When to Throw a "Hail Mary Pass"

No football fan (leave that to Pop!), I'm hardly conversant with the lingo.  The only familiar term is the "Hail Mary Pass,"  that last-ditch move made in desperation.  In the travel context, I sometimes think I must have invented the term.

Just a sprinkling of "Hail Mary Passes" over solo-traveling days:

* Moved home, company, and cats from Singapore to Hong Kong on USD125.  Landed home in Singapore late one night, heard "Sorry-lah, cannot" for the gazillionth time, and decided that was more than enough.  Landed in Hong Kong a week later, and flew courier to do it.  The trio of kitty-babies did just fine.  As for me, I love the place.

* How did I ever land in Asia to begin with?  Sorta-boyfriend rang at 3:25 a.m. California time, said, "I might have found you a job, get your passport."  Thought I was going to Bali, and wound up in the jungles of Borneo.  Turned out all right in the end, and even glad to get rid of the bf, ultimately.

* En route to a conference in Montreal, realized there was nowhere near enough money for hotels and all.  Made a left turn on the interstate, and wound up in Buffalo.  Great summer!

So, with varying degrees of ultimate success, every Hail Mary Pass has worked out in the end.  Maybe a little anxiety involved, but the worst part has always been just letting it fly.

Once more, a Hail Mary Pass launches Saturday.  I'll let you know how it goes.

When do you throw a Hail Mary Pass?  Whenever you're at your wits end.  When all other options seem to have evaporated.  When you're well and truly stuck.  Whenever you want to.  Put it out into the ethers that "this has to work!"  Ask your angels to protect you.  Grab your things and go!

Just guessing, but successfully completed Hail Mary Passes just might have a better average on the road than on the football field.  At least, that's how it has worked so far.  So, just let it fly, trust your luck and your angels, dash like mad to the end of the field, and catch your own football.

Let me know how your Hail Mary Passes go!

May your road rise to meet you - and your Hail Mary Passes get you to your end zone.
Ann

On the Road Again - Despite Bad Weather!

"On the road again. . . just can't wait to get on the road again. . ."  Back at it once more, living out of a suitcase.  Alas, the weather is not cooperating to accomplish all I aimed to do.

What to do when weather interferes?  Have a back up plan - and a too-long To Do List.  Time to tackle chores: cleaned out a backlog of nearly 1,000 emails (oops!), used the hotel's granite desktop to shoot some studio-style staged photos (instead of photographing a gloomy, gusty beach), and more backlisted To-Do's.

Read another novel by Kelsey A. Campbell.  She must be a fellow Road Warrior-ess!  Topsy-Turvy: Kalimantan Tales is set in Indonesia - the "jungles of Borneo" actually - where Kelsey used to live.  It's the story of the only working expat woman based in a hardship post in Indonesia.  The name of the city (if you can call a place with 300,000 people and one traffic signal a "city") is Balikpapan, and in Bahasa Indonesia, that means "topsy-turvy."  We Road Warrior-esses think we have it tough today.  Dr. Diane Cameron, heroine of this story, thinks she's joining her fiance in romantic, photogenic Bali and winds up where water has to be boiled a full fifteen minutes before you can drink it, or make a cup of instant coffee.  Fascinating tales of life in the back of beyond, where members of the resentful Bored Wives Club are spitting king cobras and coworkers sometimes prove to be kraits-in-the-bamboo.

Like the first novel of Kelsey's that I read, Make Me Beautiful (with some scenes set in one of my favorite hotels in the world, The Library Hotel in NYC), it's a fascinating tale of a powerful woman who roams the world.

So despite uncooperative weather, I'm getting a lot of things done.  As one of the characters in Topsy-Turvy says, "I never let nothing stand in my way."

May your road rise up to meet you!

Best, Ann