cheer you up. Clutching proudly onto my new Louis Vuitton, I entered my hotel, made my way to the restaurant and ordered two big glasses of delicious white wine. It calmed me right down while I updated my friends and family. 

I then decided to treat myself to a massage available at the hotels spa. OH. MY. GOD. It was beyond incredible. I chose the two hour hot stone, Jasmine oil massage. It was cheaper than a 30min back, neck and shoulder massage back home!!! Normally I cannot handle a massage. I am way to ticklish and falling asleep isn’t possible because I’m too aware of someone else touching me. This massage however, lulled me right to sleep. Incredible! It cost 1,800 pesos and it was worth every penny. Afterwards she did the most amazing stretches and then left me in the dimly lit room to eat a banana and sip on some black tea. Divine.

After the massage I could have gone right to bed, but I realised that I hadn’t eaten much because I’d been so stressed out so made my way back to the restaurant (still looking like Popeye after my breakdown) and ordered a big steak and more wine. I decided I didn't care that I was blowing my budget to smithereens because I’d had a really rough day and just needed some spoils and comfort. After dinner I went straight to bed. 

Now it’s just after 6am and I’m back in the airport scheduled to depart for Siargao once again. I hope that it goes through this time - but at the same time I’m scared that I’ll get stuck there and miss my flight over to Indonesia next week, but I guess I just need to let go and take it one step at a time.

This past 24 hours reminded me of one of my favourite quotes: 

“Put all faith and trust into the universe and it will deliver.”