A change of plans can lead to the most amazing memories.
Traveling puts you to the test more than any college exam ever could. It tests your friendships, whether you embark on a week-long road trip, or a weekend getaway. Family vacations test your limits, especially when you have to share a room with your sibling for a week. But more than that, traveling requires you to test your flexibility—something that the most diligent planners, like me, have a hard time grappling with.
I was lucky enough to start off summer with a bang by embarking on three back-to-back trips: a road trip to Nashville and New Orleans, a long weekend in New York City, and a jetsetting European excursion to Amsterdam and Paris. I quickly learned that no matter how detailed of an itinerary you’ve planned in the weeks leading up to your vacation, life always manages to throw you a curveball (or twenty).
When you’re traveling, changing plans can feel scary at first. Being in a new place is overwhelming enough as it is, and making detailed plans is a way to establish control in an unfamiliar environment. However, my biggest takeaway from my summer of traveling was that a change of plans can lead you to some of the best moments and memories.
Life dealt me my first wild card on my first day in Nashville. After driving for 10 hours the day before, my friend and I were looking forward to the exciting day ahead: visiting a cute coffee shop downtown, exploring the Country Music Hall of Fame, and then singing our hearts out at a HAIM concert, which we had centered our road trip around.
Needless to say, given the theme of this article, life had other plans for us.
I was toweling off my hair after stepping out of my morning shower when I saw a Ticketmaster notification pop up on my phone. The concert was that night, so I assumed that it was just an event reminder. Unthinkingly, I unlocked my phone and saw that it was, in fact, an event reminder—but for a concert taking place in September.
My heart dropped. My friend and I had been looking forward to this concert for months and I dreaded having to tell her that our excitement and anticipation had been for nothing. Surely it had to be a mistake, a glitch in the system?
Spoiler alert: it was not. A band member had tested positive for COVID-19 and the concert had been postponed.
Here’s the thing, though. As disappointing as it was that we were forced to change our plans, it didn’t end up being for nothing. Knowing that it was COVID-related softened the blow the tiniest bit; it was a reminder that we’re still living in an era of constant change. And, hey! Suddenly we had a free Friday night in Nashville, Tennessee!
Granted, it took us a couple hours to feel the exclamation point in that sentence, but once we came to terms with our new reality, we ended up having the best night on the town. We enjoyed deep life talks over a leisurely (and somewhat fancy) dinner at the cutest restaurant (Pinewood Social, if you’re ever in Music City), complete with signature cocktails and heavenly pasta dishes. That night, we took pictures of the city skyline and gave ourselves stomach aches from too much edible cookie dough. It was one of the highlights of the whole trip, and it wouldn’t have happened if our original plans hadn’t been derailed.
During the remainder of my summer travels, the ‘when-life-gives-you-lemons’ mentality proved to be true time and time again. So many of my favorite memories were things that I never could have penciled into my itinerary leading up to my trips. Change can be disappointing at first, but the “lemonade” that you make out of your altered plans will teach you lessons in openness and flexibility. They also may just lead you to meet FINNEAS on the streets of Amsterdam—you just never know what amazing things life has in store for you next.