Cathy Winter

"When London Went Dark: A Travel Tale of Chaos, Calm, and a Transformer Fire

"It was just after 3 a.m. in London when the phone rang.That heart-stopping, middle-of-the-night kind of ring — the one that jolts you upright before you even realize what’s happening. We were tucked in at our hotel, fast asleep after a long day exploring the city. I remember fumbling for the phone in the dark, eyes still half-closed.

It was the airline. A transformer at a substation near the airport had caught fire, they said. The airport was being evacuated, and all operations were shut down. Flights were canceled across the board. Just like that — in the middle of the night — the calm of our trip dissolved into chaos. 

I scrambled in the dark still in pajamas and  I was suddenly wide awake, trying to make sense of the situation. I opened my laptop, my phone, every app I could think of — juggling multiple tabs, all saying the same thing: no flights, no availability, total disruption. I called customer service lines, sat on hold then tired another online chat.  The only option they could offer was a flight two days later, and not even back to our home city — it was to Raleigh, which meant a two-hour drive home after landing.  At first, the frustration hit hard and all we wanted was to get back home. I could feel the stress bubbling up as I sat there in the glow of my screen, trying to problem-solve at 4 a.m. in a different country.

Then I took a breath and I remember, so clearly, pausing — and just letting it go.  I turned to my husband and said, “You know what....no worries it is all going to work out.

”We had great travel insurance. We were safe, we had a place to stay, and we weren’t alone — hundreds maybe thousands of travelers were in the same boat that night. It was out of our hands, and sometimes, that’s exactly when you have to step back and trust the process.

We made it home safely and even thought it didn't quite end well we still had an amazing time exploring London.

Me being the travel advisor thought of how I would handle this situation for my clients and how we would follow up after their return home  since they more than likely had purchased the travel protection that I highly recommended.

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