A Perfectly Planned Vacation Gone Wrong

Umika Tunuguntla 

Ms. Asuncion 

English 9 Honors, Block: 2 

2 December 2015 

A Perfectly Planned Vacation Gone Wrong 

A very exciting, but stressful vacation that I had was when I traveled to India in December two years ago. I was excited to go because it was my uncle’s marriage, and because I was going to be able to visit my family after a long time. My mom left two weeks earlier than us, so she could help with preparations, and we stayed since we could not miss too many days of school. Those two weeks were full of anticipation and hard work at school, so they flew by quickly. On the morning that we were leaving, we checked everything around the house because we knew we wouldn’t be back for a month.  

At the airport, there was a line that looked as long as an airplane itself. We got there late, so we were one of the last people in line. When we finally made it to the check-in counter, I felt relaxed and felt all the nervousness inside of me go away as I knew that there was nothing to worry about anymore. As I was waiting, letting my dad handle all the passports and visas, I heard him suddenly sound worried. Quickly, I walked up to the counter and listened. When the person at the counter checked my passport and my dad’s everything was fine, but when the agent got to my brother’s passport he spotted a problem. Apparently, there was a mistake in my brother’s passport regarding some numbers at the bottom, and for that reason we weren’t allowed to travel. My dad tried talking to the agent, and even the manager there, but they didn’t allow us to board. I was devastated. 

For the previous two weeks I built up all this excitement, and when they said we weren’t allowed to go, everything just fell apart. It was like a tower made of cards, as a single mistake could make everything fall down.  

We went home, and my dad started making calls to try and fix the issue. He called my mom, who was in India, and when she heard the news she was just as disappointed as me. After a while, we realized that even if we fixed the passport problem we might not have been able to find a flight for any time soon. That crushed me even more since my uncle’s marriage was in ten days, and the thought of me not being there during that celebration was disheartening. I didn’t cry, but I was in a state of dismay.  

My dad and another friend spent the whole day trying to find a way for us to go as soon as possible. Right when I was losing all hope, they found out that in order for us to travel we need to have all of my brother’s old passports too. As soon as they realized that, they started looking for tickets. Then, as if luck was on my side, they found tickets available for the next day. I was ecstatic and elated that everything was going to happen just as we planned. 

The next day, though, I woke up with a fever. I went to the hospital right away. The doctor told me that it was a regular cold, but I felt like I had the flu. For the remainder of the day, I rested until the flight at night. My dad said that we should cancel the trip, but I insisted that we still go, claiming that I was fine. We went to the airport, once again through a fresh layer of snow, and this time were allowed to check-in through a different airline. My dad was really mad that one airline company didn’t let us go due to a “mistake” but another one didn’t even say anything about it. Still, we boarded the plane and went to India. 

The trip started out fine, and I was really enjoying myself. As the days passed on I kept getting more sick, but I gave little attention to that, thinking I would get better. Unfortunately, I wasn’t allowed to participate in any of the pre-wedding celebrations that we have in our traditional weddings. Still, I thought that if I rested during those times, then I would be better by the wedding day. On the day of the wedding I was so sick, I could barely walk. My mom didn’t want me to go in that state, and told me to stay home with my older cousin. Once again, I was disappointed. It was worse because it was one thing if I couldn’t go if I was still in America, but going all the way to India and not attending was disappointing. That was when I finally let it all out. The reason why I was so excited was because I wanted to see my extended family again, and take part in the various parts of the Indian wedding. There are dances, ceremonies, and many more parts to it, and that was my only chance to experience those things as it was my last close relative’s wedding. 

What was even more saddening was the fact that I had to see pictures of the wedding and everyone having fun. To be truthful, I was jealous for a while. When you look forward to something so much, and not being able to be there, is a terrible feeling. It was an experience that I had which was unexpected. In the end, I actually learned something from this. I learned that you need to be prepared for different obstacles, and you shouldn’t let them bring you down. I also learned that things don’t always go your way. There will always be obstacles in your way, but overcoming them will result in something to make up for them. That’s exactly what happened to me. I got over the fact that I wasn’t able to attend, and later during the vacation I got a surprise. My mom planned a surprise birthday party for me on my birthday, December 31, and all my family members came. I was overjoyed, and we had so much fun. I will never forget about the events and problems during that vacation, as it was one of the most interesting trips that I have ever had.