True story. Set during the period of my life when missing flights was less of an accident and more of a personality trait. The first international flight that wasn't — and why that might have been the luckiest miss of my life.
20-Mar-15
I was scheduled to take my first international flight.
I had a stopover at Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) destined to reach Singapore by 00:05 on Saturday, 21-Mar-15.
The timing of the flight was carefully chosen to maximize my time of stay. My visa for Singapore allowed me 30 days of stay. I still remember how excited and nervous I was!
🙌
Excited — because
Finally.
It was FINALLY my first international travel. The plan was locked. The visa was stamped. The countdown was real.
😬
Nervous — because
History.
When it came to international travel, I had an awesome track record of — BEING STUPID. Trust me when I say STUPID, I freaking mean it!
Do you want to learn how to be stupid? Here is one story...
22-Aug-13
The Metallica Flight
My first international travel was scheduled for 22-Aug-13. I was to travel to Singapore to meet my brother and stay with him for 2 weeks.
The icing on the cake? My brother booked tickets for me for my first Metallica concert.
There was no limit to my excitement. So much so that I partied like a maniac the previous weekend. I invited friends over and humble-bragged about my upcoming trip while binging on beer.
All that excitement pretty much ended up in smoke.
Why? Because I had to cancel my flights 5 hours before takeoff. #TRUESTORY :(
How it unfolded
Party. Price. Passport.
Once I had canceled my flights, I started pondering on the epicness of my stupidity...
Remember the party last weekend Saheb? Remember the binge drinking all night long and how you fell ill the very next day? How you hoped that it would be temporary but fate had alternate plans for you?
Weekend before the flight
Partied like a maniac. Friends over. Beer. Humble-bragging about the upcoming trip. Classic pre-travel behaviour.
The morning of
Brother calls — asks me to buy a Metallica tee for the concert. Slightly feverish and gastric acting up, but the pull of a Metallica gig was stronger than logic.
Palika Bazaar hunt
Went with my cousin searching for the right print. Several shops. Over a hundred t-shirts. Couldn't find the one. Older siblings can be a pain at times. Just saying.
Back home
Got back and collapsed on the bed. Literally. May have blacked out for a while. Called the airline and booked seats and in-flight meals upon waking.
As takeoff approached
Felt more and more unwell. Thermometer read 104°F. The kind of number that ends arguments.
The call
Called my brother. We decided to cancel the trip. About 5 hours before takeoff.
104
°F
The body's verdict
Yes, F*** My Life! The thermometer doesn't care about your Metallica plans or your Singapore visa. 104°F is 104°F. The trip was over.
Normal
Slight fever
Can't fly
104°F
The number that hurt
How close.
So, it was just about 5 hours to my first international flight, when I had to call it quits!
Hours remaining before takeoff when I cancelled
5
Hours · Not Days · Not Weeks · Hours
The visa was stamped. The seats were booked. The in-flight meal was selected. The concert tickets were waiting in Singapore. Five hours.
The lesson
Common sense is not so common.
Moral of the story — common sense is not so common? Hmmm, I wish I could buy some...
Ok, let's be fair. I need to cut myself some slack. I ain't that bad either. Haha!
My brother indeed had a lot of work to deal with at that time, and it seemed like a logical step to cancel the trip altogether. I did not want to take an international flight when I was unwell — more so for the fact that I had a connection at KL and that would require me to change terminals.
The one good call in the entire story #TRUESTORY
I fell completely ill after that. The next two weeks which was supposed to be my best vacation was spent tossing and turning on my bed.
Today, looking back
Boon in disguise.
Today, I consider that experience as a boon in disguise. Everything happens for a reason they say and I cannot agree more.
Two ways to read the same story
How it felt then
"I cancelled my first international flight 5 hours before takeoff. I missed Metallica. I spent two weeks in bed. I was devastated."
What it became
"That miss was the prologue. The next attempt — and the story that follows — led to visiting 25 countries. The spark never went out. It was loading."
My first flight had to wait until my next attempt, and that story is worse than this one. I just can't help laughing at it today. Wondering if I should even tell that to you guys. Damn that one is freaking embarrassing!
may be, one day i will...
Where this sits in the arc
BE›BECOMING›BECOME
This is what loading looks like from the inside. It doesn't look like much. That's the point.
Hi, again Meizhou, I quite agree with you and that's exactly what I have done. Accepted, learnt and implemented the changes. And see, how I have moved on to an amazing journey. Had I taken that flight, maybe that would have been my first and last international trip. But it's the Universe's way of making you suffer in the short term only to present to you the true benefits for the long term :) Life's good!
Meizhou
12 February 2025, 1:39 pm
Hi, there. Plans can't keep up with changes. In life, there is such a truth.I used to work for an American travel company and had the most problems before the trip and after the trip .even in the trip.(It means that everyone comes to me for help) Every time when I get into trouble, I will tell myself, "calm down", and then think about it, first need to solve the immediate problem. Then find out why this is the case, finally accept the reality, glad that the problem has been solved, for a positive thinking, in fact, this is good, if not so, maybe there will be worse results. When I encountered more things, the ability to solve problems also enhanced, the mentality also relaxed. Later, in my team, everyone even gave me a name "master Meizhou teacher ". What I'm saying is, Saheb, even though you temporarily changed your first travel plan, if you don't change it, maybe the problem will get worse. So, be happy with your change of plan. Maybe if the plane you were planning to fly on was going to crash, or if you went that day, something worse was going to happen. That's how I see it. Whatever happens is inevitable. We need to face it and accept it. Everything has a good side and a bad side. And what we need to do is see the good and screen out the bad. Be a positive person. The meaning of travel is not only to take photos and see the scenery, the most important thing is to meet all kinds of problems during the travel, so that I can become a master of solving problems. Feel life with your heart and treat the people around you with love. We will become philosophers of life.
Vinayakan Aiyer
12 February 2025, 1:39 pm
5 stars for Self-flagellation :). But, written in a very easy style. Nice! Next write up, try your hand at some kind of travel themed fiction. You could write about how brown guys are 'randomly' chosen for special treatment while visiting USA. Of course, the anchor would be "body cavity search". Ha ha
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