Vacation Meltdown

When I went to South Africa last March with a couple of  friends, I got very very close to killing some of them and probably had a couple meltdowns. All four were adorable, but three of them couldn't stick to the schedule regardless of how many times we went over it the night before. Between being late, getting hungry or tired, it was like dealing with kids. 



I swear I didn't start screaming until day 4. For 3 days, I was patient and "understanding." I use brackets because honestly I cannot understand how one can manage to be late when we are all staying at the same hotel in the same suite and have agreed about what time we have to be ready at. 

It's one thing when we are supposed to meet somewhere and people are late. Delays can happen, different traffic patterns, car issues, and so on ... BUT when we are all sleeping at the same location and say we need to be out of the door at a specific time, anytime AFTER that specific time is late. 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes, I don't care. You are L-A-T-E, and you should be apologizing, not trying to justify it, and the next day, you should be sure to be ready in advance, not be late again.


I swear I am not a control freak, at least I hope I am not. Maybe some of my friends reading this who know me personally will disagree with this last statement, but even if I am, I don't think wanting to respect times and schedules qualifies me as a control freak.

I just want to be where I am supposed to be when I am supposed to be. I don't want to be there an hour late and I don't want to be driving 200 miles an hour to make up for the fact that my grown adult friends still haven't figured out how long it takes them to get ready. And I don't want to miss sunset over Table Mountain because you decided to be late again and we are all in one car and it would be mean to go and leave you. How about me missing out on the sunset because of you? Isn't that kind of mean?  Why can't we just follow the plan?


I am not saying I am perfect, I know I am not, but 99% of the time I try to be super respectful of times and schedules since traveling in a group is already complicated enough because you are trying to fit in everything everyone wants to do in a short period of time. However if everyone is respectful of each other, it works, and being on time is one way of showing respect that is not that complicated.

You pack your bag and layout your outfit for the next day at night, you only drink as much as you can handle, you set your alarm according to the time of departure, and when your alarm rings, you bolt out of bed, brush your teeth, throw your clothes on and voila you are ready. You can even sleep in the clothes for the next day if that helps. My friend Deidre did that in Medellin and guess what ... she was on time. She always is because she is awesome!

So why does it seem so hard for most people to be on time? And why are we people who want to be on time the bad guys and deemed control freaks who can't relax when we get upset about it? 

Trust me when it is time to relax, I relax just fine ✌

me relaxing in Athens 

Live, Love, Laugh & Travel

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