It's all a part of the Journey

When buying my airfare for my summer adventure in Spain I was ready for my total to be almost $2,000 dollars. Airfare to Europe is beyond crazy, but when I came across a deal through cheapairfare.com I couldn't help but jump on the amazing ticket option. $1,200 dollars for a round-trip to Spain with only 1 stop in Amsterdam!

Getting from Portland PDX to anything international is AMAZING. So of course, I bought the ticket right away. My only thought in the back of my head was.. oh no.. Amsterdam Schiphol... not again.

 

You're probably wondering what's wrong with Amsterdam Schiphol? It's not that I don't absolutely LOVE Deutschland (Because I do!) but when I last left this airport I swore up and down I would never be coming back. When I first went to Europe in 2011 with my best friends Ashley and Ariel we took the Chunnel from London to Brussels, and then a train from Brussels to Amsterdam.

 

 

See from the picture above it all looks like fun and games, well that's how it started. It didn't end that way. Let me give you a little background on us individually:

 

Ashley (crazy face in front): She is on her toes at all times and is pretty much the leader.

Ariel (only blonde in the picture): She is a hot mess (bless her heart) She freaks out a lot (But now she has gotten a lot better, and to give her a break it was our first time out of the country alone).

And Me: I am a laid back and go with the flow kind of traveler

 

So our tactics are much different, making us a fun bunch. Minus this particular night we had many stressful mishaps. Beginning with the fact that the lovely twins packed too much, and who had to carry most of it while panic attacks were happening.. ME. So, with several bags we ran from each place to place (I only had one of my own.. and some of their things). When we finally were on our last part of the trip Ariel screamed it's time to get off this is our stop! So.. we got up quickly, as we argued back and forth, "I don't think this is right".. but she insisted it was. So we got off.

 

Surprise, surprise we got off one stop early instead of Amsterdam Central where our friend Marina was going to meet us we got off at Amsterdam Schiphol. There is mistake #1, but many more to come..

 

1. Getting off at the wrong stop

2. We had no cell phones

3. It was so late at night no one was around

4. We ran up and down the airport several times... without realizing it was the airport.. (wow).

5. We couldn't figure out how to use the payphone

6. When we did figure out the payphones Marina gave us her house phone, but we thought it was her cellphone so when a man speaking in Dutch kept picking up we kept hanging up (At 1 and 2 in the morning).

6. Ariel's suitcase handle fell off

 

When we finally figured out it was Marina's home phone after spending nearly 15 euros, we were able to explain the best we could to Marina's dad to got ahold of Marina to come and get us.

 

We made it back to her house by 4:00AM!  

 

So I didn't want to return to Amsterdam Schiphol. But I knew I had to. With my luck and the fact that the airport is cursed.. my flight was an hour late, so I missed my second flight out of Amsterdam. Friggen fantastic.

 

 

(Excuse my I just got off a 10 hour flight face and have to wait another 4 to get on a 3 hour flight)

 

So with this airport being cursed. I couldn't help but laugh, and think of my first time here with my closest friends.

 

At the end of the day whether you're traveling, or just living your day to day life the best stories you will ever have are always the mistakes or crazy moments you had. In the moment it may be very stressful, and even though it may seem that it isn't going to get any better, it will. Because you will look back on it one day with a smile on your face saying "I can't believe I did that". Or in this case.. "I can't believe Ariel did that". ;)

 

So relax, it's all apart of the journey.

 

 

And come on lets all be honest... when you think of planes you can't help but play this scene from Brides Maids over and over again in your head, this will always put a smile on your face Jet-Lag and all.