Affordable Globetrotting: 08/26/18

My dog ate my homework...Well, maybe not my homework, but pretty close to it. He ate some important documents that I completed and needed to turn into my principal as part of my teacher evaluation. My principal knew I wasn’t lying when I showed him the remains of the papers that were wrinkled, torn, had bite marks and ripped corners. He laughed and said, “So I guess dogs really do eat homework.” Lucky for me, the papers were still legible and I ended up passing my evaluation. True story.

Here’s another true story: My dog ate my passport. Yes, I know the real dilemma here is my dog’s anxiety issues, but let’s focus on the dilemma that our dog ate our passport just a few weeks before our trip to Prague. This makes dilemma #6 in our traveling adventures…the biggest dilemma of them all.

I remember walking into our bedroom that Saturday afternoon and discovering the dilemma that would cause stress every single day for the next 3 weeks. Both of our passports were on the floor…one shredded to pieces (and I mean completely shredded), the other still in its passport cover but had the corner ripped and chewed. Even if you don’t know me, I bet you could take a guess on my first reaction and some words that came out of my mouth that moment I saw our passports. To give you a better idea, let’s just say that if a sailor were present, he would have blushed. Daren rushed into the bedroom soon after and had just about the same reaction when he saw our passports…give or take a few of my same word choices.

It’s crazy how many feelings you can have within just one single minute. We went from shocked to mad, mad to disappointed and sad, and from sad to worried. Anger was the most dominant feeling at the moment since we knew we had to go through the process of requesting a new passport, knowing the cost to get it expedited was not going to be cheap. We were a tad lucky, I must say though. Only one passport needed to be replaced since the one with the cover was protected, give or take a few bite marks on the corner of the actual passport itself. Quick tip: Invest in a good passport cover…they have a purpose!

We were obviously mad about the whole situation. Our anger, then, quickly turned into worry when we discovered that expedited passports still take about 2-3 weeks to get processed and mailed. Was our passport going to arrive on time before our trip? We paid for fast shipping to be safe. For the next few weeks, we did our best to stay calm and positive.

A few days later, we receive a message from the U.S. Department of State-Bureau of Consular Affairs stating that we need to provide a written statement to why our passport was so destructed before they could process a new one. To this day, we still don’t know the reasoning behind this. Regardless, we had to do it…meaning even more of a delay for our passport to get to us on time before our trip. Half a week later, it was finally in progress. Deep breaths, positive thoughts, and staying calm were even more important at this time, especially since our problems weren’t over yet.

Our time frame between receiving our passport and our trip were shrinking. It had been a little over 3 weeks and we still hadn’t received it. Phone call after phone call had been made, and there was no answers for us, let alone answering of the phone when we called. Days later, we were finally able to speak to someone who knew the status of our passport. She told us that due to some severe storms that had been occurring in their area, the whole bureau had been shut down…meaning our passport had not yet been completed and mailed. We were now down to less than a week before our trip to Prague.

A brief thought during this time: Should I go to Prague without Daren if his passport doesn’t come on time? *Pause* Nah, I couldn’t do that (Daren, I’m totally joking and didn’t think that at all...well, no longer than a minute anyway). Instead, I’ll keep calm, positive, and hope for the best.

We received the passport just a couple of days before our trip. We were able to go to Prague and have a trip of a lifetime. What an incredible place!

Conclusion

Stress and worrying wasn’t going to help our situation, so we did everything we could to stay calm and positive during those 4 weeks of waiting for our passport. It would have been heartbreaking if all of our money for flights, AirBnB reservations, transportation, plans, etc. went down the drain, and even more disappointing if we weren’t even able to go on our trip. But once again, as travelers, we know that sh*t happens sometimes and not everything will go our way, no matter how hard we try to make the perfect plans.

The key is to stay calm and positive during your travels and their dilemmas. I truly believe that the more positive you are, the better off you are, and the more luck will come your way. You can’t control everything during your travels. However, if you stay positive and do everything in your power to try to fix your dilemma, you will find a solution.

"Traveling is unpredictable. That’s part of the excitement. It will test you and change you. Most of all, it will make you appreciate yourself more, as well as the adventures and places that come along the way! Traveling is a must in this life. You will learn so much from it."

What are you waiting for? Ready…set…explore…escape…adventure…wander…travel!

Safe Travels,

Veronica