I have four weeks until my first trip so I decided to head home! Surprisingly, I was able to find a roundtrip flight the day before departure for just $243! How does that even happen!? (Tip: If you are looking for great deals on international flights check out Scott’s Cheap Flights and sign up for his free emails!)
Speaking of flying it’s time for a story! Yay, story time!!!
I arrived at the airport about 2.5 hours prior to my flight. I had to buy a bag and then check the bag so I wanted extra time. I tried purchasing a bag when checking in online, but could not figure out how! I thought maybe it was because I was using my tablet. Come to find out American Airlines doesn’t allow bags to be purchased online. Strange!
Anyway, I went straight to the self check-in kiosk. For whatever reason, I received a message saying I needed to see an agent. As I was heading to the agent I ran into Miss Molly, a girl about my age, who had the same problem. We made our way to the agent and he pointed us to a long, slow moving line.
We got in the line together and starting talking. I liked this girl straight away and I quickly learned why! We are living similar lives! She works for a tour company called Rustic Pathways. This company provides tours for high school students. She just spent three months in India and is headed to Peru for three more months! Of course, the whole 60 minutes we stood in line was spent talking about travel!
We continued the conversation while waiting in line for security. When we found out our gates were next to each other the decision was easy; we’d continue talking until boarding time!
As we approached departure time Molly says, “It feels like we have known each other forever!” We met just a few hours prior, but she was right it did feel that way! We parted with a hug, phone number exchange and a promise to meet up again someday!
As I reflect on those few hours it brings a huge smile to my face! It’s experiences like this that have me addicted to travel! I love meeting people, especially when they are likeminded! It’s so easy to make these awesome connections and at the end of the day feel like you’ve known them forever!
I also ask myself, “What are the chances? How did I randomly meet this awesome girl who is so similar to me?! And how did our planes take off from adjacent gates?” I wasn’t even supposed to be at the airport. I planned on staying in California until October. Molly should have already been checked in when I arrived. However, her flight was delayed so she arrived later than originally planned. Magically our paths crossed!
The only possible answer: everything happens for a reason! We were meant to meet each other and I can’t wait to learn the purpose!
“There will always be a reason why you meet people. Either you need them to change your life or you’re the one that will change theirs.” -Angel Flonis Harefa
#crossingpaths #likeminded #connections #newfriends #changinglives
(P.S. If any of my fellow Wild West CEOs are reading this, don’t worry I love you guys too! We’ve made some great connections as well! #gfamily)