The Most Stressful Day of My Life

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June 17th, 2009

Today nearly ended in disaster, but somehow miraculously everything turned out all right at the last minute.  Ironically, this stressful day took place on the laid-back, beach holiday island of Mallorca.

Background

I’ve been working/relaxing in Mallorca, Spain for the last four days.  It was the most spontaneous, last-minute trip I have ever taken.  On Friday, I was expecting to hear back regarding my visa but instead found out it will take another three weeks to process.  Since Emily was going back to the US all week for work, I thought it would be a good opportunity to get a few more (mandatory) days out of Switzerland.  My first plan was to go to the US with Emily but American Airlines refused to let me pay them any amount of money to change my ticket.  So then I again turned to Kayak for inspiration and found a cheap flight to Mallorca (US$158).  I figured a few days at the beach might be good for me.  I booked the flight on Friday night and flew out on Saturday afternoon.  I packed in a rush and realized at the airport that I hadn’t even thought about the fact that I was flying international and needed a passport (in a book, this would be called “foreshadowing”).  Luckily, my passport happened to already be in my bag from the last trip.

Once I got to Mallorca, I had a good time.  I stayed in Santa Ponsa, an area about a half hour SE of Palma.  Santa Ponsa is a very generic, touristy place.  It seemed like almost everyone there was either British or Irish.  Even the hotels and restaurants were all “British owned and operated.”  If it wasn’t for the weather, I could have believed that I was somewhere in the UK.  But the beach was nice and the weather was amazing.  It was sunny and very hot all week; I heard it reached 97 degrees one day.

Disaster Strikes

Then this morning I check out of the hotel and start my journey to the airport.  It is a relatively simple process – take one bus to Palma then transfer to another bus to the airport.  I did the same thing when I arrived, so I knew where I was going.  So I got on the first bus and took it all the way into Palma.  I got off and wandered around to find some lunch before I got on the next bus.  I sat down at a restaurant and got some food and then decided I should get out my laptop to do some more work before leaving for the airport.  That was when I realized….I left my laptop bag on the bus!

I am beginning to freak out since it is my work laptop, not even my personal one.  I run back to the bus station but, of course, the bus is long gone by now.  I go to the information desk and ask for their help.  The girl there was very nice and called the bus company for me.  She asked me what was in the bag, and I tell her the laptop is in there.  Then I start thinking about the other things….books, mp3 player, apartment keys, PASSPORT!  This was the point at which I realized the extent of the shit I was in.  The girl helping me said the bus company had no way to get in contact with the drivers.  She suggested that I go to the police station at the airport and file a police report for the lost bag.

Since I had no better ideas, I hopped in a cab and took the 30 minute ride to the airport.  At this point, I should probably mention that my flight leaves in 3 hours. This is the last flight to Zürich of the day. I should also mention that I have another flight from Zürich to DC for my good friend’s wedding the next morning at 10:20 am.  I need a passport to get on either flight, and if I miss either flight, I might not be able to get to the US in time for the wedding.  At this point I was pretty desperate.

I find the small police station in the Palma airport and the one guy working there doesn’t speak English and doesn’t seem to care at all about the crisis I am facing.  I fill out a police report and he gives me the address and phone number of the US Consulate on Mallorca.  Then I find a Swiss airlines office with a very nice, helpful woman.  She lets me call the US consulate from her phone, but it is just an answering machine.  Then I call the bus company again and the Swiss airlines woman talks to them for me.   They say that they might have the bag and I can pick it up at a certain address at 4pm.  It is currently 2 hours until my flight departs.

So I run outside to another taxi (I have been running everywhere during this, like a crazy person) and we go to the address the bus company gave us.  It is not the bus terminal or an office – it is a bus maintenance warehouse in the middle of nowhere.  The cab driver is sure it is the wrong address.  I go in and use my broken Spanish to communicate what is going on and they tell me to wait until 4pm.  So I sit in the depressing little employee break room watching a Spanish soccer game.  4 o’clock comes and still no word.  I keep poking my head out the door but the bus is not there.  But then, at 4:15, a man walks in carrying my laptop bag.  I thank him profusely and run out the door, hoping the taxi driver is still waiting. Luckily, he is and we rush back to the airport.  I arrive and check in one hour before my departure. Somehow everything has worked out in the end.   The crisis has been averted but I am exhausted.  I need a vacation!

Mallorca pictures on Flickr