Marco Hietala of Nightwish.

There was that time my travels in Belgium were accidentally prolonged because I went to the wrong airport. I had spent a few days in Brussels meeting new friends. My activities had consisted mostly of me getting lost (which can be an adventure too), and learning that, actually, I do like beer after all, as long as it is the right kind (and I have 4000 kinds to choose from!).

So it was time to head back home. It turned out though, there are TWO international airports in Brussels, one of them being a mere 100 km outside of the city! I hadn't realised this coming in (because I had slept on the bus from the airport to the city), so when I asked locals how to get to the airport, they asked if I meant the international airport. Assuming the other airport had to be for domestic travel, I said yes. Whups!

I didn't realise my mistake until I got to the wrong airport and could not find my departure flight on the billboards. I missed my flight, of course. I took some comfort in knowing that my wasted plane ticket had cost my only 5 euros (because yes, 5 euro tickets are a thing in Europe). But I worried about my friend back home who was watcing my cat. Having to call her up and let her know I would not be coming home that day felt terrible, as I knew she was at my place having the flu. She wasnt' able to stay, and so the next couple of hours I spent desperately trying to get in contact with my neighbour back home. Y'know, just so the cat wouldn't die until I could find a new ticket.

Thanks to my neighbour I didn't have to spend hundreds of euros on a last minute ticket to Copenhagen, so I eventually settled for staying two extra days in Belgium. This gave me the oppertunity to go to Antwerp and catch a live concert with my favourity band. My third concert with them within two months (I was starting to feel a bit like a starker).

On my last day in Belgium, just before I was off to the (right) airport, I went online to find that the result for my master thesis, which I had handed in weeks ago, were up. Getting to call home to let my family know I finished university with an A+ on my master thesis was the perfect endning to my unexpected extra few days in Belguim!