What if 2026 is actually on your side?
And what if the year starts out looking not so great at first? Let me give you an example.
It’s Saturday, January 3rd, 2026. My alarm goes off at 5:45 a.m. Exactly my time. Yawn. Not really. I wake up my two boys because we have to be off the ship by 6:45 a.m. to get to the airport to catch our 10:10 a.m. flight to Stuttgart. A wild journey lies ahead: Lisbon – Stuttgart, and thanks to the airline rescheduling my connecting flight, only one hour in Stuttgart to hand the kids over to my parents and continue to Palma and Madrid.
While I’m still sitting on the bed half asleep, the first message arrives: “Your flight has been delayed by 2 hours and 45 minutes.” Annoying. And yet not, because I still make all my connections back to the ship. The connecting flight in Stuttgart is now also delayed by 2 hours and 55 minutes. Which means we can watch the ship leave at 8:00 a.m. Bingo. What a gift.
On the way to the airport, message number two: “Your flight has been delayed by 5 hours and 35 minutes.” Great. Now nothing fits anymore. I do everything I can to keep my blue glasses on and continue to assume that everything will turn out fine. The best plan would be to convince the lady at the counter to let the kids fly alone. Then I would fly directly from Lisbon to A Coruña and everything would line up again. Well – good idea, bad execution. Unaccompanied travel only starts at 13, and Luis is 10. Turning random strangers into temporary parents for two hours isn’t allowed either.
While she is clarifying this with her supervisor, the colleague closes check-in, which means our checked luggage no longer makes it onto the plane (which doesn’t even depart for another 6.5 hours…). Whatever. I keep trusting and keep looking for alternatives. No one at the airport can help me. So I help myself. If only I’m allowed to take the kids back, there is only one single chance to still get back to the ship on time: a new flight tomorrow morning at 6:30 a.m. from Frankfurt. Fine, I book it. Now everything fits again.
While I’m looking for a rental car from Stuttgart to Frankfurt, the third message arrives:
“Your flight has been cancelled.” Okay. I exhale deeply and very consciously keep smiling. “Everything is fine, Norman. What a huge opportunity,” I tell myself. The friendly email from the airline saying, “We are working on a solution,” doesn’t help much when a whole crowd of people is now frantically searching for alternatives.
So while I’m waiting and waiting on the airline hotline, I research all flights that would
- a) get us home today and
- b) get me back to the ship before 4 p.m. tomorrow.
And there is only one option: Lisbon – Madrid – Munich. And because the universe is known for its sense of humor, guess how many seats are left on the 4:10 p.m. flight? Exactly. Three. And, to Luis’ great delight, they are even in Business Class.
Since the airline still hasn’t picked up after 35 minutes of hold music, I decide to take matters into my own hands — because you should never leave your goals, wishes, and dreams in someone else’s hands. I book the flight. As I happily look up from my laptop, I see the kids’ suitcases. “What a gift that they didn’t take our luggage,” I say to Philip and Luis. Because who knows how quickly — or if at all — we would have gotten them back from the depths of the airport.
Now we’re sitting in the Business Class lounge, went through Fast Track security, and have food, drinks, power, and internet for free.
For me, the day is still going to be intense: we land in Munich at 10:40 p.m. from Madrid, I drive the kids to Künzelsau in a rental car, and then straight on to Frankfurt to catch my 6:30 a.m. flight back to Madrid and A Coruña. What all of this is good for? I don’t (yet) know.
What I do know: years ago, as an event manager, I learned how travel planning works. And this morning was simply the practical application of an emergency plan — running through one option after another in my head, checking them in real life, and then clearly deciding what to do next. It was basically a game, and this time we won it with victory.
So why did all of this happen? Because I must have ordered it that way. I had told some people on board, almost a bit pityingly, about my original travel route. Even though I was clear that everything would be fine, somehow their doubts may have rubbed off on me. And you know: when you send out negative energy, life sends you back the feeling behind that energy through certain events. On this new route, I am 100% sure everything will work out. “But Norman, this will be an even wilder ride than the original one.” Maybe. But I am an „whatever it takes“ person. And second, my own energy caused it — and my own energy will resolve it. And second, it will be good for something. I know that. Everything is good, and it’s getting even better.
My tip: no matter what happens, stay positive. It might extend your life. Why? I’ll tell you next week.
Warm regards from the lounge at Lisbon Airport.
