Travel Lemons Make Great Lemonade
I recently saw a clever little meme that said, “When life gives you lemons… kill them, crush them, drink their souls.”
While that may be a little intense, I think the message is clear. Stuff gets weird sometimes. It can even go wrong. But, we don’t have to let it ruin our day. And, such it is with travel.
Delayed flights.
Cancelled flights.
Food poisoning.
Hurricanes.
There are a million things that might “ruin” a vacation, if you let it, or they can become the experiences that make for great stories when you get home!
For example, let’s consider my friends below, Captain Jacques and Sober Jack Sparrow….
Captain Jacques and Sober Jack Sparrow
On my trip to Disneyland Paris with my hubs for our 18th anniversary, we were excited to meet some of the characters we hadn’t met yet, including Captain Jack. On Day One of our trip, we ran into him in Adventureland (see evidence on the left, above). This Captain Jack was surrounded by fans, as if he were Harry Styles, and we waited anxiously to get our turn. And when we did, this man looked at me and, in the thickest, most soft-spoken and genteel French accent I’ve ever heard, said, “Hello, Lady. Do you like zee pirates?” It was clear and obvious he was a fraud. But, we smiled in our picture with him nonetheless, mostly out of habit. We dubbed him Captain Jacques, the worst pirate in the world.
Thankfully, we had booked lunch at his namesake restaurant the next day, where we knew he’d come to our table to visit. That’s where we met Sober Jack. You see, Jack Sparrow came swaggering up to our table in true form, and I thought, Alas, a proper Jack Sparrow! He talked with us about our meal and if we’d found any treasure lately, and then my husband asked him where he kept the rum. And Jack said, “Oh, I don’t drink rum anymore. Just water.”
Wait, WHAT?
And that was how we met Sober Jack Sparrow.
Captain Jacques and Sober Jack could well be described as some of the worst, or at least most awkward, character meet and greets we’ve ever taken part in, but yet, they are also the most insane and ludicrous and bring super happy memories. We could complain that Disney Paris needs a better casting department, but instead we tell this story probably more than any other about our trip.
See this skinny kid? Thank the 4-days of food poisoning in Africa for that!
Not all traveling lemons are so lighthearted, however. Some come from stupid mistakes or downright dangerous choices. The picture above is me in 1998, when I was in law school studying abroad for a summer in Nairobi, Kenya. We had a long weekend at one point during our program, and several friends and I decided to book a short flight from Nairobi to the island of Lamu.
Lamu is rich in culture and history, where you hear Islamic prayers blasted over the loudspeaker at each of the religion’s five prayer times (including, we discovered on our first morning, at 4:30 AM!), fishermen still fish in traditional dhows, and the people are so amazingly welcoming and kind. We were immediately loved by everyone we met, and offered experiences that we’d never forget, including attending a local wedding ceremony (complete with henna on our hands!) The locals were proud of so many parts of their culture and wanted to share it all with us, but the one thing they seemed to most want to share was this delicious, locally made limeade. We got it when we checked into our hotel, at every meal, and just about everywhere else. It was SO GOOD. They kept handing us glasses and we kept drinking them up. Until, after about 357 servings, one of us said, “Wait, isn’t limeade made with WATER?” Like, as in, African water? The stuff you’re NOT supposed to drink with sensitive American tummies?
Yep, as you might have guessed, we all got sick. Days and days of nothing but diarrhea and vomit. We somehow managed to fly back to Nairobi, where we spent the next four days in our hotel rooms. Our professors brought us our reading materials and cold towels for our foreheads. And I lost weight. So. Much. Weight. (Again, see picture above!)
Stupid mistake. Developing country travel 101 is to not drink the water. But, in the end, we lived. And we had a story to tell. (And it was DARNED good limeade!)
(As a side note, if you ever do get food poisoning in Africa, trying the new Mexican restaurant in Nairobi is NOT a good choice for dinner the day you’re finally feeling better.)
Another shot of me, post food poisoning apocalypse, with the taxi driver who became my caretaker, Michael
I have slept in airports in Moscow, Russia while flights were delayed for 12 hours, not being able to effectively communicate enough to fully understand what was going on. I have been in New Zealand when a volcano exploded, causing all flights to be grounded and hotel rooms being battled for. I have been at a bar when a man was shot and killed by terrorists, and I sat on the floor just feet from him as he bled. (Maybe I will share this story one day, when I’m brave enough.)
All of these things can be a ruined trip, or can be stories to tell, experiences to remember or find gratitude in. I made it to my destination in Russia and was grateful for the Sbarro pizza with pictures of their menu so I could order without speaking Russian. I found a hotel thanks to a nice couple who booked two rooms when they only needed one. And I made it out safely from that bar, survived my food poisoning, and yes, even enjoyed my times with the two worst Jack Sparrows in France.
Next time travel throws you a few lemons, what can you make out of them?