When Travels Go Awry!

When Travels Go Awry!

When I am planning travel for clients or even for myself, the last thing I want to think about is if there are problems, but that's a real concern when traveling. Whether it is a quick week-end trip or a month long European voyage - things sometimes go awry.

Those who were traveling on some of the most recent Carnival cruises were in for a rude awakening (it seems like a different ship every week) when several of their ships were struck with a multitude of issues, causing their ships to be pulled into ports and passengers having their trips shortened and being flown back to their home states. These people were not happy, and many passengers felt that Carnival did not handle the situation to their satisfaction. 

When traveling there are always going to be circumstances that are less than perfect. It's how you go into the situation that makes the difference. I've seen two people react 180 degrees from one another when told their flight was delayed and/or canceled. One took the information in stride and the other passenger took the news as if the world had come to an end. Was the person who took the news in stride happy about the turn of events? Absolutely not, but instead of making the situation worse and yelling at someone who had no control over the flight, that person chose to figure out what to do and move on as best they could. 

The better prepared you are prior to travel, the easier a "bump" can be managed. If that means purchasing travel insurance so that you can have your stay reimbursed if you have to spend a night at a random hotel, or have monies reimbursed should your luggage become lost during travels; it definitely will help with your peace of mind. Unfortunately, there are some instances, like being stranded on a non-moving cruise ship for four or five days, that really is difficult to prepare for, but again the way that you mentally handle situations can go a long way towards your experience being the most horrifying adventure of your life, or simply something that you see as an inconvenience, but not the end of the world.

In my experience, when I have taken situations in stride, the effects on my elevated aggravation level have been relatively low, versus the times I allowed myself to be swept up into the moment and become agitated and angered by the situation. Sometimes there are things that are going to happen that we simply have no control over - it's life. The way we handle the situation says a lot more about ourselves than we would probably care to acknowledge.

*Photo from freedigitalphotos.net

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