As someone who has been lucky enough to do a fair amount of travelling in the twenty-three years I have been on this planet, I am pleased to recount that the experience has been delightful. A fan of slow travel, I have been used to the odd missed connection here or delayed train there. I usually find it within myself to let it all wash over me as part of the experience, often ambling away to find somewhere to sit and something to eat as I wait for the later bus and plot my next move.
This tactic suited me well, until one fateful day in March 2023.
“Good evening, it is your captain speaking. On behalf of the in-flight team, we apologise and regret to inform you that we do not have enough staff to place this flight’s luggage onto the plane.”
Six months of my life in a country with a climate much hotter than my own were packed up into two suitcases left sitting sadly in Heathrow Airport, and I was sitting on the plane in an outfit fit for the wet Welsh winter I had left behind me hours before. It was all I could do not to weep into my admittedly rather large plastic cup of complementary (and placatory) aeroplane wine.
Fourteen hours later, I emerged off the plane into the sweltering Buenos Aires sun, sweaty and defeated and running on very little sleep. Mindful of the odd looks I was attracting from members of the public for walking down the street in a winter coat and scarf in 40-degree weather, I ducked into the first clothes shop I encountered and set about picking out a t-shirt, some shorts and a fresh pair of underwear. As I went to pay, I apologised in halting Spanish and explained that my clothes were all still in the UK.
Suddenly, to my surprise, the cashier burst out laughing. The indignation on my face was palpable, and he apologised quickly, explaining that a mere thirty minutes before, a British couple had come into the shop sporting the same winter attire and dazed look that I had, paid for an almost identical set of clothes, and left the shop without saying a word. I began to chuckle, and soon enough, that chuckle grew into a full-bodied, screeching belly laugh. I thanked the cashier and took the clothes, and as I opened the shop door and headed back out into the glimmering sunshine, I looked out at the city with a new perspective and felt altogether lighter and more ready to take on the day ahead.
Words by: Melody Lewis
Featured image courtesy of Jed Owen via Unsplash. No changes have been made to this image. Image license found here.