Trauma del Viaggio

On July 17, Steve and I headed to the airport for a long-awaited Italian vacation.

“I can’t believe we’re ahead of schedule!” Steve said. 

I high-fived him. “We rock!” 

At 10 am, we arrived at the Norse Airlines ticket counter to pick up our boarding passes.

Oh, you haven’t heard of Norse Airlines?

It’s like Spirit Airlines, but they fly international.

So, you get to be miserable for more hours.

“Good morning,” Alberto, the friendly ticket agent said. “Where are you flying to today?”

“Rome,” Steve answered, handing him our passports.

Alberto looked at our passports, then began typing on his computer. 

Tippity-tap, tippity-tap, tippity-tap.

Steve and I smiled at each other.

I did a little WE ARE GOING TO ITALY dance.

(Basically it’s a collection of my best 80’s moves, with some Italian phrases thrown in.)

After a minute of typing, Alberto’s brow furrowed, and he said, “Hmmm.”

Hmmm, when uttered by doctors and ticket agents is not usually a good sign. But at that point, I wasn’t too concerned. 

“May I have your confirmation number?” Alberto asked.

“Sure,” Steve said, as he pulled it up on his phone.

Now that he’s got the confirmation number, he’ll enter the info, and off we’ll go!

Ciao!

Alberto’s eyes darted back and forth between our passports and his computer. 

He scratched his head.

So, just to recap, there’s been a furrowed brow, a hmmm, and a scratching of the head.

I was beginning to grow uneasy.

“Could I see the email that was sent to you?” he asked Steve.

I breathed a sigh of relief. 

Steve will show him the email, Alberto will find the reservation, and then we’re out of here!

Seriously, Ciao!

Finally, after many grueling, anxiety-ridden minutes…

Alberto found our reservation!

Just one slight snafu.

It was for THREE MONTHS AGO!

My stomach dropped, I put my head in my hands and I wailed, “NOOOOOOOO!”

I’m an enormous help in stressful situations.

“I’m sorry, but these tickets were for April 17, 2025,” Alberto said.

“This can’t be,” Steve said.

Oh, it be, Steve.

Alberto showed Steve the confirmation email and sure enough – January and Steve Ornellas – Flight #412 – LAX – Rome – April 17, 2025.

Gosh, I hope we had a good trip.

Steve and I stood in stunned silence, but then we realized we needed to do something. 

The first thing we did was to play a little game called, “I’m Pretty Sure YOU Are the One That Made This Reservation and Completely F’d Up Our Trip!”

The game involves equal parts blame and shame.

It’s a pretty fun game.

But after that, we sprung into action.

And by we, I mean, Steve.

He turned to Alberto, “Do you have any flights we can get on today?”

Are you crazy, Steve?

People don’t just show up at the airport and purchase international flights the day of!

Well, except for on Friends.

(Remember when Chandler went to Yemen?)

But, I was wrong.

Alberto told us there was a 1:00 flight. 

“Are there still seats available?” Steve asked.

Alberto chuckled. “Oh, there’s plenty of seats!”

And, more good news! 

The tickets weren’t even that expensive.

Except for the fact that we purchased them twice.

But, in the end, Steve and I boarded flight #412 – LA – Rome – JULY 17, 2025!

Ciao!

Author’s Note: The picture at the beginning of the story is right before we boarded our low-budget 11-hour flight. Look at the joy in our eyes!