It was the summer of 2016. My family and I were preparing for our week-long vacation in Saint Petersburg, Florida. Boarding passes in one hand and suitcases in the other, I can say that both myself and my parents were ready for a relaxing vacation. However, we started our vacation doing the exact opposite.

We got to the Philadelphia airport at 3:00 pm and made our way through security. We then checked our flight gate on the display board and read the word delayed in bold, red font. Alas, so it began. Instead of departing at 5:00 pm, we departed at 6:00 pm. When we finally got to the airport in Orlando at 8:00 pm, we quickly got the rental car to drive to Saint Petersburg. We got to our hotel by 9:00 pm and they tell us that there are no available rooms due to overbooking and construction-almost as much construction as UD. We were exhausted as it was after traveling for half the day. The hotel recommended our stay at a local hotel called Coconut Cove and get a free night to stay. As soon as we got there, it was the next Motel 6. At this point, my angry, tired, Italian mother was yelling in the passenger’s seat and I could see the beads of sweat forming on my dad’s forehead in the driver’s. The night couldn’t possibly get any worse? Or could it? We then managed to find a nearby hotel, Hotel Zamora. Third times the charm! We finally were able to get a room for the night. By the time we got there, it was about midnight. The minute we exited the car, my family and I heard the skidding of tires and a loud crash in the distance. All of sudden, a beat-up, swerving car with half it’s passenger door scraping the pavement makes its way down the street-moving in the direction of where my family and I were standing by the hotel. Luckily, the person in the car didn’t hit us, but they sure were close! This was an experience like no other.

A period that was supposed to be an exciting, relaxing start to our family vacation became a stressful, never-ending experience. This gave me the realization that not everything is supposed to be easygoing and we must expect the unexpected. In the words of Lemony Snicket, it was a series of unfortunate events.