Words By Mae

Travel is all about flexibility.

This weekend, my friend Sarah and I headed to Padre Island on a whim to escape from responsibility and reality and Dallas. Many, many things went wrong, including:

1. Traffic leaving turned a 6.5-hour drive into a 9-hour one. NINE HOURS. This had us rolling into Padre at 4 a.m.
2. There really wasn’t much of a beach due to the hurricane.
3. Our propane stove didn’t work on Saturday morning.
4. We tried to chase down Saturday’s sunset, but ended up missing it entirely.
5.  Traffic on the way back extended our drive another hour.

With each fluke in our plans, we bounced back with tenacity.

Our drives were filled with deep talks and belly laughs. We found a campsite at a basin surrounded by great views of the sunrise and sunset. We ate a delicious brunch at a bar & grill called Mikel May’s. We basked in the golden hour along the shore post-sunset.

The beach wasn’t amazing, but we still hopped in the waves and threw a Frisbee around. We took her new Subaru out for a joy ride along the shore. We even got a much needed nap in on Saturday since we only got 4 hours of sleep the night before.

When traveling, it’s important to realize things simply do not always go to plan. And when they don’t, the best way to respond is with an open mind and positivity and move on to the next thing.