We dabbled once internationally in our twenties; a work-sponsored weekend jaunt to Cancun.

It wasn’t until our early thirties when things started to really take off. The travel companion of a friend we affectionately call our “Seattle mom” backed out last minute and she had no one to accompany her to Europe. Would we be interested?

A swarm of chaotic butterflies swirled around in my belly. This time in a few months we could be relaxing in our very first outdoor European cafe, a cigarette in one hand, some fancy exotic coffee drink in the other, watching passersby argue in German. Of course we would!

To this day, I still have a distaste for British Airways. I am Filipino therefore irrational superstition coarses through my veins. When the universe seems to tell you otherwise, it is probably best not to follow through with your endeavor. Forgot your wallet in the house on your way to the supermarket? Go back. Stay home. Someone sneezed as you were locking the front door? Forget going out. You’re bound to run into some kind of trouble.

From the terminal, I see the British Airway plane land on the tarmac and the excitement starts to build. 9 hours and we will be in a completely different country! An hour passes. The usual. It was a long flight from Europe after all. Another hour passes. Then another and another. What is going on? After the fourth hour, the gate agent says there were some repairs that needed to be done to the plane. What was a couple more hours when you are about to fulfill a dream? Fast forward two hours. Sorry but the repairs are bit more extensive than anticipated. A few more hours please. Thank you for your patience. Fast forward another two hours. Actually we need to order a part for those repairs. So here is what we are going to do; we will offer passengers dinner vouchers and set them up at a nearby hotel. The flight will be rescheduled for tomorrow morning. Goodnight for now or however it said in Merry Old England.

Do you know where we are? We are in the airplane-manufacturing capital of the country! Seattle. How do you not have that part just lying around? It would be like having your laptop crash at Microsoft headquarters and not being able to find a replacement.