Warning! You could miss a flight if you left it to the husband to be incharge of the flight itinerary.

I never really thought the day would come where I would miss a flight. I mean come on, don't these things only happen in the movies? As dramatic as I may be, missing a flight is the last thing on my agenda, especially when a vacation is always the biggest priority in my schedule. Surprise surprise, I can now list "missing a flight" under the craziest things that happened before I turn thirty.

We had a family vacation planned for the beginning of February, and everything that could go wrong, went wrong. I had a school assignment due the day before our flight, and I was up to my neck finishing work up amidst packing for the family. It was mayhem in the household that very night, as I rushed from place to place to settle last minute stuffs while stuffing socks, clothes, undergarments, toys to keep the children occupied into the luggage. All this happened while the husband very coolly informed me that our morning flight was delayed. While I settled all the back end stuff, I left the plane itinerary as well as our travelling itinerary to entirely to the husband, assured that he would not make a mess out of it. After all, getting the flight time right was relatively easier than packing for the two children right?

Wrong. 

The morning of our flight, I jolted out of bed when I saw that it was already 10am. The husband was first to wake, and was in the kitchen feeding the cat. The children was still asleep at the time, and I was almost frantic to know that we had an hour to get ready and leave for the airport. I panicked and asked the husband "it's 10! Why didn't you wake me up?" His reply? "Relaxxxxxx, our flight is at 1330. And he was relatively still very calm. 

I got the boys ready at the speed of lightning and called for a cab to pick us up. The husband then dropped the bombshell that we needed to drop by the moneychanger to get some currency before heading to the airport. Tick tock. Tick tock. By the time we reached the airport, it was 1230. Yes, and our flight was at 1330. Technically, we needed to check in at least an hour before the flight time right, so technically we were still on time right?

Wrong.

The husband (I could so strangle him for this) saw the delay to be till 1330, when it fact it was for a 1310 flight. Which meant... We were late for check-in... Which meant we could not board... Which also meant we missed our flight. 

The lady at the counter refused to check us in, the pilot rejected our pleas, and we were at our wits end. The husband frantically went from counter to counter to check for the next available flight by any other airline and it felt like an amazing race moment if you ask me, only that we were not in a race for a million dollars, and no one was willing to help us at the time. The only glimpse of hope was to book for a budget flight flying to our destination in three hours, but it would cost us 1.5K for one way tickets. 

1.5k? I said no way, hosei. Until the kids came up to us, and asked how long more till we board the plan, totally unaware of the stress we were facing. How could we bring them home with their packed luggages when they were excited for this trip for the longest time ever? I couldn't do it, and neither could the husband. 

So we burnt our pockets, and paid for it. We went on with the vacation, $1500 poorer... $1500 above our initial set aside budget. It was a very painful price to pay for a stupid, silly mistake. I hated the husband for killing our shopping budget for a stupid mistake, yet this experience also made me realize how patient I could be with someone I truly loved. I mean I could have killed him for it, it could have started war between us, but you know what? It didn't. We hugged and cried, and knew that we were in this together. Through thick and thin, even if it cost $1.5K! We went on the flight, stronger than ever, and enjoyed our trip, more than we expected. :)