One Man's Travel

The BOSS has this annoying habit of wanting to take a trip and ordering last minute bookings... as if we were a travel agency. We had actually been preparing for a trip to Beijing since last week. The flight reservations had been confirmed and we had booked him at the hotel of his choice, for a price that is reasonable by his standards.

The problem came Thursday evening when he decided to change his travel companion. It shouldn't have been a hassle if this companion already had a passport. She didn't and this is where all the mayhem started. An authenticated birth certificate is necessary to apply for a passport. Our liaison managed to get this in less than a day and off they went to the passport division office. Everyone thought there would be no problem and once released this morning, it could be rushed to the Embassy for visa processing.

But then there is Murphy's Law... And just when we thought everything was in order, it wasn't. The passport could not be released on time, because of a discrepancy and horror or horrors, the BOSS insisted he wanted to leave tomorrow. For Beijing, where you need a visa. How cool is that?

No amount of explanation could convince him to bring someone else who already had a visa, and he kept on insisting to move heaven and earth to have the passport released TODAY and secure the visa in 2 hours time tomorrow. Worse, he wants to leave on the 7:30 AM flight! See, not even REAL travel agencies can perform this kind of miracle.

When he finally accepted that this was going to be impossible, he settled on a trip to Bangkok, where you do not need a visa for a four-day visit. Still, there is the problem of releasing the passport in time for their 11:30 am departure. By some miracle, a travel agent got us the plane seats, but had difficulty reserving the hotel of his choice. There were a hundred and one other things to handle, just for this 4-day trip... worse than handling the foreign travel of a president.

As of this writing, the tickets and vouchers are not yet in our hands and it will be a long wait for the executive assistant who begged and pleaded with the agent to do everything so these would be delivered TONIGHT. I'm sorry for her because she's developed a migraine and her stomach must be roiling with gastric juice for the tension and stress all this is causing her. Her misfortune is having to deal with the BOSS, and everyone else was busy with the travel arrangements. My head was swimming and my throat almost dried up when I learned what he wanted done.

But that's the BOSS' way. Since he never really handles the arrangements for his trips, he believes with all his heart they all happen at a snap of the finger. Figures how much he knows... And the real BUMMER? Many times, he decides not to go on the day he has to leave. Dig that!