A Change of Plans

Right about now, I should have been at LAX, waiting in line to check my luggage or passing through airport security, on my way to Frankfurt, Germany. Instead, I’ve been grounded, thanks to that unexpectedly disastrous volcanic eruption in Iceland—the same one that’s incited “the largest shutdown of international airspace in years.” Below is a photo of stranded passengers at my intended destination. (Photo (c) Getty Images and NYTimes.com) 

Oh well, I sit here, thinking silently to myself. What is there to do?

That’s the thing about travel—as with almost everything else, I suppose. It’s unpredictable and, more often than not, it’s not only subject to change—it will change and often, when you least expect it.

People tend to react in one of two ways when dealing with such travel roadblocks and detours. There’s the path of most resistance—the one where you become a seething cesspool of unbridled rage, anger and resentment. (For proof, just watch any episode of “The Amazing Race.” Trust me.)

And then there’s the other option—the one where you simply shrug your shoulders and just move on. This one, I’ve found, is always much more preferable.

So, that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I’m sad that I’ll be missing out on savoring those frothy mugs of beer and scouring the museums of Mainz but I know that, eventually, everything will work itself out. Who knows? There might just be yet another change of plans in the works and maybe, just maybe, it’ll be even better than I’d hoped.