March 20, 2020 Chile. Santiago. Airport. Early evening. We are landing. The airport is relatively empty. Around a hundred people can be seen. We go straight to the ticket office. There will be a single plane to Madrid tomorrow. Sounds good. It sounds less good that there are only seats in the business class. 3000 euros per ticket. Otherwise it is fully booked. Phew. 3000 euros. They are crazy. We stay tuned. I feel like in Scotland Yard. We are checking all possible options so that the return flight, masked as Mister X, does not slip through our fingers. Then we discover a new opportunity: We can “exchange” our originally booked tickets (as a reminder: my ticket is only intended for a return flight in three weeks). For a flight in two days. Via São Paulo to Madrid.
Now we are at the counter and do not understand whether Mister X is showing up. I have the feeling that we should accept this offer. The woman at the counter wants a decision. Now I have it. I know. “Let’s take the tickets for the flight in two days,” I am spontaneously certain. So we get a ticket. For a return flight that is in two days.
And here is the plan: Tomorrow we are going to the supposedly booked flight to Madrid. Straight to the check-in. There we show our original flight tickets. Yes, I already know that mine will only be valid in three weeks. However, the connection Santiago – Madrid is on these tickets. Should they refer us to the ticket counter, we will say that this is where we came from and that we have been sent straight to the check-in. A little trick to outsmart the system. It is worth trying, it is our common idea. It is best to let as few days pass as possible so that there is a greater chance that the flight will actually take place.
In the middle of our planning meeting, a friend appears with his family. What is the likelihood of meeting at Santiago airport while in transit? There is an exuberant mood. Which, however, is regulated again by the fact that we go to eat isolated from them. That’s right. There was something. Keep your distance and all that.
During dinner it is time to think about where to sleep. We can just sleep at the airport. Or in the hotel next door? Or. Already arranged. It has become option 3. Hm. Wasn’t there something? Keep your distance, and so?
March 21, 2020 Somewhere in nowhere. Around Santiago. On a finca. I wake up. We are welcomed with a royal breakfast. Even when we arrived the night before, it seems that we ended up in a parallel universe. A residence in the middle of nature. Surrounded by fruit trees. Grapes that end up directly in our mouths. And dogs, in whose mouth we almost end up. Our colleague, who is almost 70 and his partner, accommodate us in the best way. I was skeptical that we pay a visit to a so-called risk group. But when we were greeted by our host with a big smile and as a gag with a kind of infrared pistol for fever measurement, my doubts vanish into thin air . He sees the whole situation with a good dose of humor.
The parallel universe, which welcomes us, brings a holiday mood. It makes us forget what the original plan was. We have our tickets for the flight tomorrow evening. So we can just let your mind wander here today and tomorrow. Riding with horses is possible. As well as an intensive exchange between researchers for upcoming projects. All of this is enjoyed and the day progresses.
But my heart calls and wants to move on. Catch the next way to leave this continent. Before it may be too late. For the first time, there is a gap in our adventure group. However, when it is time to decide, we find a way. The common way towards the airport. Still today. Concerns resonate. Are we getting on the plane with our tactics? Now the question is in the room whether our colleague is waiting at the airport to accommodate us if necessary if our trick does not work.
And the feeling spreads inside me that it doesn’t work. It doesn’t work if the destination is lost. When a plan B is ready. Plan B is probably the killer of real life. Why do you need a plan B? If Plan A is what you really want?
“We’re getting the plane to Madrid today! A backup is unnecessary. If we open the back door, we will destroy our original plan, ”I think to myself. And communicated it that way. All right. We are united again in the game. Our procedure is discussed again and the roles are distributed. We arrive at the airport, our colleague wishes us good luck and leaves us alone with our adventure.
Armed with motivation that reveals our joy of playing, we take the steps towards the goal. Which means: To get today’s travel option to Spain.
March 22, 2020 Something around 8pm. Germany. Frankfurt. Airport. Done. Our feet actually step on German ground. We routinely pick up our luggage. Completely tired. We say goodbye because now the three of us go our separate ways. Every person in his hometown.
I will soon be on the train. Knowing that it is now only a short hop to the cozy, homely bed. I review the last stage:
Our trick that we used for the flight to Madrid almost broke. As expected, they wanted to send us away. But we wholeheartedly adhered to our request. One employee after the other came to assess the situation. We spent what felt like an eternity at the check-in counter. Until finally the man who left the discussion a few minutes ago came back for us with tickets. We were allowed to fly. And that with the fully booked plane, which we were aiming.
When I think of these past hours, it feels like a crazy story. How we juggled with the flight tickets. Without paying an extra cent. In between it was difficult to keep track of which ticket is now valid for what. What we exchanged. Or was that the stand-by ticket? With connection to Frankfurt? In two days? No. In five days! How did it happen that we suddenly had a connection ticket in our hands? What a gamble. And in the end it was easy going.
Two weeks pass. I receive an email from the advertised return program. It is advised to be in Santiago. However, the retrieval is only limited to a certain number of people. A return home is therefore not granted.
And again there is a smile. A real adventure that we were able to experience. It was so absurd that we can only laugh about it. A plan that was ready for us. We just had to know how to read it. A feeling that we have experienced that everything is possible together.
If you take the first steps towards your destination with a light heart, you will notice that there is always a way. And we found this way.
The End.
