As I am sitting here waiting to board my Qatar Airways flight on route to Kathmandu, Nepal. I’m seeing many inpatient passengers lining up to get on the plane in a hurry. The plane is not starting to board for another 25 minutes, they have announced it on the PA system, yet people have continued to stand in hopes that maybe, just maybe the airline staff will change their mind and let them board early. I hate to break it to you, but they never do – at least not on the passed 100 flights I’ve taken.

Face it, there’s a downside to travel.

I have written blog posts about how to stay occupied on the plane, how to make the best of your layover experience and so on, but I’ve never really typed anything about being open minded and willing for change.

The crappy part about taking a flight anywhere in the world is that there is no way you can control it by any means. Well, you can delay the flight if you choose to, but there’s no way you’re going to convince the staff to board early or the captain to take off on time. If the flight is late, it’s late. I have a layover in Doha, Qatar before catching my final flight to Kathmandu. The problem with this is that my layover was only 2.5 hours long and my flight right now is already delayed 1.5 hours. There is a good chance that I will miss my next flight, but there is also a small chance that I will make it. No matter which way I look at it, I cannot control what happens.

I’ve been told that the flight has been delayed because the take off from Doha, Qatar took off a little later than anticipated. Perhaps someone boarded the last flight late and now the entire schedule for the remainder of the day is all screwed up. I’ve seen people scream, cry, panic and pace… but no matter what they do, nothing changes.

If you find that you’re one of those people that gets extremely stressed out in airports waiting for multiple cancelled airlines to pull through for you just this once… just try to sit down, relax and catch up on some time to yourself.

• Write in a dairy
• Compile a to-do list
• Figure out what you want to do on your trip
• People watch
• Update your social media
• Read a book
• Play a game
• Watch TV

There are so many things that you can keep yourself busy with in the airports today. Currently in the Frankfurt Airport, there are shopping centres, restaurants, pianos, lounge areas, computers and much more. I understand that most of us are impatient and just want to get where we are going at the exact time we were given. Fact of the matter, it’s not always going to happen the way you want it to. So kick back, relax and get over it.

If you have the power to control your flights and your layover times, then make sure they are longer than a few hours. I booked mine as a package deal which means no matter what I either catch the next flight or miss it. If I miss it, well then worst case scenario, I’ll have to wait for the next flight to Kathmandu and spend some good quality time in Doha, Qatar. I have no desire to do so, but perhaps it would be a new adventure. I believe that everything happens for a reason and though I can’t control the outcome of a flight, I can always try to make the best of it.

Cheers to inspiration and motivational travel!

Need a little push? Check out my blog on how to travel more and pay less!