A few years ago I planned a trip to Vietnam with my brother and husband. Since none of us had been to Asia before, we did tons of research. Everything was meticulously planned; visas sorted out, flights, hotels and our Ha Long Bay cruise all booked. We had maps and transportation all ready to go. It was by far the most prepared we had been for a trip and everything went as planned, until the last day.

We booked a roundtrip flight from San Francisco to Hanoi on China Airlines, spent a few days in Hanoi, did our Ha Long Bay cruise, and then took a flight to Hue on Vietnam Airlines for our last couple of days. The last day we would fly back to Hanoi and have about 4.5 hours before our flight to SFO. We only had carryons, so that was plenty of time to relax and have a Bia Hanoi before the long flight. Our hotel room had a computer with internet, so as we were finishing our packing I checked email one last time before the long trip home and my stomach dropped. The flight from Hue to Hanoi had been delayed 3.5 hours with no explanation. We now had less than an hour to get off the plane, check in for the second flight, get thru security and board our international flight. Unless we could get an earlier flight or China Airlines waited for us we had slim chances of making it.

We immediately started trying to come up with a plan using every resource we could think of. There were no other flight options, so we asked the hotel staff for advice, was it possible to drive? Could we make it to Hoi An and catch a flight from there in time? They helped as much as they possibly could, calling Vietnam Airlines to get more information and holding on to our bags while we literally ran to the airline office before they closed for lunch. The office was closed when we got there and would reopen about the same time we needed to get to the airport. My brother called China Airlines to see if there was anything they could do and it got worse. If we missed the flight, which they couldn’t hold, we could book on the next available flight, which was over two weeks away or book on another airline which would be over $1500 each.

At that point our best option was to cross our fingers and run. We made it to the check-in counter with 40 minutes til departure, but we were too late. We begged, pleaded and cried but the gate agent said we didn’t have time to make it. He sent us to find the airline office within the airport to see what they could do, but they had closed for the day. We were stuck. An airport security officer took pity on us and led us to their office, where he called the hotel we had stayed and even though they were booked for the night, got us a room at the hotel down the street. We called our mom to let her know we wouldn’t be home on time and that we would try to figure out a plan in the morning.

After a restless night we were awoken by a call from our mom. Since their day was just starting when we called her, she took action and called China Airlines to get some help. With the power of Mom she was able to get all 3 of us on standby for a flight home that day! We rushed back to the airport still running thru disaster scenarios; only 2 of us get on the flight and 1 is left behind or we make it to Taiwan but don’t get on the long haul flight to SFO. After a wait that seemed endless, we all got boarding passes for both legs of the trip. One of the most stressful 24 hours was finally coming to a close.

So why am I sharing this long and very specific story? There were some very important lessons we all learned, aside from the fact that Mom can fix just about anything.

1. Always leave your itinerary with someone back home. I have done this forever just as an “in case of natural disaster or injury” precaution and it seems like such a minor detail, but in this case it meant my mom had all of the information to help us.

2. Avoid booking multiple airline itineraries close together. There were only 2 flights from Hue to Hanoi on one airline on a daily basis. It looked like we had time but we should have played it safe and gotten back to Hanoi the day before. Different airlines also complicate things. If you do end up with multiple itineraries, try to keep them on the same airline, it’s easier to deal with just one and they’re more willing to work with you if issues arise.

3. Be prepared for unexpected challenges when traveling in other countries. We take for granted that we can call airlines or banks almost 24/7, or go grocery shopping on Sunday. It can be frustrating to realize that the whole world doesn’t function this way, but this is one of the exciting parts about traveling abroad. Just take a deep breath and embrace the challenge!