If you caught our last video, on The Best Hikes On The South Rim Of The Grand Canyon, then you already know the weather during the first day of our to this iconic park was not exactly ideal, if you haven’t seen that video yet, you can click on over here.

By the time our second day at the park rolled around it wasn’t much better- in fact, it was worse. But it did get us thinking about how we deal with things when things don’t necessarily go as planned.

Imagine this- there you are, in the middle of an epic adventure. You’ve done the work, you’ve planned it all out, you know what you want to see and experience and the best ways to do it all. And then out of nowhere good ole Murphy shows up when you least expect it, ready to demonstrate the power of his laws.

When you travel whether it’s part time, full time, or just to Grandma’s house for the weekend, you are bound to eventually run into the unexpected. So what do you do?

Step one is to take a long deep breath

In all our years of travel, we’ve run into our fair share of crazy, from unexpected weather to bank debacles. We make mistakes so you don’t have to! Learn from us and check out these five tips to help you deal, the next time unexpected chaos throws a monkey wrench in your travel plans!

Focus On The Solution, Not The Problem

It is so easy when something goes wrong to want to sit down and have a good old fashioned temper tantrum just like you did when you were 5, we’ve been there and we get it.

That time our bumper almost broke off, sometimes you’ve just got to roll with it. 

Resist. The minute you go down the negative rabbit hole, it’s impossibly hard to climb back out of it. Don’t allow yourself to get caught up in the, “Why me” of it all. You’ve got a problem, that needs fixing, sitting around complaining about it isn’t going to solve the issue, taking action is. So put on your big boy or girl britches and get to work! Its amazing what will happen when you do!

Look For The Good In The Situation

Sometimes when life hands you lemons, you can’t always make lemonade, which is a bummer because lemonade is delicious. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t do something else with those lemons. You see what we’re getting at here?

Having to get our bumper fixed was a bummer, the burgers we noshed on while waiting were not. 

Yes, things go wrong. But they could always be worse. This is probably going to sound like a bit of backward advice but it really does help to sometimes consider the other things that could have happened that didn’t. Realizing, how not bad your situation actually is, in a strange way leads to you stumbling into heaps of gratitude for the situation you actually are in.

Seek Alternatives

Sometimes you’ve just got to think outside of the box and get creative. One of the best parts of travel is going to new and exciting places, unfortunately, when things go wrong, that also means you might not necessarily know where to go to solve whatever obstacles are currently in your path. Sometimes that also means you’re not in a place where you can solve your problem in an ideal way. That’s ok. It’s true what they say, where there’s a will there is a way. So dig deep, be brave, and get to work. You’ve got this.

The second bit of advice here-remember to ask questions, its almost guaranteed you’re not the first person to have this problem. We’ve encountered our fair share of issues, where simply starting a conversation with a stranger has lead to amazing outcomes. Don’t be afraid to make new friends, you never know who you’ll run into who can help!

Magda in the shop getting her work done! A conversation with a stranger in a hot spring lead us here to Mobuilt RV and they were wonderful! 

Remember, It’s Not An Adventure Till Something Goes Wrong

Stop for a second and think about it; have you ever once heard an amazing tale of adventure that started with, “everything went perfect…”? No? Didn’t think so. That’s because a true adventure starts when something unexpected happens. So no matter what it is you’re dealing with it helps to remember that if nothing else, you’re about to have a very good story to tell the next time you sit down at a bar!

Don’t Let Bad Weather Keep You Down

We saved this one for last because let’s be honest, bad weather is kind of our thing. During our past several months on the road we’ve endured freezing temps, freak snowstorms and torrential downpours, basically, if you can come up with a weather scenario, we’ve been through it.

Weather is easily the one thing that will ruin a perfectly good trip. The truth is though when it comes to weather, you have the choice in the situation. You can stay inside and hide or you can embrace the situation and just go for it.

The Grand Canyon is magical in every type of weather! Some landscapes really come alive in “bad” weather! 

Bad weather, gives you the chance to experience a place in a unique and special way that’s different from the normal. It’s good to be different!

And that’s all folks! What do you think? How do you deal with the good, the bad, and the sometimes downright ugly of travel? Drop us a comment and let us know. Until next time, happy trails!