What It’s Worth

Today, a lesson in value.

For Christmas/my birthday, my parents bought me a plane ticket back to France. Flights are never cheap and especially at somewhat short notice during the holiday season, mine was no exception. Even at a whopping $1700, my flight left Baltimore at 6:00am on Saturday and still included a 12 hour layover in Philadelphia before heading out to Paris. Really, Travelocity? You couldn’t find any other flights to Philly that left after 6am? I was hoping I could just pretend like I was checking in at 4:30 in the morning, check my bags and get my boarding pass but just not get on the plane in Baltimore. I could then go back home for some more sleep and Jason and I would drive to Philly in the evening. Seriously, it’s only 80 minutes away. Apparently, this is some kind of “security risk” and the people at the ticket counter were appalled that I even asked such a question. Can’t blame a girl for trying.

After calling Travelocity and US Airways a million times and getting a million different answers, I had three options if I wasn’t keeping the flight:

1) Cancel the Baltimore to Philly leg for $262

2) Get a new flight out of Baltimore at a later time for $316

3) Show up at BWI late but before 7:45am, tell some sob story, and hope that they find it in their hearts to put me on the next flight out without charging me. If I get denied, the worst-case scenario is that they list me as a no show and my whole ticket (including my return this summer) gets cancelled, which means $1700 down the drain. Best-case scenario is no charge but still 10 hours in Philly.

None of these options were really working for me so I had made up my mind I was going to make that flight at 6am. I had left at 4:30 on the way home for the holidays so this will be pretty much the same thing. I invited a bunch of people out to Alexander’s for a Bon Voyage party and responsibly set the time from 5pm-10pm. This would keep me from getting too crazy and would leave plenty of time for me to go home and pack before heading to the airport. Sleep? Who needs it? Sleep when you’re dead!

I am having a hard time thinking of another instance where I felt more loved than I did that evening. Friends from every aspect of my life in Baltimore came out to wish me well: Girls from rugby, folks from school, Jason’s co-workers who have adopted me, the Butcher’s Hill gang… It was such a great mix of all the pieces of me and I can’t adequately explain how amazing it felt to have them all there together.

As you can imagine, it’s hard to walk away from all of that love, even though you have a flight to catch. We left the bar a little after 11 and hiked up the hill one last time. I had some laundry to do but it will come as no surprise that Jason and I passed out on the couch long before the rinse cycle even started. After two weeks of holiday partying, we were both exhausted. And while I wouldn’t say I was intoxicated, those couple drinks made me a little drowsy. At 2am, I woke up and realized I still had another load of laundry to run and hadn’t packed a thing. There was no way I was making that flight at 6am but I was still contemplating option 3. Could I make it by 7:30? What if it doesn’t work and I have to buy a whole new ticket? That’s insane. I looked around the house with leaden eyelids and was suddenly completely overwhelmed by all the things I still had to do. Being overwhelmed sure made me sleepy…

Suddenly it was 5am and painfully obvious I wasn’t making the flight. 7:30 wasn’t an option either. If I’m about to spend a bunch of money, I’m going with the option that is guaranteed to be the least expensive. I begrudgingly coughed up the 262 bones, and it hurt for a moment, until I realized I was literally buying myself an extra day with Jason. We peeled ourselves off the couch and cuddled up in bed. He held my hand as we slept and kept me warm on a rather chilly evening. We didn’t get up until noon and I still had four hours to hang out with him at home. He made me breakfast, we watched some TV and he helped me pack. It was such a simple day but it was beautiful in being so completely average. Normal and comfortable are a bit more difficult to come by as a stranger in a strange land.

As always, I was scrambling at the last second and didn’t have time to get all sentimental about the fact that it was my last night in that house. Jason moves out in February and while Alex might still live there, we would never spend the night there when we have so many other friends with spare bedrooms as opposed to floor space. Some of the most important events of my life took place there and it has been home for so long now... Maybe it’s best I was rushing out the door. I probably would have been an emotional wreck if I had the time to think about it.

The 80 minutes in the car on the way to Philadelphia were solemn. I felt like I wanted to have some jovial, meaningful conversation, but really all I could think of was how sad I was to be leaving him again. He asked if I thought we were making the right decision. It has been hard being away from him and especially now that we have just spent two amazing weeks together, it breaks my heart to say goodbye again. I have left behind my family, my friends, my country, and my career. And yet somehow, yes, I do think this is the right decision. I think that we will learn so much about ourselves and each other and the world that it is 100% worth the temporary discomfort of being apart, of being in a country where they speak a different language, of finding a new job.

Changing that flight was a difficult decision but I’d make it again in a heartbeat.

Those last few hours together and that moment at the airport when he dropped me off and just held me were worth way more than $262. I can only imagine what this journey together will be worth.