The time has finally arrived … the packing is complete, the car is loaded, the cooler is full and all the electronic devises are charged. We are ready to hit the road for the next twelve hours as we head south to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
You could say we have planned for this vacation for months and I feel we are well prepared for this year’s vacation just like we have been many times in the past when traveling.
We planned to drive the twelve hours in two days; we planned to rent bicycles on the island; we planned to eat out and dine in; we planned on walking the beach and we planned on enjoying the waves and picking up sea shells.
We planned on swimming and being poolside for much of each day; we planned to read and we planned to take occasional naps; we planned on doing some shopping for souvenirs and we planned on having a cocktail or two during our stay.
But it is what you don’t plan for that can turn any vacation into a night mare if you are not prepared.
I have learned one thing when through the years, whether traveling by land, air or sea … plan for the unexpected.
As much as we all plan to make our travels seamless, sometimes things just happen, things that are beyond our control and this time they happened to us!
The first part of our drive went fairly uneventful, napping and stopping for lunch. Trust me, nothing can put a damper on your vacation plans more quickly than being stuck in miles of crawling traffic, traveling about ten miles in three hours and then having your car overheat in the pouring rain on the side of the highway. Yep … that happen to us! So why we didn’t plan for this, we were prepared.
At this point , it seemed very clear that we were not going to make our vacation destination on time as we had planned.
In fact, it was clear that our plans were changing and we had little to no control in those changing plans.
But what we did have was a road side assistance, AAA. I became a AAA member when my son was born as sort of an insurance policy if I ever broke down on the road.
As it turned out, we needed a tow about 150 miles to a city where there was an auto shop that would be open on Sundays.
If fact we still weren’t even sure if come Sunday the auto shop 1) could survey the problem or 2) have the time and parts to make the repairs and get us back on the road that day.
Despite the car troubles, and being forced to stay close to the hotel, we were determined to make the best of the situation.
I had never needed the service until now, but the payoff was priceless. Whether traveling long distances or just around town, it is strongly recommended to join some type of road side service in your area. It is like having insurance when traveling … you pay a small premium for the service but have big rewards when need the service.
Luck seemed to be on our side this time and with only about a four-hour set back, we were back on the road Sunday afternoon.
So why we didn’t plan for car trouble, we were prepared and our vacation was able to continue ….
