My travel to Spain to see the historical places and other Spain attractions was not only a dream come true but turned out to be the most unforgettable experience while on travel abroad of this island vacations enthusiast. It happened during my first Europe trip as a member of the 15-man Philippine Delegation to the April 18-26, 2010 Study Tour on the Development of Cooperative Integration in Spain.
Travel To Spain – The Hard-To-Forget Experience
I was really ecstatic upon knowing that I was given the opportunity to travel to Spain courtesy of the Agencia Española de Cooperacion Internacionale para el Desarollo (AECID) or the Spanish Agency for International Development. Really, I had first and second reasons to rejoice. For one, such travel to Spain was my first Europe trip. Secondly, it was my second travel abroad with the first being in
Singapore last 2007.
While my body was still at the departure lounge of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila but my mind was already in Spain as I was imagining the scenes being vividly described by Dr. Dose P. Rizal, the Philippine national hero, in his travel diaries. While reclining on my seat at the airport, I was telling to myself how lucky am I to have visited the place our forebears fondly called Madre España courtesy of the 333 years Spanish colonization of the Philippines.
We flew for 9 and a half hours, more or less, on board the Qatar Airways Flight QR 647 and landed at the Doha International Airport for a 4-hour stop over . While waiting for our trip to Madrid, I found pleasure in strolling around the airport terminal and doing window shopping at the duty-free shop. Little did I know that I would experience a near tragic event that almost spoiled my dream travel to Spain.
As it was already past midnight, my body was already longing for a much needed rest. Hence, while waiting for boarding time, I reclined on a seat to relax. Meanwhile, I covered my face with a sweater to shield it from the chilling effect of the centralized air conditioning unit. I was really struggling to keep myself awake but in vain as I fall asleep. My ears then caught the bark of the loudspeaker which made me jump from my seat instantaneously. Thereafter, my eyes quickly rolled on a 360-degree search for my companions only to find that they were all gone. Candidly, I had that mixed peeing and excreting sensations as I was searching for my co-delegates in vain. Afterward, I hurriedly approached a male airport staff who happened to be a Filipino and I almost dropped to the floor in frustration when he told me that he saw a group of 14 of his compatriots boarding the plane bound for Madrid. Hence, I ran at full speed downstairs towards the boarding area where I caught the last trip of the bus that ferried the Madrid-bound passengers en route for the waiting Qatar Airways Flight QR 69 at the tarmac. I was still catching my breath upon reaching my seat assignment only to find that my companions were already blaming each other on my predicament as they were on the verge of informing the flight attendant about me being left behind at the airport terminal. My reaction was only a double sigh of relief, the first for catching up the flight and secondly for my name not being subjected to final call for boarding announcement. At any rate, mine was a case of all is well that ends well, hence, I reclined to my seat and relaxed for the 8-hour Doha to Madrid travel until we set foot at Barajas International Airport in Madrid, Spain.
Travel To Spain - Lessons Learned
My hard-to-forget experience during my travel to Spain had brought about a tremendous impact on my life. For one, I learned to make reservations in whatever agreements I entered into with other persons to provide an elbow room for precautionary measures. Such is anchored on the fact that, had I not entrusted my full confidence to my buddy who vowed to alert me but forgot to wake me up when boarding time came, I could have set my cellular phone alarm up for the purpose. Most importantly, my travel to Spain experience had taught me to adopt a more pro active stance in all aspects of my life journey.
