Last June was when this whole adventure started, but I didn't realize what that adventure would be for many more months. In June and on into July I was feeling an overwhelming sense that God was freeing up my 2016 summer. I had absolutely no idea why. Some (including myself) joked that maybe I would be planning a wedding. Obviously that wasn't the reason at all.
In the fall I found myself looking through some travel books and coming up with a dream plan to see Europe. It included starting in Ireland and traveling through Scotland, England, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and ending in the southern part of Sweden. These countries included some of Europe's most famous royal cities. And I love a good castle! When trying to fit that into a 3 week period, I realized I wouldn't have much time in any of the countries. So I decided Ireland, the UK and then over to Denmark/Sweden would be a better route to go.
Then winter came around and I put the dream on a back burner. I don't know why, but in February it started coming back in my mind. I even used an app to track airplane ticket prices. By March I had looked back over my dream plans. Even going as far as looking at hostel prices. I realized that I would be so close to Paris, that if I were to take this trip I would regret not going to Paris. I mean, who wouldn't want to say "I've been to Paris"? However going to Paris would mean that I would have to give up Denmark and Sweden. That was a really hard decision!! The chance to cross another city off my "To Travel To" list won out.
I realized that plans were falling into place. I started praying quite a bit, as I wanted to make sure these were the plans that God had for me. It wasn't until I was at a Vineyard Church Conference in Kansas City, that I fully gave into His plan. That I was going to Europe.
That brings us to May 31. The day of my departure. I had chosen to fly out of Wichita this time so that my family didn't have to drive as far to drop me off. Leaving my family is always the hardest for me and I'm used to Kansas City where we can sit outside the gate until close to boarding. In Wichita that wasn't the case. I couldn't even really see how long the TSA line was and hearing of all the horror stories of waiting forever I decided to say goodbye with plenty of cushion time.
I just didn't know how much cushion time that would end up being. I got through TSA just fine and then my flight was delayed. Chicago was having storms and grounded all flights. I had a couple hour layover in Chicago so I wasn't too worried. That is until my flight was delayed for a couple of hours. The pilot was very nice coming out every half an hour or so to explain the whole situation to us. Unfortunately I didn't have many options. I could stay and take the flight hoping that since all flights were grounded my flight to Ireland would be delayed as well or I could go home and come back the next day. As my parents were already home by that point I decided to try my luck. Besides even if I were just in Chicago I was still on vacation.
I made it to Chicago just a few minutes after my flight for Dublin had taken off. And this is where this part of the story gets interesting. After standing in line for half an hour and re-booking my flight for the next day at the same time, I had almost 22 hours to kill. Because the Wichita flight was delayed due to weather, I was on my own finding lodging for the night. Part of me was excited to finally have a bad airport story, but another part of me was tired and not wanting to make decisions.
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| This is what I looked at while standing in line to get my tickets changed. |
Luckily for me my sister came to my rescue. She found me a hotel room and took care of the booking. All I needed to do was get to the shuttle. I joked with dad that this debacle was because I had reserved lodging for the entire trip. Something I hadn't done in previous trips which led to wandering adventures.
Another stroke of luck was that while I had packed light, I decided to go ahead and check my backpack (my main bag). I did have the foresight to put my pajamas in my carryon. This meant I only had a couple small bags that I had to take to the hotel. This would make returning quite a bit easier. So off the shuttle stop I went. I stopped at what I thought was the right spot. Of course it wasn't. Just as I realized I needed to go across the street, I got another stroke of luck.
A guy was walking past me. He was talking with another guy and asking if the shuttles were across the street. He was looking for the same shuttle as I was. I kept my distance, but knew that two sets of eyes looking for the shuttle were better than one. Then he mentioned that he should have been on his flight to Dublin, but instead was stuck in Chicago. And that's when I took a chance. I said I was supposed to be on that flight as well.
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| Motel in Chicago |
We did the usual name exchange and where we were from. Turns out 'J' knows where Lindsborg is and knows someone from the area. He did his undergrad at KSU and is now getting his graduate degree. He was headed over to Ireland to work on swine statistics for school. After squeezing into the shuttle and getting our rooms worked out, we were able to have a decent supper. We decided we might as well stick together the next day as well. I mean we did have several hours to kill in the airport.
It was nice to have someone to talk with and help pass the time. We had enough in common that we were able to carry on conversations easily. We even found out that we could tease each other, as he made a point of making a big deal of me tying my shoes, while he just slipped on his boots. The TSA guy even got a kick out of J's big belt buckle. I ended up buying a deck of cards in the airport and we passed the time playing. At one point a fellow traveler asked if I was winning. J was keeping score and turned and said "No, she's killing me".
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| One of the best souvenirs. |
After seven hours at the airport, our flight finally started to board. J ended up at the back of the plane, while I had been upgraded to Economy Plus. That is where J and I's airport adventure ended and my Europe adventure started.
*I'll be honest, I had the thought at least once that maybe meeting J was a meet-cute moment. Alas, it was not. However it was a way of God telling me that He was watching out for me on this trip and that this hiccup at the beginning would actually be one of my favorite memories of the trip.
