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We were supposed to catch a flight yesterday at 5pm. Prior to that Tito had arranged a meal with his family. His tio prepared a delicious meal of Pazole, a traditional Mexican style soup. It was an amazing spread and they even accommodated my aversion to pork. But we were cutting it close. The banter and warmth of a good conversation was hard to pull away from, even with a flight to catch. After our second helping we jumped into the Uber and raced to the airport. We were going to be fine we assured ourselves, but the anxiety was sinking in.

When we made it to the airport we rushed out and snatched our bags from the trunk. Our masks on, we sprinted through the terminal looking for our airline. It was a sprawling mess. The lines had no order so we squeezed up to a representative and asked him to help us get on the flight. It was too late he informed us. We were going to miss our flight to Oaxaca. The best we could do is book another one tomorrow. A day lost. I felt defeated. Might as well not go. I could just skip the trip and do something in Mexico City instead. Maybe it was a sign for me to stay.

But Sam was hopeful. Sam was optimistic and his lightheartedness changed my perception. “We could take a bus, he said”. Tito and I began to work to make it happen. We looked up the tickets and the bus stations and redirected our Uber there. And instead of wasting a day we caught a bus that would drive through the mountains. The same trip that would have taken an hour over the air would now eat up 6 hours.

Yet that made it all the more a trip. All of a sudden, our predicament became a story. We gave Tito shit for missing the flight. We bought pepto bismo for Sam’s poor asshole. We bought snacks and sweets for the trip as we snuggled into our seats in preparation for a long haul. We made jokes at the movies they played on the bus, we bitched to each other and suffered with joy.

Inconvenience is an incredibly powerful bonding tool. Prior to us setting on this trip, there was a bit of distance. I was annoyed at the differences and that they weren’t seeing this the way I was seeing it. I could tell that we were all coming to Mexico from a different perspective. I came here to start a new life, Tito came here to rent his family home, Sam came as his first adventure abroad as an adult. These approaches to the same trip clashed with each other.

We were making it work but you could sense friction. I almost didn’t want to follow through. And now as I am on this leg of the trip, where we are all crammed together, I’m grateful for our differences. As we suffer and enjoy together the camaraderie grows, the laughter deepens and the value of the moment shines in a way that makes this experience incredibly unique. This is only the first day or so of our adventure together and so far it’s been lovely.