Getting served what you need, not what you want

Read the fine print where possible ...

I collected the keys for my car hire in Crete and punched in the address of my first stay. “No route available” came up instantly. I tried another maps app and punched in the address - same answer. No path. No direction. No roads.

Almost instantly I received a message from my host that read:

“Which ferry do you arrive on today?”

My mind screamed: FERRY? Why would I need a ferry when I can just drive there, with the car I paid for and booked.

So I replied, “Ferry? I’ve got a car, I’m driving there.”

To which he responded: “You can’t bring a car here.”

I figured it must’ve been a miscommunication, a translation thing. He’s obviously messaging the wrong person. So I went back to the car hire place and asked, “Are my maps broken? It says I can’t drive down there.”

The very helpful and lovely Greek dude from the car hire said he’d call my accomodation and work out what the problem was. One thing I LOVE about the Greeks, and I write about this phenomenon in my book, is that they will always help a traveller in need. It’s called philoxenia - and it’s really bloody special.

Sadly he confirmed my fears: “You cannot drive to the location, you have to drive to the port and catch a ferry to the spot.”

That scene in White Chicks where the girl has a full-blown bitch fit? That’s how I felt. I felt like screaming - WHY WOULD I PAY FOR A CAR FOR A WEEK FOR IT TO SIT IN A PARKING LOT?

Turns out, it came down to me not reading the very very fine print on my booking. The part that casually mentioned you need to get a ferry over.

And ironically, out of my entire trip, this is the one place I booked a whole week at. Not my usual three-to-four-day dance of hopping around.

So I sat there. Fuming. The guy told me the last ferry left at four and if I wanted to make it, I needed to leave now. I couldn’t get a refund on my current place and I’d already paid for the car. If I took the ferry, I’d have to drive to the port town, pay again to leave the car in a car park, and then take the boat to a place where I’d be “stuck” in one place for a week. No car. No exploring. No options.

I had no other choice. I couldn’t find last-minute accommodation elsewhere so I just had to go with what I was given. And due to my previous knowing and experience of how life unfolds, whilst I was pissed, I also knew that my motto of “whatever is happening is meant to be happening” meant that this was the path I was meant to take. Car or no car.

I had this vision of road-tripping along the whole south side of the island, beach by beach, discovering everything like I always do - with a car. Instead, I was now in a tiny village for a week and forced to relax, be still, not move around, and take the experience in my stride.

Of course as expected, I SWALLOWED my anger when I arrived to literal paradise, realising that this was part of the plan all along. The family run accomodation with some of the best Greek food I’ve consumed in my LIFE, sat above a private beach with a silence and stillness that felt other worldly. It may even be in the top 3 special places I’ve ever stayed in Greece. Yet only hours earlier, I was absolutely pissed off my rocket about being “stuck” there before I had even arrived.

And yes - I can’t go anywhere, but maybe I needed that. Maybe I needed to sit still. Maybe I needed to eat this food, go to the beach, write, work, rest and just move between my room, the restaurant tables and the private beach below.

I have been shoved into what it is that my body and my mind needed, irrelevant to what I thought I wanted. The change in plans came as per uuuuussssuuall from my own idiocy in not reading the fine print, but clearly I am exactly where I am meant to be.

Sometimes we get served not what we want, but what we need. So always remember:

WHATEVER IS HAPPENING IS MEANT TO BE HAPPENING!

With love & chaos, from Crete

PM xx