I was supposed to be on my way to Vilnius now in order to catch an early flight to Frankfurt tomorrow. I had booked a “Lux Express” bus for the four-hour trip that featured wi-fi onboard and complimentary beverages. But I missed the bus. Why? I did not read the ticket closely enough and thought boarding began at 18:15 when that was the departure time.
Incredible.
There is value in making mistakes. We learn from mistakes, though the lesson in this case–attention to detail–is not a new one for me. But you can bet that moving forward I will triple check my tickets to ensure that I know my departure time. That is not much of a lesson, but if I can avoid a similar mistake in the future, I guess I can just smile and shake my head.
When I pulled out my ticket and saw that departure was at 18:15 and it was already 18:17, my heart sank and I envisioned myself haggling with a taxi driver to transport me all the way to Vilnius in time to make my flight. Thankfully, I found there was a late bus to Minsk that stops in Vilnius before crossing the border into Belarus.
So instead of an evening drive in a luxury bus I will be traveling overnight in a high-density bus without any amenities, though I know it will not be as bad as some of my recent bus travel in Bolivia. I am due into Vilnius at 04:35, 50 minutes before my flight to Frankfurt departs. That should be enough time to make the flight, but one flat tire and I will be calling in sick tomorrow–sick of my mistakes.
But despite this aggravatingly annoying mistake, I am not going to let it ruin my weekend. I am only out about $20 for the second bus ticket and I had a very nice walk around Riga today as well as a great morning at the new Turkish Airlines Star Alliance Gold Lounge in Istanbul. I also had an amazing time in my first city I flew to this weekend–you still have time to guess before I reveal where it was later this week.
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