Have you ever been so ready for a trip that you started playing out how things would happen in your head? Well that’s exactly what I did…..
It was Friday and 3:00pm could not come any faster. All I had to do was log off, hop on the metro, and head to the airport. Everything was going smoothly, I was excited for my getaway and to meet up with my sister and cousin and have a great weekend. Just when I thought nothing could dampen my mood, I received a text from my friend with bad news…
It was December 2017 when we began planning for the Essence festival. The Essence festival is known as the party with a purpose, it is an annual music festival that features some of the biggest names in music as well as actors and actresses and segments that empower people of color. I’ve had friends who have attended Essence and have only said good things so going was definitely on my list. Once plans were finalized we purchased our weekend tickets to the concerts, plane tickets, and we secured a place to stay. The only thing we were waiting on was time.
Before I knew it, it was Friday, July 6th, and I was ready to go. I was excited to see Erykah Badu & Jill Scott that night, I even had my outfit picked out. My friend texted me to see if I was still going, I told her of course, I am excited. I asked her to send me my ticket in case I didn’t see her when I landed, she responded and told me that they sold my ticket because they didn’t know if I was still coming. At that moment so many thoughts raced through my mind…dumbfounded, upset, and confused were just some of those thoughts. I had questions that needed answers- why would they sell my ticket when I already paid for it??? Why would they wait until the day I was leaving to tell me???
After receiving this news I vented to my sister, who I was glad that I made come on this trip with me, she reassured me that there would be so many events going on and I would still enjoy the weekend. I did not want this to affect my trip so I decided to forget about it and just focus on the fun I would have. As I arrived at the airport it was almost time to board, (no I don’t arrive at the airport 2 hours before take-off), we all lined up waiting for our group to be called when the announcement came. ‘There’s a slight mechanical problem on the plane we are working hard to fix, we do not have an exact time when the plane will depart, but we will update you on the progress in an hour.’ My immediate thought was this CANNOT be happening, first my weekend ticket, now my flight; maybe I should just stay home, maybe this is a sign.
The update came as promised but it was not what I wanted to hear. ‘We are still working hard to try to fix the mechanical problem, we cannot give you an exact time as to when the plane will leave but we will keep you informed and update you in the next hour.’ This went on for the next two hours; we were all frustrated so we found ourselves at the bar waiting for the updates. After my first glass of wine I had two new friends, we ordered another glass of wine and some appetizers and before we knew it they announced that they were able to get us on another plane and that it would be departing soon. We were all so very happy. 
We finally landed in New Orleans around midnight, but I would not reach the house until 1:00 am and I was too tired to do anything. I missed the concert, and did not feel like going back out so I called it a night and figured I’d try again the next day.
Takiyah Travels 