The Time $300 Took Me Halfway Across the World

by Khadeejah Clemons (United States of America)

A leap into the unknown United Arab Emirates

Christmas morning 2014, I wake up to a frantic call from my best friend from college, telling me to check my email. I sluggishly roll over in bed and reach for my laptop sitting beside me on my nightstand. Opening my email, I read “$300 flight deal to Abu Dhabi!”. Rubbing my eyes, I quickly blink to make sure I was reading the words correctly. $300 flight deal to Abu Dhabi. I could not help but think is this real? I had never seen flight prices cheaper than at least $1,000 - far beyond where my skim college pay checks amounted to. I immediately go to Etihad Airways’ website to book my nonstop flight from Washington, DC to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Sure enough that low price was verified! I quickly decided to go for it. Why not take the risk and book the flight? The worst that could happen is the airline would not honor the fare and would cancel the ticket, then I would do what I did every other spring break – work at my restaurant job in DC. Sitting up straight and wide open awake in that moment, I rush to grab my wallet. Being an ultra-organized student, I had all my exam dates and other important dates already listed in my calendars. I select the dates on the website that align with my availability, but as I started selecting dates, they started disappearing and the page kept refreshing. Panicking on the phone, my friend also starts experiencing the same thing. What’s happening? We were puzzled. Later I found out, this low price was a glitch in Etihad Airways’ system and the $300 fare was actually an error. Finally once the website settled, we were able to book the flights for our break in March. Minutes later I got an email from Etihad - I. WAS. CONFIRMED. Merry Christmas to me! Although I am a very orderly person, I am also spontaneous, flexible and go with the flow. After booking our flights and accommodation, my friend and I barely planned anything else for the trip. All I knew was I wanted to go visit and explore another country and have fun. After studying abroad the year before in Brazil, I was itching to travel again. 24 hours before my flight, I received an email from Etihad saying to check in. Finally it hit me – I am going to United Arab Emirates! This would be my second time in the Middle East, my third time out of the country in my entire life and my first time booking what’s known as an “error fare”. Not only was I a bit nervous about this but also in disbelief that I could fly all the way there for just $300. The deal was too good to be true and I did not believe it until I landed in Abu Dhabi. 13 hours later, we arrived at Abu Dhabi International Airport. As I walked through the airport, my eyes were wide open, seeing people from all different countries and cultures and hearing different languages, some that I could not recognize. Feeling out of place weirdly felt comforting to me - refreshing even. Seven days of being in a completely different country, experiencing a different culture, different customs and hearing a different language felt invigorating. In my travel experience, sometimes having an open itinerary and not having anything planned leads to the best adventures. In seven days, we saw a concert in the desert, attended a yacht party, met and befriended people from all over the world and even got invited to one of the couple’s weddings! Ever since my trip to Abu Dhabi in 2015, I barely think twice when I see a good deal for a flight. This trip was one of my inspirations that led me to starting an online travel blog. I write and create content to inspire travelers like me with small budgets and big ideas, encouraging them to take a leap of faith into the unknown.