Semi-Accidental Trip to Cancun: A Photo Essay
Soooo a few weeks ago Chris and I had our bags all packed and were less than 24 hours from boarding a plane to Nigeria for 2 weeks to photograph our friends’ wedding. We'd been planning the trip for most of the year and were excited and a bit anxious about the adventures to be had. BUT the next morning we ended up in Cancún. You see it all started when...
...we got a text that the wedding was postponed for health and safety reasons. We had already spent months getting immunizations, visas, and making travel arrangements, had rented camera equipment, paid for hotels, made touring plans, spent hours researching Nigeria's cities, and excitedly planned our follow on trip to see the pyramids in Egypt. With one text, we were instantly sent into full on freak out mood - are our friends okay? Do we still make the journey even with no wedding? How much money will we lose if we don't go? Is it even safe to still go? Our flight is in less than 24 hours, what do we do?!?!?
What I SHOULD have done, is sat down, calmly weighed out the pros and cons of driving on with the trip, and made an informed decision. What I DID do is race out the door to a photoshoot, because having my photo taken while I'm boiling on the insides with stress was the ideal way to spend an evening *sigh* photoshoot wraps...driving home...time check...less than 16 hours until our flight, what do we do?!
Debate ensues, I worry I will be crippled with disappointment if we forgo our trip. Chris worries we will not be safe if we decide to go regardless of the news. Debate continues. Time check...12 hours until our flight.
It's well after midnight and Chris finally gets me to agree not to go. But we both agree not to just stay. There's something about going from the cusp of departing on an exotic 2 week trip to NOT departing on an exotic 2 week trip that leaves you feeling kind of...empty. Google searches for "last minute flights" overtake our browsers as the clock seems to sprint past 1:00 AM.
Skyscanner tells us that the cheapest last minute day-of flight to anywhere outside the U.S. is to Cancun. Booking.com tell us there's an all-inclusive ready for us to check into. Time check...1:30 AM...SCREW IT...we've got two tickets to Mexico departing in less than 8 hours.
Cue complete packing chaos, scouring for stowed away bathing suits in summer suitcases, and dumping our nicely packed Nigeria-appropriate clothing all over the floor, all while in a sleep deprived "are we really doing this?" stupor. Time check...3:30 AM...wheels up in T-6 hours.
We oversleep, 90 to the airport, online checkin has already closed, we Home Alone 2ed it to the gate. We made it, deep exhale. We land, almost as if in a dream, the air is warm and moist, we aren't in Chicago anymore.
Maybe it's the sleeplessness talking, but did we almost go to Nigeria today but came to Cancún instead? We keep glancing around...do you think anyone else here meant to go to Nigeria today? Hell, who cares, when life gives you lemons...have a piña colada?
