Friendship, Woes, and Adventures

“Happiness is a car, an open road, and best friends.” – Unknown

Not until very recently, I reconnected with my adventurous self. Somewhere along the lines of responsibilities and taking life too seriously that part of me faded. It resurfaced with the help of a group of people I refer to as my “Tribe”. I found my tribe through a shared interest – Wanderlust.

I don’t know why, but there is just something really special about waking up in a new destination.  My latest adventure was the capital of America, Washington D.C. Our two-day trip was undeniably awesome and much needed to say the least (working two jobs is no easy feat).  However, I think what made the trip really special is that it was a far from  perfect one.

So we hit the road in the early AM hours. My friend Berenice drove, my sister Ashley was the passenger, and I slept in the back seat. When I woke up, we were approaching Delaware. We were making great time and the traffic was light. Apart from having to take a bathroom break, everything was perfect. We sung aloud to our favorite tunes, we never stopped laughing, and the excitement from the adventure that lied ahead, radiated all around us.

A few hours later, we’ve arrived! Our first stop in the magical city was the “Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture”. We even found the perfect parking spot. As we were getting ready to get out of the car, Berenice began fiddling in her purse. Not sure what she was looking for, I proceeded to pay for parking. That is when she disclosed her license was not in her wallet. Panic went through all of us and in that moment all our excitement died. It was bad enough she drove four hours without her license, but another dilemma surfaced when we realized, how were we going to check into the hotel if the reservation was under her name?

We all sat in silence for a brief moment. In that moment, we had a choice to make. We could either return back to New Jersey or we could find a way to resume our trip. We choose the latter.

Berenice called her family to start a search party in her house for her license. Ashley started putting our bags in the trunk, and I paid for the parking. Once her dad found the license, he texted a picture of it so she had proof.

The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture

As we approached the museum, our excitement returned. I was overjoyed because this museum was on my places-to-visit list since last year. The wait was well worth it. I’ve been to a lot of museums, but this one by far was the best one yet. It was a very liberating and humbling experience.

After leaving the museum, it was time to head to hotel. In my head, I heard the “Jaws” theme song as we entered the hotel. There was no denying our obvious nervousness. When the Receptionist was ready to assist us, Berenice immediately told her the situation. The Receptionist was unable to help us as it was against company policy to check someone in without his or her ID. On top of that, we were booked under the wrong room plan.

In pure desperation, I told the Receptionist to switch the reservation to my name. This resulted in the price being higher, which interfered with our spending funds.

After paying for the hotel, we were all a bit uncomfortable financially. But the best thing about having a tribe is that you can always depend on them. We put all are remaining funds together and the rest of the trip was spent bonding, exploring, and being in the moment.

United States National Arboretum

The trip wasn’t perfect, but we made the best out of our situation and most importantly, had each other’s backs. This only resulted in us becoming closer. The rest is history.

I would love to hear in the comments about a time you made the choice to not let your roadblocks stop you.

XO

Katherine