Fail-proof breakup therapy: buy a last-minute airplane ticket!

Several years ago, the relationship I was in ended abruptly when the guy in question dumped me over the phone. Even though we’d only been dating for several months, the breakup was unexpected—and it hurt. I felt the overwhelming urge to escape from everything. I called a travel agency specializing in last-minute tickets (here in Israel, it’s daka90.co.il) and inquired about their cheapest fares.

“Nothing today,” said the guy on the phone. “But tomorrow morning you can go to Venice. Two hundred and fifty dollars, roundtrip.”

I envisioned amorous couples holding hands over candle-lit dinners and kissing on the moonlight canal bridges.

paragliding in Transylvania

“What about something in Eastern Europe?” I asked.

“We have flights to Warsaw, Kiev and Bucharest.”

That sounded more like it. I purchased a ticket for the next morning to Romania. That evening, instead of moping around and feeling sorry for myself, I brushed up on Romanian history, read about the Carpathian mountains, and learned a bit about Romanian cuisine.

The days immediately following a breakup are often the most painful, but my trip was the perfect way to weather the week. In Bucharest, I met a gorgeous Frenchman named Parfait and attended a Couchsurfing party where I met some exceptionally cool Bucharest locals. I took a beautiful train ride to Brasov, a town in the Carpathian Mountains, and spent a day hiking with two Austrians in the nearby mountains. The next day I went tandem paragliding and ate wild bear for dinner at a hunter’s lodge. I finished off the week with a visit to the famous Dracula’s castle.

Travel is a great therapy for any situation—it takes you out of your usual setting, gives you a new perspective, and allows you to clear your head—but it’s especially helpful after a breakup. Of course, this breakup therapy has its limitations: it doesn’t work with every job or financial situation. If you’re living in say, Chicago, it’s a bit more expensive to get somewhere exotic than it is when you’re living where I am, in the Middle East. But Central America and the Caribbean aren’t far off, and American Airlines often has great last-minute deals.

So next time you’re trying to get over a breakup, buy a last-minute ticket to some place new—and travel!

Posted by | Comments Off on Fail-proof breakup therapy: buy a last-minute airplane ticket!  | April 20, 2012
Category: General

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