If you travel a lot, then you are bound to experience delays and other misfortune. I once read that if you’ve never missed a flight, then you’re probably spending too much time in airports
(SEE ALSO: I’m spending DAYS of my life in airports)
Back in 2018, as my trip was canceled out from under me and as my bags were stolen out of my car, I was trying to keep a positive spin on things. So I came up with (codified) these 2 travel rules
Rule #1: This would be so much worse if all my kids were with me
This is a rule that my wife and I often talk about when we’re traveling together without the whole “crew”. Airport lounges have saved us some times, and now that most of our kids are a little older it’s not as bad, but I still remember trying to corral 6 kids in the Reno airport as our Southwest flight kept getting delayed… and delayed… When
Downside of this rule? It doesn’t work well when we ARE traveling with our whole family 🙂 Thankfully our whole family travel has been mostly stress-free, though with a few exceptions, like the time our Amtrak train was delayed 13 hours, or when our flight to Chicago was delayed so long it caused a fellow passenger to tell my wife and I that we were “the type of people that shouldn’t have children”
My family playing cards on an Amtrak train in the lounge car
Rule #2: Well at least this will make a great blog post
My 2nd rule is trying to think on the positive that at least it will make for a good story in hindsight. As I sat on the steps of our airbnb in Athens, having a) ripped the handle off of the door, b) left the keys IN the lock upstairs and c) locked ourselves out of the building (all with no Internet or data), this rule was about all that was keeping me sane. I kept thinking “Well at least this will make a good blog post” (And it did! 😀 )
The same thing happened more recently when I had to sprint half a mile because my flight landed 18 minutes before my connecting flight was scheduled to take off, at a different terminal a half mile away.
(SEE ALSO: Miller… Party of 2… Please Make Your Way to Gate 9…)
I realize not all of you will have travel blogs, but still it can be good to think of stories that you share with family, friends and others. It can be hard to think past the moment, but nothing is helped by freaking out in the moment.
What about you? What are your rules for when travel goes wrong? Or do you have a horrible travel story that you need to share? Leave a note in the comments
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
Just one rule: dont stress it will work out and there is travel insurance.
Don’t lose it, and hang in there. Last summer we had an experience which will eventually make a great blog post. Firstly you have to know that my husband and I were 84 and 81 at the time but still had (and have all our marbles.) I had the bad idea that it would be fun to take the train from Basel where our cruise ended to Amsterdam where we would fly home. It would be fun, great scenery and German trains are great…NOT. There was a tunnel cave in the morning before our trip and when we got to the station we found that all trains were re-routed and re-routed and re-routed. After many changes, where we got to hate our luggage, and much help by friendly Germans who saw us struggling on the many stairways with our bags, we got to Frankfurt. There we were told a train would take us non-stop to Amsterdam. The friendly conductor helped us onto the wrong train which ended on a siding. We needed to climb down from the train on a ladder, climb over many tracks and finally take a taxi back to Frankfurt. Again helped by a German student. We complained to Deutsche Bann but they only offered a night in a seedy hotel a few blocks from the station and an early morning train. We took both, and made our flight but it was not a fun experience.
I want to be like you when I grow up! 😉
What a pain, but it’s a great story!
I understand completely and I keep this thought as my personal stress deflator. We are lucky enough to have the ability to be able to travel and see The things we can
I was living in St. Louis Missouri at the time. I had a three year old daughter and an 8 month old son. I was trying to fly to Bradley International to visit my mother with the kids. They overbooked the flight and left me stranded with my son in a stroller and a 3 year old. I had to fly stand by. I ran from gate to gate all day with these kids. Diaper changes, feeding, crying. Talk about frustrating!! Finally, around 5 pm Central time I was able to beg myself and children, tears and all, onto a flight. I started at 6 am. What a relief! I didn’t arrive at Bradley until 9 pm. Collect baggage and finally met my mom. It was a trip I’ll never forget!
My recent favourite mishap was when we were flying back from Hawaii (Alaska companion pass) and we couldn’t fly home to Boston because of yet another snow storm. We refused the red eyes they were offering, so next available was four days later for daytime flight. Which gave us an unexpected vacation in San Francisco (hello Hilton honors points 🙂
My travel rules definitely include ‘well, it will make a great story!’
And I remember crazy travel with many kids, so I feel your pain there 🙂