Have you ever wondered how you can travel the world? Let me tell you how I did it for the last 3 years.
You said you wanted to hear more, it seemed like it was overdue for another one of our Confessions of a Vegabond series... and have I got the perfect story for you today.
(if you missed the intro, you can see it here and chapter 1 here to catch up to speed on where we left off!)
Confessions of a Vagabond:
A gypsy life bought to you by @heart-to-heart
Remember the Time I Worked for a Drug Runner in Punta Cana?
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3 years ago, I was on my computer, watching a documentary when a strange message came through on FB.
It was from a friend of a friend (I tried to dig the exact message up for you but I don't have anything from this guy in my inbox until after I got back... weird)
It went something along the lines of...
"Hey, I know you're pretty into bold moves and you're the only girl I could think of that might want to take this opportunity..."
Yes, flattery... keep going, I'm intrigued.
"I have this friend who I have known since I was in middle-school, she's looking for a bartender to work at her new bar in Punta Cana, would you be into it?"
Well, it just so happened that I was in a hell of a place at that moment. No home. Stuck in the US of A. Pretty heart-broken. Suffering from inability to make a decision and embarrassment to go home. Guess that did make me the prime candidate.
He ended up putting me in touch with his friend and after talking to her on Skype, seeing her face, she seemed real enough. She was taking this all pretty seriously and asked me for references, resume, the whole deal. I even had to have 3 interviews with her and her partners over the time they were deciding on "fresh meat."
I have to admit, I am (used to be even more so) a trusting person. I have street smarts from all of this homelessness we're talking about but I tend to err on the positive side of humanity when I am making a judgment call.
So, I remember sitting in the train station in Washington, DC, plugged into some free wifi, trying my best to make out what they were saying half way across the world on a limited connection. I was looking at the time on the wall, trying to make sure I didn't miss my train, was switching between my phone and laptop so I didn't run out of batteries and at the same time was making a decision that was going to change my life.
"We want you!" She said.
(Let's call her Emily because I am definitely not about to drop her real name and it's going to be too confusing not to give you a name for her coming up.)
The train whistled t's arrival! I had to decide lightening fast and either take the job or get on it before it left! I was explaining this to her, feeling pressured by time...
"Ok, I will take it! When do you need me by?" I asked.
"ASAP for spring break. Can you come in a couple of days?"
Oh man, I was not prepared for that.
For some reason I agreed, I really blame the pain I was feeling in my heart. I was reckless and challenging the world to bring me another chapter to take on.
I shuffled my things through the station, and connected to my online banking. I barely had anything left but I decided it would be worth the investment because I was going to be arriving just in time for spring break and there was going to be buckets of money being rained on us.
I booked my flight for 2 days later right then and there. Alone with no one else in the city, I called that man I told you about previously in our last chapter and told him my new plan.
See, he and I had been whisked into this fantastic dream of love (see chapter on USA- ((not yet written)) for full story) but things weren't going so well anymore.
He was living just outside of Washington, in a town that is a base for the military (which unfortunately, I couldn't stay on.) I asked him if he could come get me and help me out while I was getting ready to leave. He said "yes" and he called some friends and arranged for me to stay there until I had to fly out. Perfect, now everything was planned.
Fast forward
My heart was sinking in my chest. I was so pained to be leaving him, but I also knew that distance was necessary and I needed to make a move for myself, earn some extra income (as mine was running painfully low) and hopefully find some freedom and fun. I was 23! I was being given this really rare opportunity and I needed to put on my big girl pants and just take it all in!
I walked into the airport, checked in, and beelined for the bar. I have told you this before, and you'll continue to hear it-
I HATE FLYING SO MUCH!
So, there I was, sitting at the bar of a Japanese restaurant in the airport, getting awfully tipsy for a little girl traveling on her own to unknown lands... and in came this guy who sat down next to me and started passing me shots of tequila. Tequila (do you remember from my last story how much I love that liquid heaven?)... so naturally, we became best friends.
We sat there, laughing our heads off at the news... that day was particularly hilarious especially if you know my views on politics and time must have just slipped away because before we knew it, we were being PAGED as a last call onto the flight.
I could not miss my flight, there was no way I was going to be able to afford another one so I immediately got stressed beyond comprehension... By that point, I was really drunk so everything was blurring itself and 'drunk me' thought I should just forget about the flight and worry more about my empty shot glass and broken heart.
Luckily, this guy needed to get to work so he started helping me with my things and we both start racing down the platform towards out gate. Seeing us in this struggle, a driver for one of those golf carts they have yelled at us and asked us what gate we were trying to get to. When we told him he said it was way too far to get to on foot and that he'd have to drive us over there and call the gate to let them know we were on our way.
I'm usually really respectful and at airports I don't play any games, am always on time, have gone through my bags 10 times before checking them, but this was a first. We actually held up the plane (I am so sorry fellow passengers!)
So now we were in this golf cart which was basically like Grand Theft Auto in this airport, driving like someone was trying to catch us and lock us up... People were staring, his horn was blazing... those turns were just far too fast. My stomach was not having it.
Finally, we got to the gate and a disappointed flight attendant, waved us on board. Luckily, when we got on the plane, it was fairly empty so as we were cramming ourselves down the aisle to our seats, we noticed that no one was sitting in the seat next to him, in FIRST CLASS. So, I just sat down with him and we acted like it was my seat. *No one said anything- score! *
Cue hostess to bring us more drinks.
I wish I was flying with this guy all the way to Dominican but he actually had to get off in Philli, our layover. I also wish sober me would have realized what this would mean... all of a sudden, I was going to be very much drunk and alone on a flight down south to meet my boss.
Hmmm...
"The Instigator" asked me if I wanted to bail on my flight and come hang out with him for the day. He had a limo waiting to pick him up, reservations at some fancy restaurant for lunch, connections to a hotel for me to stay at while he was at work.
*Again... hmmmm... *
It's not the first or last time I have found myself with such a pretty looking offer on the table, however I was determined to get to Punta Cana (mostly because I told myself I would do it to forge some separation and I really wanted to follow through with it.)
So, after some lunch and more tequila, he brought me to my new gate and gave me his card in case I needed anything. As we were standing there, the flight attendant told me I couldn't board the plane without an exit flight. Well, obviously I didn't have that because I barely had any money for this flight. I explained that to her and she refused to let me board.
"Instigator" was delighted and started shuffling my things to the side, telling me all of the fun things we would do in Philli instead. But now, I was even more hell-bent on getting on the flight so after talking to her about my options, I booked a flight out on an arbitrary date right there at the counter for 5X more than my original flight.
Now, I was being rushed to board because I was late. Instigator finally gave up and took my email to stay in touch.
I walked on to a filled to the brim, sardine can of an aircraft. I couldn't even see my seat. It was hiding in between 2 other women in the middle section of the middle... but "lookey-what-they-have" said my mind... tequila.
Oh boy.
I toasted those women with some tequila shots and wild cheering about our upcoming vacation to a sunshine-filled paradise but then everything went black.
Welcome to Punta Cana.
Stay tuned for Part 2 where things get really wild, very fast. ;)
