If It Can Go Wrong, It Will: A Lesson in Traveling

I just got back from Lahore. It was a short 2-day trip to attend the Festival of Lights but gave me a much needed lesson in traveling. Let me share it with you:

Day 1:

• Broke my glasses.

• Forgot the iPhone charger at home, and the phone died at the end of the day.

Day 2:

• Got ready to leave for Islamabad, took a rickshaw to the bus station.

• Didn’t have much cash with me because, you know, ATMs are everywhere. But apparently the banks in Lahore really don’t want you to withdraw cash. I checked every ATM on the way, most were powered off, some were out for maintenance, one gave up right in the middle of the transaction.

• Just when the rickshaw was about to reach the bus station, I realised that I’ve forgotten my home keys at my mamu’s place where I stayed for the night. That’s another round-trip back to their place. It took 3 hours to finally get at the bus station, with keys.

• After I paid the rickshaw-wala, I was almost out of cash.

• There I was. Without cash, with broken glasses, unable to find any working ATM, trying to find a thin wire so I could fix my glasses, couldn’t ask anyone to easypaisa me because, you know, iPhone cannot save you in emergencies, it dies a day before. My dream to become a vagabond had come true.

• Irony: the nearest place I could go to was my ex’s home.

Lesson:

When you’re traveling, if something can go wrong, it will. Don’t panic when it happens.