Just today we were told that we’re not going to be able to take a very anticipated trip this weekend. It was a huge bummer, not just because we’ll miss out on visiting with friends, but more importantly because it was hard to hear a doctor say no.
As a traveler, I HATE when people say no.
Sure I’ve said it plenty of times in my life, but more often than not when I’m told no it encourages me to do it more. Forbidden is seen as a challenge in my head, not an obstacle. Now I’m being told definitely, without question, “No” and in this case there is just no arguing.
So how to deal with travel disappointment when a trip is cancelled?
My first reaction was to wallow in my disappointment. Woah is me, I can’t travel this weekend I heard myself complaining to friends. #firstworldproblems I could have hashtagged my complaints on Twitter. I had completely lost perspective on my journey and the reason why it was cancelled.
Then I tried to rationalize my disappointment. “Well it probably would have been cold/wet/miserable this weekend,” I thought. “Our flight would have been delayed. It would have been a huge pain. No vale la pena,” I rationalized. Rationalizing got me no where. Instead I felt worse.
Then there was denial. “Today is only Monday. I bet I’ll be feeling 1000% better by Thursday and we’ll have no problem jumping on a plane,” I said. “It’s just a short-term problem, it will be cleared up by the weekend.” The thing about denial is that it is really hard to maintain in the face of clearly contrary evidence.
And so I moved on to blame. “It’s not my fault, I would go if they would let me,” I said out loud. “I’m not THAT sick.” Again, a stupid thought because frankly no medical professional is ever going to tell you to cancel a trip out of spite. Or are they?
Wallowing, rationalizing, denial and blaming didn’t work so there was nothing else to do but accept it – sometimes travel just doesn’t end up the way you think it’s going to be. For now, I am a grounded traveler.
Have you ever had your travel plans cancelled? What did you do to overcome your disappointment?
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