Destinations

Twenty-five years ago I went to Wilmington, DE for a strategic planning session with a client.  The airfare for my trip was significantly less than what others who had met with the client earlier in the month were charged, making Donna, my assistant, and me quite happy.  She gave me an envelope with the travel details, including confirmation at a new Hyatt recommended by the client, and airline tickets on United for flights to and from O’Hare.

We took off and landed on time.  It was a pleasant late afternoon on the East Coast.  Within a couple of minutes my bag was in the trunk of a blue and white taxi and I was asking the driver to take me to the hotel.  That’s when the adventure began.  “I’m sorry, ma’am,” he said, “There is no Hyatt.”

Thinking perhaps I’d misread and maybe it was a Hilton, I pulled out my travel docs.  No, there it said Hyatt, so I gave the driver the downtown address.  “Ma’am,” came the response, “I’m not familiar with that street.”

It took several goings back and forth before the driver said the magic words, “North Carolina.”  Until that moment I was not aware there was a Wilmington, NC.  I looked at the license plate on the cab in front of us and read North Carolina, but just to be sure, I walked over to the newspaper boxes lined up on the sidewalk.  Sure enough, the mastheads confirmed that I was not where I’d expected to be.

Isn’t that true of so much in life?  We start with one major in college only to learn about NC and that besides Wilmington, there is also Winston-Salem.  We meet someone we think will be our Wilmington, DE friend but it turns out they are more NC.  A project takes an unusual turn and suddenly we discover Wilmington, IL. 

What we do with all our Wilmington’s is really up to us.  Are we open to a different state, the surprise journey?  Or are we so committed to the plan, is the original goal too set in concrete, to allow for a side trip or a revision?  Sometimes the original must stand.  After all, I had a client with a need, but while waiting to get back on the correct route I had the opportunity to walk a lovely area.
 
Such a mistake is probably impossible in today’s travel environment.  How did it happen?  The flight was cheaper because it was an introductory rate for United’s first day of flying to Wilmington, NC.  The sign at the gate said flight 123 to Wilmington and that is what the attendants announced. No one along the way mentioned the state.  For that era, it made sense.

It turned out the best way to get to Wilmington, DE from Wilmington, NC was to return to O’Hare.  Yes, sometimes we need to go back to the beginning to get where we want and need to go.  But let’s enjoy and understand the detours along the way and be open to changing the course when we can.