Travel TRACKer: Spontaneity Pays Off

It was 9:30 on a Saturday night... and we were at gate 16A in the Atlanta airport.

We were just finishing up a 'dream come true' Caribbean vacation. Utterly and completely relaxed, tan, and still a little sandy, we awaited our late flight home to reality. Our oldest son was asleep, curled up like a cat in the fake leather airport chair-bench. Our 1 and a half year old son was groggy, but not yet quite punch-drunk. Donald and I were lounging (ie; Donald was on Twitter, I was people-watching), contently sipping our Starbucks (it had been a week!) when over the loud-speaker comes the often-dreaded announcement. "Flight 1234 is overbooked...". Our ears perked, Donald lifted his eyes...

"We're looking for volunteers to give up their seats...". Donald and I sneak looks at each other, poised to react... The voice continues..."We're offering $600 a seat, a hotel-stay for the night, and meal vouchers for each ticket."

"Yes." I say, emphatically, as Donald's body is in motion toward the counter...his face still looking back at mine, questioningly.
"Yes." I say aloud, thinking 'Does he really have to ask me again?' "Yes, yes, yes. Why not?"

An hour and a half later- we're settling in to soft sheets, each of us dressed in a fresh, white-cotton Delta t-shirt (3 of us anyway) and with sparkly-clean teeth (the boys loved their personal toothbrushes).

Our vacation lives on!

The next morning, we filled our bellies in true voucher-style: pastries, egg sandwiches, juices and coffee, bagels and muffins...and hopped Atlanta's simple subway system (MARTA) for the "Georgia Aquarium".

"Why not live it up?" We'd thought the night before. We booked a late-day flight home and decided to introduce our boys to "The World's Largest Collection Of Aquatic Animals".

From coral reefs to beluga whales, we soaked up what 8 million gallons of water can hold. The kids touched anemones, crawled through river bed tunnels and gasped at giant squid. We spent only 2 hours at this awesome attraction, but saw hundreds of swimming creatures, did arts and crafts, and learned things we never knew! We did not see the 3D show, take a behind the scene tour, or scuba in one of the tanks...but oh, what to do next visit!

As we cashed in our last meal-voucher, and carried our 3 pizzas, 2 milkshakes, 2 sodas, breadsticks and an apple to our FIRST CLASS seats, the other passengers stared at us. You know what? It wasn't because we were a gypsy-like caravan of kids, food, bags and stroller..it was because we were GLOWING. Spontaneity pays off.