Where have you been?

I took a two week break from posting on social media because of my recent move to Salvador, Bahia in Brazil. I didn’t think that I would be offline for so long, but life happens.

This is my fourth time living in another country. And it was by far the most challenging move. That’s saying something because I lived in China in the 1990’s! My husband and I have faced many obstacles related to this move. I can honestly say that my resilience, tenacity, and problem-solving skills have been frequently tested and I have learned so much in the process.

The observations and stories that come from this experience are excellent examples for our workshops, our blogs and some will even be part of our next book. I’m going to test some of the ideas by posting blogs about different experiences - the move and my cultural assimilation in Brazil. I’m sure Javier will join the fun by posting some of his experiences with working and living in various countries too.

Today, I thought that I would share a brief story about getting to Brazil. We had many delays associated with getting our household goods shipped to Brazil. Our original plan was for me to be down there by the end of December but that didn’t happen. My husband, Roberto, has been here since mid-November. I booked a flight for late February for me and my cat. My cat had to fly up to Dallas one day before me but would be on the same flight as me to Sao Paulo. He stayed overnight in a cat hotel; in case you were wondering.

I learned in the morning that my flight from Houston to Dallas was delayed. At first, I didn’t think it was a big deal because my flight to Sao Paulo was in the evening. Unfortunately, I kept getting notices that the flight was further delayed. So, I called the online travel agency that I used to book the flight. They told me that I couldn’t get on another flight that would get me to Dallas on time to make my connecting flight. I had to be on the Dallas to Sao Paulo flight because my cat’s paperwork said that I was accompanying him to Brazil. He would not clear customs unless I was on this flight.

I had a couple of alternatives - I could get a rental car and drive to Dallas or I could take my chances with the airline. It was 11 AM and I decided to investigate renting a car since I would have plenty of time to do the drive. Except there was one problem - no rental cars were available.

So, I decided to go to the airport early and hope that I could either get on a different flight or hope that my original flight would get there in time. When I checked in, a friendly representative from American Airlines put me at the top of the standby list for an earlier flight and checked me in for my original flight. I checked my luggage and sat at the gate hoping for the best. The standby flight was delayed so I was getting a bit nervous and kept wondering which flight gave me the best chance of getting to Dallas in time for my connecting flight to Sao Paulo. My name was called, and I got on the standby flight, knowing that I would have a very tight window to get to the international terminal to board the next flight. There were no guarantees with either flight.

Luckily, I got there with 8 minutes to spare. Had I been on my original flight, I would have missed the connection by 15 minutes. I wasn’t sure that all my luggage made it, but I knew that I was on the flight and so was my cat - thanks to the tracker in his cage.

For me, this experience reinforced the importance of focusing on the things that you can control, exploring alternatives, and being decisive when making a choice.