A Travel Comedy of Errors
By Kerry Frank July 26, 2025
After an epic birthday trip on the East Coast, I thought I’d ease back into reality with a quiet return home. Instead, the universe handed me one of those “you can’t make this up” travel sagas that tested every ounce of patience, stamina, and sense of humor I had left.
Act One: The 3:30am Weather Hustle
At 3:30am EST, my phone dinged: Severe weather expected at O’Hare. Delays or cancellations possible.
Translation: Your travel plans are doomed.
United Airlines, in an uncharacteristically generous moment, offered free changes. I sprang into action checking forecasts, mapping options, and rebooking flights.
We were meeting our daughter, Natalie, at O’Hare in Chicago to move her back to college in Kansas. If we flew into Wichita instead of Kansas City as planned, we could beat the storms. Boom, plan in motion.
Step One: Secure a rental car. Booked through Enterprise.
Step Two: Repack, reroute, and rally and off to the airport at 5:20am. We rendezvoused with Natalie at O’Hare, swapped suitcases like we were in a spy movie, and off we went. Dude, my husband, hit the road for the 11 hour drive, while Natalie and I checked in for our Wichita flight.
Cue phone call from Enterprise: Hi, we canceled your reservation. We have no cars.
Excuse me? What?
No one had cars. Anywhere.
Plan B: Uber from the Wichita airport to her college. $90, one way. Once there, we’d be stranded until Dude arrived.
Act Two: Borrowed Cars and Curbside Sitting
Small town Kansas doesn’t exactly overflow with Ubers, taxis, or car rentals. Wanting to start the move in process, we sat outside a restaurant for 30 minutes while Natalie texted friends like she was running a back alley car auction. We joked about offering random strangers cash to drive us.
Finally, a friend loaned us her car for a few hours. A saint.
I used it to hit Natalie’s storage unit and start loading dorm supplies. This was a solo effort, since she was in a sling and couldn’t move her arm. By 9:00 pm CST, after a day that began at 3:30 am EST, I was stumbling around Walmart buying cleaning supplies when my phone rang.
Back home, torrential rain. Our business was flooding. Neighbors jumped in to help, kids were scrambling, and I was standing in aisle 12 unable to remember what I came to buy.
Dude finally rolled in around 10:00 pm. We finished laundry, moved Natalie in, returned the borrowed car, and collapsed into our hotel beds.
Act Three: Cancelled Ubers and the Boyfriend Rescue
The next morning: meetings, cleaning her dorm (moldy fridge, anyone?), organizing her vintage car “Shed.
Exhaustion level: critical.
I scheduled an Uber to take us to the Salina airport an hour away. Small victory!
Until… the driver canceled at dawn.
We scrambled for 30 minutes. No luck. Natalie was too far to come rescue us, and her phone was on silent. Desperation set in. I begged the hotel front desk for ideas. She made a call, and her boyfriend agreed to drive us for $50 cash and a 20 minute wait.
Those were the longest 20 minutes of my life.
At 9:00 am, we screeched into the airport. Boarding was at 9:05. By some miracle, we made it.
Act Four: The O’Hare Parking Lot Finale
Back in Chicago. Almost home. I walked up to my car and knew instantly something was wrong. The door was unlocked, glove box ransacked, cash gone.
I drove to the parking attendant booth to report it. Me: My car was broken into. Can you call someone?
Attendant: You should’ve called from your parking spot. Not my problem. Insert your ticket.
Me: But there has to be a number?
Attendant: Look around. Open your eyes. Take your credit card and get out of my lane.
No words. I swallowed every retort and finally said, You must really be having a bad day. I hope it gets better.
We eventually flagged down the police, filed a report, and learned that thieves had been stealing cars from O’Hare and shipping them overseas. Thank God mine was still there. They stole my cash but nothing else. Small mercies.
Curtain Call: Collapse and Gratitude
By the time I got home, I was sleep deprived, emotionally wrung out, and barely standing. I crawled into bed and told Dude, I’m not moving until tomorrow.
Looking back now, I laugh. (Mostly.) Travel isn’t always glamorous. Sometimes it’s rental car betrayals, curbside waiting, borrowed cars, moldy fridges, canceled rides, parking lot thefts, and floods jammed into one 48 hour stretch.
But it’s also reminders: neighbors who step up, friends who lend cars, hotel clerks who call in favors, and the simple relief of still having a car to drive home.
Exhausted? Absolutely. Grateful? More than ever. And let’s be honest, it does make for a pretty good story later.
~ Kerry
#collegemovein #doomedtravelplans #resiliance #kindnessofstrangers #gratitude #travelcomedy
Your grace w/ the O’hare parking lot attendant- you go girl! You handled it all so well- the entirety of it ALL- Thx for sharing- cheers to the next trip! 🥂
Oh goodness! I need a nap after reading that! I’m glad everything turned out OK in the end.
This is a great story. The fact that it really happened is equal parts crazy and heart warming. Thanks for sharing