I flew to the WRONG COUNTRY! Here’s how.

By Saskia Geraghty

My two backpacks were packed and ready to go. I felt prepared and excited. This was the first trip to Costa Rica that the Wild Women Journey’s team was running and I had the privilege of coming along to capture the moments. I had a drone which I’d been practicing with for the last few months and I was ready to snap some epic footage of surfing and waterfalls. I also felt stoked as I had snagged some cheaper flights to San Jose, laying over in Hawaii of all places. How dreamy! Or so I thought …

The moment everything changed

On my flights there I thought to myself: everything is going so smoothly, all the bag check ins and making that next flight with only half an hour to spare, how great is this! It wasn’t until 18 hours later that I realised I’d made a HUGE mistake when booking my supposedly cheap flights.

Picture this: you’re coming in for landing after two massive international flights. The local time is 9pm. You have a driver picking you up from the airport, easy. You’re sitting on the tarmac and turn your international SIM on to check What’s App and let your friend know you’re here. Except the driver can’t see your flight number on the screen in arrivals. “You sure you’re in Costa Rica?” your friend (and also co worker) texts. Lol of course I am. You turn to the girl next to you just to be sure. “Hey we’re in Costa Rica, right?” you ask. “Oh girl, no we’re in California!” she replies. SHIIIIITTTTT.

Turns out there’s a San Jose in California, as well as Costa Rica. AND I BOOKED MY FLIGHTS THERE INSTEAD. That’s why it was cheaper. And went via Hawaii instead of LAX. Duh. I should have known it was too good to be true!

A very expensive solution to the problem

I didn’t have time to get upset. I laughed at myself for a minute and then asked the

plane staff for some help. “There’s a flight leaving at midnight tonight with United Airlines, from San Francisco airport which is about a 45 minute Uber away” the one kind air host told me after checking his phone. It flies via Texas and I would arrive in Costa Rica the following afternoon. Thank god I had planned to arrive two days before the trip started as I now only had 24hrs to get there.

One thing about Costa Rica is you need proof of a return flight when you land, and my flight back to Australia was leaving from California where I’d arrived. So I had to book return flights from San Francisco totalling an extra 3000 AUD. GULPS. Luckily I had savings to get myself out of there or it would have been two weeks of USA solo.

Aaand, I made it to the right place

Anyway, after another two long flights I’m finally on the home stretch and about to touchdown in the right San Jose. Except then, the weather turns. They have to emergency ground in Liberia about two hours from San Jose (not the African country, but another city in Costa Rica). My geography is so off by this point it could have been bloody Africa but alas another few hours of plane time were had. I’m thinking “Is the universe trying to keep me from Costa Rica!?”. At last, the plane takes off again and we manage to land in the right place. The driver has had to do a few trips by this point and has been waiting for me for two hours. Bless his soul he was so kind to me! Costa Rica Dann we love you. We drive another hour through peak evening traffic to get to our accommodation where Megan is waiting for me. The trip officially begins tomorrow. It’s getting dark by the time I arrive and check in. I open the door to the hotel suite and Megan walks out of the bedroom laughing.”You actually made it!” she says. I laugh with her, have a shower and we order Uber Eats. Tomorrow we plan to get a fat iced coffee and plan content for the trip before meeting the other girls. Life is good again. I survived.

Two weeks, an epic adventure, and five flights later I’m back home with a great story to tell. That’s what travelling is all about, right?