Your Vibe Attracts Your Tribe

I love when awesome things happen on the heels of the not so awesome.

I was going to Burning Man.

I had the ticket, the airfare, the friends, the camp and the RV.  

I already owned the huge blond afro, combat boots, bikinis and bunny ears.  They were ready to get dusty on the playa.  I  was ready to get dusty on the playa.  

I was ready to bike to the Temple and cry my eyes out for Mum, Dad, John and a small army of family and friends we’ve lost too soon.  I was ready to dance my ass off until the sun rose each morning.  I was ready to take photos that would express what my words never could.

I was ready.

Until, Tropical Storm Erika started spinning toward us.

Florida, my southern wild, was under a state of emergency.  They believed she would pick up her mojo and graduate to Hurricane Erika.  They also believed Hurricane Erika was going to hover right over our house.

Seriously.

So, I did what I thought was right (even though it stung like a bitch). I canceled my trip to Burning Man the morning I was supposed to fly.  I felt awful leaving my hubby to handle the hurricane prep while I would have been off the grid dancing in the desert.

I asked my dear friend Monica to visit the Temple for me this year and whisper that I’ll be there when the stars realign.

Then I put away my bunny ears and my ticket was sold.

Someone else would get dusty in my place.

Erika, the storm, never materialized.  Apparently my army of angels didn’t think this year was my year to burn and they pulled a fast one on me.

I had to deal with the airlines now, to salvage as much money spent on tickets as I could after change fees and bullshit bylines.

American Airlines was a full-blown nightmare to deal with.  So bad, in fact, that I can honestly say that I doubt I’ll fly them again unless my back is slammed against the wanderlust-wall.

JetBlue, on the other paw, JetBlue is made up of a team of pixie dust sprinkling rockstars.

Here’s the awesome that followed the not so awesome...

I dialed JetBlue and sat on hold.  My wait time was quoted at 8 minutes.  Then a rep answered.

I gave her my confirmation number and explained I needed to change my flight.  Because I’m a talker I began to say why.  

I asked her if she knew what Burning Man was.  When she responded “Oh yeah, I want to GO ” I knew I was in the right person’s hands.

I told her my story while she worked her magic.

Because I booked through a 3rd party site she had a lot of magic to work.  A supervisor was called to join the fun.  

My rep (named Julianne) and her manager had to manage several legs of my trip. You see, I was going Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco. Then driving countless hours east, beyond Reno, Nevada, miles and miles and miles into the desert. Destination: Black Rock City, which is a make shift city built by festival attendees in the middle of nowhere, which is where the festival takes place.  I was staying for a week to dance, dream and get dusty.  No wifi, no cell, no tether to the outside world.  I would be totally OFF THE GRID. Then, I’d head back to Reno.  Problem is….I didn’t have my 3 hour ride from Black Rock City back to Reno ironed out yet.  I decided I was going to “wing it”.  Once I found my way back to Reno I’d fly to LA then connect to Fort Lauderdale on the red eye.

Being a superstar, Julianne saw the missing link in my logistics.  She asked "wait, how were you getting back to Reno?".

I hesitated a minute (because I was about to say something crazy) and then just said the honest truth:

"Well, honestly...I was going to hitchhike from the festival to Reno if I couldn’t get the "Burner Bus.” Note: The Burner Bus is a bus that goes to/from Reno each day from Burning Man but already sold out.

Her response:  “(gasp….) NO YOU WEREN’T !”

I giggled, looked over at Bobby who turned a special shade of horrified (as I hadn't exactly explained this piece to him yet) and told her “I swear”.

We chatted a bit more and then the unthinkable happened.

Julianne and her awesome manager got my fees waived and my whole ticket refunded!  Pixie dust was seriously sprinkled.  I could NOT believe it!

I promised Julianne if I could squeeze a great big hug through the phone I swear I would.  I told her I was going to write a glowing review for her (which I did) and then I told her that we should go to Burning Man next year.

When we both agreed I said the only thing that made sense: “let’s be friends on Facebook!”.  

Bobby’s mouth dropped to the floor.  He was shaking his head saying to himself “I don’t know how you do it, Girlie”.

Julianne and I exchanged social media info (you know, all the important stuff like first, last and what our profile photos look like).

We are now joined on the mothership of connectedness.  As you can see by the photos below the stars seem to be aligning just fine.  

In the end one thing is for sure:  Your vibe attracts you tribe.

How awesome is THAT!

      ((Me))                                                                    ((Julianne))                                      

:: Always from under the same sky ::

Tara