I Have Never Been So Worried
Thought I would express my disappointment in myself and share my worry over the last few days. I am the sort of person that likes all their ducks in a row... I am beginning to realise that this is causing me a lot of excess worry that does not do me any good. But Im not sure how to control it.
As you all know I am travelling in Africa with my son, who is a junior international tennis player. We are in Rwanda, we arrived yesterday after two days of travelling.
We set off from Malaga on Wednesday evening, I thought I would just check all the details of the travel - all the visas etc that we needed. I happened to go onto a website about Rwanda that said Yellow Fever vaccinations are mandatory in Rwanda, they dont have yellow fever and you do not need it if you are travelling from a country that does not have it.
I thought.. ok so Im travelling from Spain via UK both of which do not have yellow fever so good to go, but one place that they do demand it from is Kenya, we were travelling through Kenya airport.... I was beside myself with worry, to the point that I vomited. I have never got so worried before. All I could think was all the money we have spent to get to Rwanda would be wasted. We would be stuck in Nairobi not able to fly out.
My only thought was speaking to the Rwandan High Commission in London to see if transiting through Nairobi was acceptable but by this time it was closed.
So we travelled to London, stayed overnight in a hotel, I hardly slept, worried sick. With a headache we boarded the flight to Nairobi, i had asked my husband to ring the high commission but so far he had not got through. About 5 minutes from take off, my husband texted, if we stayed in the airport overnight and did not leave, we would be classed as transit passengers and allowed into Rwanda..... OMG! I literally CRIED with relief !! My son's dad works so hard to pay for all this, I thought I had let him down by making such a monumental mistake. We had taken a financial hit when our son got to the finals in Namibia a few weeks ago, changing the flights so he could play the final was eyewateringly expensive. Thank God that this was ok... But I wasnt fully calm until we got through border control at Kigali airport and we were allowed into Rwanda.
I think the moral of the tale is that even if you think you have all your ducks in a row, you probably dont, and how you cope with it from there on is a challenge but not the end of the world. We were lucky, I feel, and I really dont want to go through that again. The trouble is that I can see other trips, Im going to be paranoid about what we need/do . Thats not a good state to be in, I need to cope with it better.
The wifi here is not great. My work here is going to be stressful to keep up with the blogging challenge in SAC but we are here two weeks, not that long, I will try to work through the stresses as calmly as I can, I realise how lucky I am to live where I do, I couldnt live here.
Recent Comments
41
Hi Helen, I would be stressed out also. Try to keep your cool and focus on your son's exciting challenges for now. I am sure you will both get through this ok. Cheers!!
Helen,
I am the same, a planner. What a curveball you were thrown at the last minute! And where our children are concerned, it’s double the worry.
One thing is for sure. In life we will always be thrown curveballs. It’s how you handle them that matters.
You problem-solved the situation perfectly! Kudos to you!
Hope your son does well in the competition!
Best wishes,
Elaine
Wow Helen. What challenges you faced. An overcame. Guess your son is not taking any of the stress on board in his tennis.
Thank you for sharing.
Ken
Good Morning Helen,
The title of your post got me worried so I am relieved reading all is well in the end.
Greetings from the south of Spain, Taetske
Helen, you can PM me if you need to, but I would highly recommend reading/listening to Eckhart Tolle. Everything he has is incredible and it can change your life.
Your anxious about a future that doesn't exist, except in your mind.
It was because I have done the same thing in the past and I didn't know how to break from that.
Eckhart teaches us to be truly present in the Present Moment. In the Now. So we're not living in the past as so many do over and over again and we're not projecting into the future either.
Yes, we can have goals and plan and prepare for the future, but there is no point in creating drama about a situation that does not exist in the present moment and in all likelihood will not exist when the time comes.
And when I or you forget this and become aware of what we are doing, he has some simple techniques to bring us right back to the present moment.
I am so thankful for learning this. It has improved the quality of my life.
To Your Success!
Mel
Oh Helen, I felt your pain every step of the way... I used to be a travel agent for 20 or so years and I was a “Tailor Made” consultant, meaning it was Never run of the mill. There were many hiccups and problems no matter how well we had planned for them, but they do occur, (especially when visiting 3rd world, or foreign office guidelines against travel) or indeed visa and vaccines, now throw into the mix a German Measles outbreak, Ice Cloud, hurricanes, Tsunamis and other acts of God and you wonder how any of us travel at all.
But we do,
You mentioned in your blog it’s about mindset and how we deal with the problem that makes us who we are.. But Travel is such a terribly stressful time..
I have a couple of websites that we used when I was previously in Travel, advice and guidance sites, (Tour one and travel agents) which you may find useful especially for visas requirements.
I will private message them.
People forget to check when in transit but you may still require vaccines and visas even if you don’t pass through passport control
But well done for asking someone to call the High Commissioner. 😁
Have the Embassy on speed dial when next you travel to 3rd world or FO concern, you will probably never need it,
Good luck for your Son’s tennis tournament
Xx
Thankyou! I really could do with goto sites for up to date info, so much in the web is out of date.
sadly the web sites are out of date because the FO. and EU change their advice so frequently, as do some countries like China.
But I will forward the links.
How is tournament going? 🤞
He’s been seeded so he doesn’t play until Tuesday. He’s training, getting used to the courts and altitude. All going well so far.
Just accept everything, relax and enjoy..I seen military coups, Earthquakes, Serious floods and tornado...and relaxed through them all. You just can't prepare for everything.
Even been denied entry to a country where all my belongings were (I was on an extended border run) and questioned leaving a country (let alone upon entry!).
Live, love, laugh and smile as often as you can.
Malaga Airport...not the best of facilities as I remember it but closer to the beach it could not be!!.
Enjoy where you are..my goodness unique part of the world! I'd love to travel Africa!.
thanks Derek
That puts things into perspective, and I think that was what I was lacking on Wednesday.. perspective on the situation, hence the overreaction to the situation. It is a unique part of the world, high altitude and very different to Namibia where there are only 800,000 in the whole country, here there is more than that in just Kigali!
Good Morning Derek,
Looking out of my workroom window to the North, in the far distance, I can see the planes coming in preparing for landing.
Greetings from the south of Spain, Taetske
Sometimes small is good, haha really. 10million in Bangkok, wild crazy in HCM (probably about 4/5M) but most over populated place I have ever seen - built to hold maybe 250-300k max.
Rush hour..grab a tree and HODL! The bikes come up on the pavement and like a tsunami!! thousands of them!! quite frightening...and you and on the pedestrianised area the pavement!.
enjoy the tranquility of a small population.
I am so, so glad to hear it worked out and you made it! Congratulations on getting this far! Good job! Best of luck to your son.
Jessica
Thanks jessica, Its a relief and great to be able to get support here..for more than just my online business. But hoping the internet her holds out enough so I can get on with that too !
Yes, that would be great.
I am up way too late (3 am here) since I might have stumbled on another key to my health problems and possible treatment...it is never ending but exciting to find glimmers of hope.
I better get to bed. I hope everything works out well for you there!
Jessica
I do a lot of work late at night but not usually 3am unless Im listening to Jay ! In Spain his webinars start at 2am. I am sorry to hear you are unwell. I hope that you are able to get on top of things very soon.
Helen xx
Taking any lessons from this, going forward, has to be a good thing. After reading your previous posts it's obvious that you are a meticulous planner and leave no stone unturned. This one just threw you a curve ball and had you not read the article you may not have been any wiser and not worried. Now, at least you will be even more vigilant which means that your worry level should be lower as you will have more chance of making sure you have all the ducks, whether they're in a row or not.
I look forward to hearing about the outcome of the tournament.
See more comments
Firstly, You need to give yourself a massive pat on the back and know that you are amazing!. To be travelling to so many different countries, with so many different visa's and rules is stressful and complicated. If you have all your ducks in a row, doing all that, then YOU ARE SUPER WOMAN!
Secondly, In the midst of all that you are logging into WA, and writing a post. AMAZING!.
I get super stressed when My family and I just go on our family vacation to one destination. I am stressed through the whole airport part and do not relax until I am sat on the balcony with a glass of wine in my hand.
That is the wonderful thing about this crazy exciting life. the ducks are never always in a row. Life will knock one off line slightly or know right off the imaginary shelf we all balance them on!.
So please, give yourself some love and self care. Treat yourself to a relaxing bath, do something that you love and next time know that you are doing the best you can, and your best sounds pretty awesome to me.
Much Love
Sara
x
Thankyou Sara, that was so thoughtful to show me that I am still doing my stuff! I pride myself on being organised, it’s a shock to see I’ve left a duck drop, but I can see I’m not alone! Makes me feel better!☺️