A few weeks ago, everything seemed to be under control. As both Keiron and I like to organise things well in advance, we thought we had everything covered. The flights were booked and paid for, the organised parts of our trip organised. Or were they?

Our meticulously made plans took a bit of a beating when Keiron got a call from the volunteering project he was going with. There were not enough participants, so they couldn't let that project go through. Aaargh!

After a slight nervous breakdown and some reshuffling, Keiron decided to join another project, with a different itinerary, starting point, start date, end date, well, a different everything in fact. So, after paying for our RTW ticket only a few weeks earlier, we set out again, this time to change them completely. The guy at Trailfinders was very helpful and told us he could easily change the tickets for us. So Keiron gave him his preferred flying date, this time to Lima, Peru instead of Quito, Ecuador. No availability.
One day earlier. No availability.
One day earlier. No availabilty.
One day earlier. No availability.
He must have seen Keiron getting a bit nervous, because he suggested to check which was the next available seat. It turned out to be about a week earlier than Keiron had planned on leaving. I had no idea Lima was such a popular destination in October...

The rest of the schedule was luckily a bit more straightforward. It took some getting used to, but in the end, I suppose there are worse things than being forced to leave on a trip earlier than planned and come back later than planned, so it all worked out.

I had also already planned to go to Belgium to say goodbye to everyone, and booked my Eurostar ticket, which is, surprise surprise, non-exchangeable and non-refundable. This now means that I only get to spend a few days with Keiron, between me coming back from Belgium and him going off to Peru. After a bit of deliberation, I decided to get a new Eurostar ticket anyway, to go to Belgium after Keiron has left, rather than before. This way, I get to spend more time with Keiron and can stay at mom and dad's until just before I leave and be spoilt rotten. Sounds like a good plan. Well, if nothing else happens to upset it...

Well, that will teach us for planning too much. I suppose it goes to show that, when you travel, no matter how well you plan for all eventualities, you never really know what will be thrown at you next. At least now I'm more prepared for it. Bring it on!