My name is Mirta and I used to travel a lot. And every summer we would go someplace different, but I would never travel alone. It had to be two of us, or three of us. This time, it was three of us. I knew my friend, but my friend brought her other friend that worked with her. 

So we went to the traveling store – what do you call it? – the traveling agency. And we were trying to decide what hotel we wanted to stay at. So I started reading about the hotels and I said, “Oh, this hotel, looks fantastic.” But the other one says, “Oh no, this one looks nicer and blah, blah, blah.” And as I’m picking out the hotel that I thought in my mind was going to be the best one for us, the two of them agreed on the one I didn’t care for. Come to know it, when we got there, they didn’t like the hotel that they booked, because I gave in. So, ok, fine. 

I only knew my friend. I didn’t know my friend’s friend. So they became very attached. And it was always, it always had to be their way. So one day they wanted to do something that I didn’t really want to do, I forgot what it was. And I said, “Ok, you guys go by yourselves.” And, I hung out in the hotel by the beach, and I had just gotten fed up with the two of them.

So I’m sitting in the bar. It was – not California – Mexico. And I’m sitting outside by the sea, by the beach. So I’m sitting there having a drink  and this guy comes over to me and he says, “What is wrong with you? Why do you look so sad?”

So I started to tell him about what was happening with me, and I didn’t really want to… I wanted to leave because I wasn’t having any fun. And he goes, “You know, I could help you.” And I said, “You could? How?” He goes, “I have a group that I take from place to place.” So he says to me, “I could fix everything to you and put you in a taxi and take you to the airport. I could change your time and everything, you don’t have to do nothing.” Because he had  the knowledge. 

So I went on, I ran upstairs, I packed up my luggage, came to the desk to check out. And when they were coming in, they said to me, “Mirta, where are you going?” I said, “I’m going home. You guys have fun together.” I got on the plane, came home, and I was so happy that that man was so knowledgeable to be able to help me that way.

And since I still had time left on my vacation, I went to the agency and I told them that I had a problem, and I had to come back earlier: would they give me some money back? Well, the agency did give me money back for the remaining days that I had left to stay there.

And that’s one of my traveling stories. I’m the type of person, if I don’t like something or I’m not happy, I like to walk away from it. I don’t like to get into arguments or anything, and if I find a way out, I’m going to find me a way out, instead of being unhappy. I mean, why stay there and be miserable, right?