AND SO THE ADVENTURE BEGINS | TRAVEL DIARY

And so it began.. an adventure of a lifetime.

I have been wanting to travel around Latin America for years and as the 5th of November was looming it really felt like a dream was becoming reality. Particularly travelling to Colombia, I’ve been wanting to travel to Colombia for years and the day was finally here. Or so I thought…

We (Daniela and myself) arrived at the airport at around 7am for our 9.15am flight, check-in was really quick, Thomas Cook have a really good system so I was happy I wouldn’t be waiting long. We approached the desk ready to check-in just to hear you need a ESTA even for a layover in the US. Crikey! I was okay because I had one, however my friend Daniela didn’t so we had to leave the queue for her to apply for one. They are a pretty quick application so I wasn’t worried until she was on the 4 try and the flight was boarding. Then it happened, we missed the flight to Colombia and the ESTA still hadn’t come through.

NOTE: Always double check whether you need a visa for a layover. Also decide whether you want to be a great friend or not – haha.

So we ended up missing the flight to Bogota. Not going to lie, I was completely devastated and did contemplate whether I should have just boarded without her and meet her there. However, everything happens for a reason and I guess there was reason we both didn’t make that plane, despite me having an ESTA for the US already.

So after sitting at the Gatwick help desk going through options for flights, I saw a flight to Cancun was only £270 for the next day and was set on that. And so that’s what we did, the next day we got up the same time, my Mummy dropped us off at St Pancreas Station, we caught the train and returned to Gatwick.

It’s funny because this is my first trip in the last year where I’ve travelled with someone. So in my head the solo traveller was like “this wouldn’t happen if you were alone” – haha.

I definitely believe everything happens for a reason, although I may never know what that reason is the universe said it was not meant to be.

I’m still absolutely heartbroken about not travelling to Colombia, however I will definitely be taking a trip there in 2018.

Ever found yourself in a similar situation? Let me know your stories in the comments below.