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A Funny Travel Story About The Number of Times Adrenalin Levels Can Spike in One Hour

The Morning Meltdown

Whaaat? My PickMe ride isn’t confirmed yet! How is this possible?? My God, how will I get to the train station in time? I’m going to miss my train! When is the next one? What if it’s full?? Why didn’t I go a day before the course begins? Never again will I schedule my travels to arrive the same day as the course starts. Never ever ever again!

Without a doubt, my travel panic mode was fully activated.

The unexpected and sudden rush of adrenaline pumped into my bloodstream, making my sleepy brain more alert and active than it usually is at 3:45 AM.

That Friday morning, what seemed like a terrifying crisis at the time has now become a funny travel story. It began very, very stressfully, to say the least. My scheduled train ride to the ancient city of Anuradhapura was in jeopardy.

The Plan That Failed

Why, you might ask? Well, even though I planned my departure quite thoroughly a day in advance, things didn’t go as anticipated.

The previous evening, I ordered a driver to pick me up at 4:30 AM through the local PickMe app. Trusting the app to handle it, I didn’t give it much thought. The order was in their system, and someone would pick it up by the time I woke up. Relieved to be alive after a crazy bus ride a few hours earlier, I did my quick evening security and beauty routine, relaxed, and fell into the softest bed, drifting into the dream world worry-free.

The evening before while ordering PickMe driver

the day after in Anuradhapura

When my iPhone alarm abruptly went off at 3:45 AM, it was indeed quite early! I opened my eyes, quickly grabbed my iPhone in-now-alreday-quite-used violet case in my hand, and shut off the alarm.

Through my morning-blurred vision, I scrolled until I found the PickMe app icon.

When I clicked on it, my adrenaline started flooding my veins. My ride request from the previous evening hadn’t changed at all. It was still pending, with a message: “Looking for nearby drivers” and a pulsating red circle around the pinned pick-up location, my hotel.

Panic Mode Activated – Classic Funny Travel Story

Well, as you might imagine, it was time for action! I couldn’t waste another minute. My brain cells kicked into high gear, and within seconds, I was fully functional with one goal and one goal only: to get to the station by 4:55 AM when the train was scheduled to depart.

I jumped out of bed and went straight into the bathroom. I thought to myself, “I don’t have much time left.” If my ride hadn’t been confirmed by now, it probably wouldn’t be in the next 30 minutes. All eligible drivers were likely still sleeping the sleep of the righteous and would continue to do so for the next hour or two. Unpeaceful thoughts swirled around my mind while I brushed my teeth. It seemed like sleepy drivers couldn’t care less about some random female tourist who hadn’t planned her travels thoroughly enough!

the hotel room from the story

With no Plan B in place, I had to improvise.

“Okay, let’s not panic,”

I encouraged myself, trying to stay calm. What were my options? I remembered a conversation with the receptionist the day before. He had advised me to book a driver, as in his opinion, public transport still sleeps at that early time of the day. Besides, the last time I took the bus into the city, it took ages! 4:30 AM is indeed early. So, back-up plan number one, taking the bus, was out of the question.

The Tuk-Tuk Gamble

There weren’t many options left, to be honest. A regular taxi didn’t even cross my mind. In today’s world of Ubers, PickMes, and Grabs, the good-old-fashioned taxi was completely out of my imagination zone. The only thing I could think of was to go outside and hope to catch an early tuk-tuk. If that didn’t work, I’d wait for the next train.

While mentally going through the plan, I gathered my stuff, by now dressed from head to toe, checked the room, bathroom, and—most importantly—the space underneath and inside the bed for any forgotten items. Once sure nothing was left behind, I took the key, closed the door and went downstairs. I quickly stopped by reception on the first floor, left the key on the counter, and noticed the receptionist peacefully snoring on a mat. Who could blame him? It was only 4:15 AM, practically the middle of the night.

Dancing With The Door

So after formalities were done and I returned the key, I briskly walked downstairs, towards the exit on the ground floor. I am almost out and could start looking for a tuk-tuk. I was getting all excited!

While stepping from the last step, the only thing left for me to do was to go through that big glass entry door, that came into my eyesight. And then I am out. Once there, I tried to push the door but they did not move.

Ah, the classics! The push-pull game: I never get it right!

I had to pull them, obviously – I know how it goes! So I pulled. No response. I tried again, harder. Nope, the glass door stayed put, firmly guarding the hotel against all potential night intruders. My fist gripped the handle, starting a push-pull dance that shook my whole body. Nope, no desired outcome came out of this attempt!

Damn it! The door is locked!

…..

to be continued