Everything Went Wrong on the Way to Las Vegas

You know when you really plan something out – because it’s important that it be perfect – but then everything you meticulously planned goes totally wrong? That’s what happened to me last week when I planned a trip to Las Vegas to give a presentation at a conference. 

I’ve written books on time management and organization. Heck, I’ve created packing lists for almost every conceivable situation (except maybe ice fishing in Alaska) AND I’ve coached people on how to minimize stress by planning ahead.

So I have no idea how things could have gone so wrong despite all of my experience and efforts to AVOID mishaps. Murphy’s Law was just out to get me, I think. 

Here’s what went wrong between the time before I even left to before I got to the room where I was supposed to give my presentation:

• I packed my bags 4 days in advance so I wouldn’t forget anything. I then needed something I’d already packed, and while retrieving it, I broke a display case for brochures.
  Internal Dialogue:  Not a huge deal, but not a good start.
  Stress level: 1 out 10.
• I had to drive myself to the airport, because my husband told me THE MORNING OF MY FLIGHT that he couldn’t take me because he had a doctor’s appointment that morning.
  Internal Dialogue: More annoying than anything else.
  Stress Level: 2 out of 10.
• At the airport, I parked in the hourly parking lot instead of the long-term parking lot.  
  Internal Dialogue: Ok, starting to get worried now.
  Stress Level: 3 out of 10
• The shuttle bus from the airport to my hotel crashed into a bus.  
  Internal Dialogue: OMG EVERYTHING IS GOING WRONG NOW
  Stress Level: 7 out of 10
• I couldn’t get off of the shuttle bus for 2 hours because of REGULATIONS, and I couldn’t just hop out and grab a cab because the accident caused gridlock. I was also trapped on the bus with a “comedian”.  Could have been worse, though – could have been a clown.
  Internal Dialogue: Maybe I can climb out the window and steal my own luggage…
  Stress Level: 8 out of 10
• When I got to the hotel 30 minutes before the start of the event, I was told that I’d been booked into 2 rooms, and they couldn’t give me a key to one of them until they’d figured out what to do with the other one. It took them 10 minutes to figure this out, and I now had no time for a shower or even a quick refresh in the room.
  Internal Dialogue: SERIOUSLY? Are you kidding me right now? Am I on Candid Camera? Is Alan Funt even still alive? If so, he won’t be for long.
  Stress Level: 9 out of 10
• The event was at a hotel that had 37 different elevators that all go to different places, but only one that went where I needed to go: THE TOP.  I got lost, of course.
  Internal Dialogue: I am running in heels, and will need to give my presentation on crutches and WHY don’t all of the elevators go to the top floor?
  Stress Level: 11 out of 10

I FINALLY made it to where I was supposed to be, just barely on time. As I walked up to the podium, however, I wasn’t nervous or stressed.  I was simply grateful to be there at all! 

Stay tuned for my next post about my actual presentation…