In the past year I have had a number of significant adventure travel plans unexpectedly go awry. These include plans many months in the making, with bookings and dates confirmed. I feel it’s worth noting that the collapse of these plans has not been due to me or to faulty planning, but to exigencies affecting my travel companions.
In one case, my intended companion was my wife. We were married last
year – after 25 years of living together – and planned an adventurous three-week honeymoon in Costa Rica. Within days of our departure, my wife was informed of a vitally important work-related meeting – scheduled for the middle of our time away – that she could neither miss nor postpone.
More recently, my brother-in-law (who lives in New York) and I planned a kayak trip on the west coast of BC. The plan was hatched at dinner on the day of my aforementioned wedding – a full year in advance of the trip. He arrived a week before our planned departure. All arrangements had been made. The boats and gear were ready. We were all set to go, but then he had an accident and broke his arm.
As I have learned, at such times it’s good to have a Plan B. In my case, Plan B has been my daughter Sophie. In both instances above, Sophie stepped into the breach and rescued the situation. It helps that she’s young and has flexibility with her commitments.
My latest unravelled travel plan involved a trip to Greece to see an old friend whom I haven’t seen in decades. It took me hours to figure out the logistics of getting to the island of Syros, where he lives, from Vancouver, where I live. We confirmed dates and other arrangements, but just as I was about to book my flights I received a message that his situation had changed and he would not be available.
This time there is no Plan B with Sophie. However, I haven’t given up. I am determined to go somewhere, although not for now to Greece.
2 – Larrabee State Park – 7okm
Day 3 – Deception Pass State Park
We crossed the spectacular Deception Pass Bridge and rode into the park at mid-afternoon. The wind off the water creates a constant roar as it blows through the treetops. Similar, in fact, to the roar of the military jets that seem to constantly be taking off and landing from the nearby Whidbey Island Air Force Base.
Day 4. – Port Townsend
From our campsite we can see a US Navy installation of some kind across Hood Canal. And we can still hear the occasional muscle-flexing rumble of fighter jets from the Whidbey Isl air base. For that matter, we’re camped at Fort Townsend, an old military fort from the 1850s, of which nothing now remains but weathered signage marking locations for the officer’s quarters, etc. From this spot It’s hard not to notice how large a role the military plays in America.