An Olympic Lesson

Do you have Olympic fever? I’m impressed and motivated by the athletes every time the games come around again.  Definitely makes me want to hit the pool and start doing flips.

Also, I can’t help but be reminded of our Olympic experience in Vancouver 2 1/2 years ago.  First, we are lucky enough to love very close to where the winter Olympics were held: Vancouver, B.C.  On top of that, we were lucky enough to get tickets to attend 6 events, and even a medal ceremony.  On our 2nd day in the Vancouver area, we were up at the crack of dawn to board the bus to Whistler for men’s downhill skiing.

When we arrived at the parking lot {in the pouring rain}, officials reported that all of the downhill skiing events were postponed for the day.  Too much snow.  Too much snow? Heartbroken, we talked about what to do.  We decided our best bet would be to go to Whistler anyway, and at least enjoy the day.  Having to think on our feet, we raced to another bus location (since our original bus wasn’t going up to the mountains at all), and hoped we could talk our way on for a ride.  It worked!

Once in Whistler, we took in the surroundings for a bit, saw the cauldron, and made our way to ticketing.  Maybe we could trade our tickets for another event?  Due to our limited time, we wouldn’t be able to attend the rescheduled downhill event.  A scalper milling about offered us a trade.  He had 2 tickets to the biathlon competition.  Biathlon?
Embarrassingly, I had never heard of the event that combines cross country skiing and target rifle shooting.  We decided to go for it.

It turned out to be the highlight of our winter Olympic games experience.  From our day in Whistler, B.C. at the biathlon competition, I give you an important travel lesson:

GO WITH THE FLOW, BE FLEXIBLE,

AND BE OPEN TO NEW EXPERIENCES

That’s really what travel is all about, right? You never know when a seemingly negative or “bad” experience just might turn into not only a positive experience, but your most memorable one.

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