In almost exactly a week's time, I will be on my way down to Heathrow ready to fly out to Central America. At this current moment in time, I'm neither scared nor excited (as sad as that is to admit), rather just a bit fed up thinking of all the things I have left to do in preparation. But perhaps the main reason as to why I am still sat on my bed in my PJs at 11.34 on a Thursday is a combination of denial and sheer laziness.
True to form, I have a 'To- Do' list, a 'List to End All Lists' and a 'List to End All Lists: Revised Version'. I've been gaining a headache over what I assume are the usual last-minute things: how much cash should I take out at first? I must remember do buy some DEET. Do I have all my vaccines? Possibly not... In fact a few days ago, the thing I was most worried about was that I don't know enough Spanish (cut to image of me stranded in Mexico City, surrounded by little El Nombres and Pedros in sombreros shrugging their shoulders at me, saying "No entiendo!") - but alas, this is no longer my primary concern.
A couple of days ago, I had a phone-call from a rather nervous sounding woman at STA travel (with whom I booked most of my flights) to "inform [me] of some potential changes to [my] booking". It turns out that British Airways have suspended their routes to and from Havana, Cuba, and so my return flight back to London has been cancelled. My first question was "is it a security issue?!" imagining myself caught up in a civil war and having to spend the rest of my life selling cheap cigars on the beach in the false hope of earning back enough money to get home, or failing that jumping aboard a cargo ship and living amongst rats and pirates. The agent assured me it was not a security issue and that BA had simply chosen to discontinue the route.
I spent a pretty tense evening and morning going over all my possible alternatives: there was a chance I'd have to cancel both my outbound and return and re-book the whole thing through Air France, but that would mean me either missing my connection from Mexico City to Guadalajara or spending 15 hours in Mexico City airport. In hindsight that wouldn't be the end of the world: I once spent 15 hours in Vienna airport and survived. I could go out into the city of course and kill some time, but after a 15 hour journey, transferring in Amsterdam and Paris, I would be exhausted. And I'd lose a day at home of course.
The most frustrating part of all of this is that BA (or their operator, Iberia) won't tell me or the travel agent just how much money I will be refunded. I suspect it won't be enough. In the meantime, I have decided to stick with my original flight next week and worry about the return leg at a later date. It's ironic that I was joking to everybody that I wouldn't be coming back- there is now a high likelihood that I won't be able to afford to come home! But I will cross that bridge (and sell those cigars) when I get there. In the meantime, I will seek solace from obsessive list-making and tweeting abuse to @British_Airways. Childish, but comforting.
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