Tale of a Stranded Traveler

The trip started Tuesday.

It was going to be epic. Flying to Vienna via Dublin on Aer Lingus for ECR. Then on Sunday fly from Vienna direct to Las Vegas for HIMSS . Grueling - sure. But for many of us - we enjoy this - right?

Then - #beastfromtheeast. Now - I'm a New Yorker transplanted (and happy) in Boston area. So when I hear the forecast - I'm thinking "that's nice"... but I'm still having visions of wiener schnitzel for dinner. But it wasn't meant to be. We landed in Shannon. We were on the ground for 4 hours. Then with Dublin International suddenly and unexpectedly open - we made a run for it. De icing and fueling like rabbits - we were on our way....AWESOME

This looked promising! We were en route and the countdown clock on the map app was going in the right direction - until it wasn't... With 5 minutes to go, the straight line went oval - holding pattern. The clock ticks to 15 minutes - then the pilot comes on. "we are projected to be in the holding pattern for an hour and 1/2... but as we don't have enough fuel we need to divert to Shannon'. What?

How can this be? What about the schnitzel?

Well the custom officer had it right. When he asked me "how long will you be in Ireland?' I responded "as little as possible, as I have to get to Vienna". To which he said with the best Irish brogue ever "good luck with that". Foreshadow.

In line for 2 hours - you make friends. There were the 3 twenty-something guys in front of me trying to get to Geneva for an awesome ski vacation. And there were the 2 young ladies behind me traveling to Europe for the first time to meetup with friends in Barcelona. We exchanged tales, calmed each other down - and took in the moment. The Aer Lingus desk was overwhelmed. I won't get into why they didn't staff up and left two poor agents to handle all of us... but I won't go there. The agents were gems and did the best they could under the circumstances.

They put me and other travels up in the Inn literally next door. Took care of us. But the ups and down of trying to fly during a storm became real. After exploring any and all options - it seemed that Vienna, ECR, the schnitzel were not in the cards. So I opted to get back to Boston. You got a booking. Great! Flight is still on time. Great! Flight cancels when you wake up in the morning. Not Great!

But if all goes well - the beast exits today. Shannon International is slated to open tomorrow and God willing, I'll be off to Boston. I have tickets for Waitress Saturday and flying to Vegas Sunday - so it has to happen - right?

What do we take from this?

• Be flexible. Look for options.
• Make friends along the way. They make the time pass and keep you grounded.
• Be nice to agents. Any and all. The nicer you are, the higher the likelihood you may get what you want. They want to do a good job, help and go home happy. Be kind.
• Enjoy the journey. You have plans, but life happens. All you have is the moment - so whether you are in Vienna, Dublin, Shannon, Boston, Las Vegas - enjoy it.

See you in the air, at the airport or at HIMSS. Come say hi at Agfa HealthCare booth #4043