Yesterday was a learning experience. After weeks of preparation, I was all packed and ready to leave for Italy. I had carefully made lists of everything that needed to be packed, purchased before departure, and purchased upon arrival. I had chosen outfits, removed many items from my suitcase, and was finally all ready to leave. The afternoon of January 25th, my mom and I left for JFK airport in Queens, NY. Living in Jersey, we knew this would be a bit of a trek, given we'd have to cut through NYC, and the tunnels and bridges are always a parking lot. So, we planned ahead, leaving almost 5 hours before my flight, to drive what mapquest said should take an hour. What we could not plan for is an accident on the George Washington Bridge, that shut down the entire top level of the bridge. My mom and I sat, literally sat, in the car for at least half an hour. The entire journey, after encountering another accident in Brooklyn, took us over three hours. Needless to say, I'm going to try my hardest to fly out of Newark when I can.
So finally, after a long journey, my mom and I arrive at JFK and meet my dad in the lobby. Right when I get into the check-in line I realize I don't have my passport. For some reason, at that point I knew it was not in my purse where it had been earlier. I knew that I had left it in the copy machine at Staples, where I had made copies of it earlier that morning. I could not believe this. I am a very organized person, and the one thing I really needed I forgot. And not only did I forget it, I left it at a Staples on the copy machine glass, where someone could have stolen it and completely prevented my trip from happening. I was incredibly flustered, and had no idea what to. Even if someone could bring my passport to me, there was no way I was going to make my flight that left in two hours. I frantically called my friend Gary, who was awesome, and went out of his way to pick up my passport for me. There was a possibility that I could make a later flight to Milan, so the plan was for Gary to drive my passport to JFK and hopefully I would make the later flight. But after much deliberation, it was evident I was not going to be flying to Italy that night. And combined with an impending snow storm hitting the North East the following day, I was not going to be leaving until Thursday night.
I can't describe how hard this was for me. I was so excited, and what prevented me from getting to Italy on time was completely my fault. Granted, I can't really complain, I've only been postponed two days, and I still get to spend an entire semester in Europe. But, in all seriousness, this was a bump in the road that I in no way expected. So, from this experience I have learned to ALWAYS check multiple times for my passport/ID whenever traveling. I'm trying to look at the whole situation as part of the journey. After all, a trip without issues is pretty boring, right?
So finally, after a long journey, my mom and I arrive at JFK and meet my dad in the lobby. Right when I get into the check-in line I realize I don't have my passport. For some reason, at that point I knew it was not in my purse where it had been earlier. I knew that I had left it in the copy machine at Staples, where I had made copies of it earlier that morning. I could not believe this. I am a very organized person, and the one thing I really needed I forgot. And not only did I forget it, I left it at a Staples on the copy machine glass, where someone could have stolen it and completely prevented my trip from happening. I was incredibly flustered, and had no idea what to. Even if someone could bring my passport to me, there was no way I was going to make my flight that left in two hours. I frantically called my friend Gary, who was awesome, and went out of his way to pick up my passport for me. There was a possibility that I could make a later flight to Milan, so the plan was for Gary to drive my passport to JFK and hopefully I would make the later flight. But after much deliberation, it was evident I was not going to be flying to Italy that night. And combined with an impending snow storm hitting the North East the following day, I was not going to be leaving until Thursday night.
I can't describe how hard this was for me. I was so excited, and what prevented me from getting to Italy on time was completely my fault. Granted, I can't really complain, I've only been postponed two days, and I still get to spend an entire semester in Europe. But, in all seriousness, this was a bump in the road that I in no way expected. So, from this experience I have learned to ALWAYS check multiple times for my passport/ID whenever traveling. I'm trying to look at the whole situation as part of the journey. After all, a trip without issues is pretty boring, right?
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