Total travel fuck ups - redubbed 'Failure to launch'

I'm likely to use a lot of profanity in this post.

Have had to totally change my travel plans after an admittedly rather upsetting encounter at Melbourne airport last night. I thankfully have Qantas silver frequent flyer status and thus could check in at the business counter (avoiding the ridiculously long economy check in line that would have easily taken an hour). Well, I could try to check in but since I didn't have a visa to India they wouldn't check me onto my flights, which was completely the right call and they gave me the right advice. Megan tells me friends of hers were put back on a plane after arriving in Dehli with no visa. Why didn't I have a visa? Well, basically the thought never crossed my mind - Europe is visa-free (though believe me I'll be double checking) and not once did anyone else broach the subject with me. So I never got one.

Second thankfulness goes to the fact that I had no yet posted my sim card back to Perth for safe keeping (it's prepaid, no global roaming) and so I could make some phone calls.

Anyway, to save money my tickets (as part of one round the world ticket) are booked through American Airlines. This means to change any flight or time I have to call AA. This is important to know if you ever book a RTW. So I had to call them after returning from the airport late last night (after hours here) so had to call the states 24/7 number (NOT toll-free, no idea how much that call is going to cost) to try to change my flights for a couple days in order to get an Indian visa here in Melbourne. Long phone call short, they couldn't do it as the official round the world office (in the US) was closed. So I waited until this morning to call AA locally (a free call) and after a while I basically discovered there is NO WAY I can get to India until half way through June. No flights. Zip. Zero. Nada.

So now I'm flying to London tomorrow, via Sydney. I'm so bummed I can't visit Megan! Don't be angry with me Megan :( I don't really know what to say other than its fucked/shit/farked/f00ked/fucking dumb/retarded/shithouse/big shit turds. Pick one.

The story doesn't end there though, because seemingly there are larger forces at work. After figuring out a new route to London with the helpful AA rep I discovered my next 3 flights had been cancelled. So I would have been stuck in India. My flight to Athens from London is now arriving in the middle of the night as the afternoon flights are full, but otherwise the other has been rebooked and my other dates are all OK now. So all in all if I hadn't called AA now, I'd certainly be calling them later.

All I can say now is phew - I'm disappointed to the max about India, but I am relieved my flights are now sorted. It's a strange feeling that I am relived that everything is in order when that's how things should be anyway. Flexibility is the most important attribute to have whilst travelling, and I've certainly been stretched to my limits in the last 12 hours. Here's hoping that things run smoothly for me now for at least a little while.

Hey, well not too much swearing after all.