What's your backup plan?

When you think about your getaway, it's perfect. The sun is shining and it's neither too hot nor too cold. Maybe the birds are even singing.

That's not likely to happen in real life. I'll use one big example.

Several years ago, we were supposed to fly from Paris to Leeds, England; catch a train to Thirsk; and check in to our bed and breakfast. Simple, right?

Wrong.

A data plan for even one phone seemed like a waste of money, so I didn't get it. The plane was about two hours late leaving Paris. There was no train station at Leeds-Bradford Airport when we landed; we had to take a bus to the Leeds train station. The bus was late; we arrived just as "our" Thirsk train was leaving; and we had to wait for the next one. Once we arrived at Thirsk, we had to walk from the train station to our bed and breakfast because, unlike all the other English towns we visited, that rail station was far outside the town center. We had too much luggage and two hungry, rightfully grumbling teenagers. And Thirsk, designed by Vikings, was intentionally laid out with hard-to-navigate roads.

This is why a backup plan matters.

We were about six hours late getting to the bed and breakfast, and despite stopping to ask for directions twice ("Just follow the footpath"...in the dark, when we Americans learned the word "footpath" that very moment), it took a kind Englishman walking us up to the door for us to reach our destination.

What will you do if your plane is late?

What will you do if there's no train station by the airport?

What will you do if you need to call your hotel, hostel or bed and breakfast? What's the country code? Do you need to dial "1" first?

You need to know these things.

A backup plan is easy. It's manageable. You can do this.

Just look at your primary plan and break it apart by what could go wrong. Then decide how you'll handle those "wrongs" to make them "rights."