The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men

I am a travel arranger. I work hard to make your travel adventures work well for you. However, I have learned how “stuff” happens even when well planned.

Per esempio, For example, In May 2015 some of my family members journeyed to Italy to meet our Ricci relatives. Overall the trip was fantastic! I planned everything and checked it all over multiple times.

We spent 4 nights in Rome.  Nine family members (ranging in age from my 4 year old granddaughter and 70+ year old Chuck who had just had knee surgery and walked with a cane) all chose to visit the Colosseum for the underground tour & Forum visit.  Their appointment was at 930am.  All was prepaid and booked through a company I respected.  All should be well, right? Wrong!

Here is an actual text conversation between my daughter and me (D=daughter, M=Me):

• D. The Colosseo is closed until 11:30. Been waiting the entire time. We hope they honor our tour. Also, there is another group from France trying to cut in line. Geno is about to go ballistic.
• M. What is going on? The French can be like that. Why is it closed????
• D. Some sort of meetings.
• D. The line that you are not supposed to wait in is just as long as the one that needs tickets!
• M. This is nuts. Sorry. But this is so Italian.
• M. Is M (My granddaughter) ok?
• D. Yes, It is just this lady that is driving us nuts.
• M. French lady?
• D. M has been great but we still have 40 more minutes to wait.
• D. It is actually getting PHYSICAL!
• M. NOOOOOO!
• D. YES
• M. Yell for the Carabinieri or Polizia.
• D. Tried. They just pointed and laughed.
• M. Tell Geno to back off.
• D. Lori just got into a fight. Unreal.
• M. OMG!
• D. Seriously
• M. No
• D. Yes. It is 11:30.
• M. Geezz. Are you at the front?
• D. Pretty much. There is a Korean Group in front of us. They are nervous.
• M. Good. They should honor your tickets after all this.
• D. Wouldn’t that be a kick?
• M. Oh no that would be awful.
• M. Geno texted me and said that old lady hit him in the HEAD.
• D. Yes that was before Lori got involved. That lady was also bumping into Chuck even after we showed him his cane. Unreal.
• M. Wow.
• D. That was why Lori got involved. After Lori protected her father the French lady hid at the back of her group!
• M. Please let me know when you get inside, ok?
• M. Are you inside now?
• D. Sorry we are done and finishing lunch. No UNDERGROUND TOUR. They “said” they are crediting your card but who knows? They said NO underground tours after 1130. M is so tired now. We are off to the Forum.
• D. FYI, the Korean group hugged Geno before they went in. They thanked him for holding that crazy French group back. They were getting squished.
• M. Hahahahah.

When I re-read this text diatribe, I laugh. However, it was very frustrating for my family members. We can’t control everything. The best laid plans of Mice and Men and Travel Arrangers like me can just go wrong. Be prepared. Be flexible. This is Life! E’ la Vita!

Ciao for now!