Reflections on the Trip that Didn't Happen

This wasn't the musing I expected to write.

I imagined sharing stories from a magical journey through Ireland—Celtic wisdom, sacred places, deep friendships, and the quiet beauty of a long-awaited pilgrimage.

Instead, this became a reflection on something far more universal. It is a reflection on what happens when plans change, when life happens, when something you’ve looked forward to for the better part of a year doesn’t materialize.

There were ten of us preparing for this trip when plans changed. Ten days before departure. Our private tour guide, who had designed the experience, was suddenly unable to make the trip possible.

Our US travel agent scurried to find alternatives. Other tour guides were fully booked, as were the buses. We had flights and accommodations, but no way to travel once we reached Ireland.

And so, the realization that we needed to cancel this trip and plan for it to happen later in the year. And so I made nine phone calls – relaying news that I didn’t want to deliver and no one wanted to hear.

Every woman was disappointed.

Yet not one complained.

Some immediately began planning alternate vacations. Others welcomed the unexpected quiet time. Several simply went back to work and saved their vacation for another day.

Disappointment was shared.

Self-pity was not.

Celtic Wisdom

In preparation for the trip, I have been studying the Celtic traditions in the book Anam Cara – A book of Celtic Wisdom by John O’Donahue. (beautiful book – highly recommend it).

As this was unfolding, this passage called to me:

Everything that happens to you has the potential to deepen you.

An inelegant way of saying this is the common phrase “Shit happens.”  Because it does.

At times we have unexpected delights, other times unexpected disappointments. Yet, if truth be told, very seldom does life unfold just as we have anticipated, planned or hoped for.

Lessons from a Previous Trip

As I reflected on our canceled trip, another memory surfaced—one that has stayed with me for years. I was taken back to a two-week trip to Greece with a dear friend. This was a long-awaited and anticipated trip to a country that was #1 on both our bucket lists.  

After a week on the mainland, our tour group boarded ferries to the magical island of Santorini. We were in a lovely resort overlooking the Agean on a breathtakingly beautiful island. It was all that we had imagined – and then some.

There were two other ladies traveling together. On the island, they got a call from their travel agent about their return flight. There had been a change: instead of a two-hour layover on a connecting flight, they had been rebooked for a five-hour layover.

There is a reason I so clearly recall this memory. That is because for the entire three days in Santorini, the minor change in travel plans was the ONLY thing these two women could focus on. There were multiple calls to the travel agent. There was griping, gritching, and going on about their situation with everyone within earshot – at the pool, on the bus, around the dinner table.

One hour of complaining may have been tolerated, but by day two, people began to hide from the two, as they knew how the conversation would go.

Their grievances overtook them – they missed the beauty of the winding streets, the abundant and beautiful bougainvillea, the food, the sea, and even the company of others on the tour.

They had allowed their three-hour inconvenience to rob them of three days of joy and wonder.

Every time that life throws me an unexpected curveball, I think back to these two. And I vow to myself that I will find solutions to the extent I can, make the best of what I can’t change, and look for the hidden treasures in unexpected detours and derailed plans.

A Post Script

We will eventually stand among Ireland's ancient stones. We'll hear the stories. We'll walk those sacred paths.

But perhaps the first lesson Ireland had for us arrived before we ever boarded the plane.

Plans change. Grace is a choice. Wonder is never canceled unless we decide it is.

Life rarely unfolds according to itinerary. The real journey has never been about where we travel. It has always been about who we become when the map changes.

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