canyonwalker | Colleagues all Home from the Hurricane

When Hurricane Ian was barreling toward Florida last week, some of my colleagues who traveled to Orlando for the trade show decided to ride out the hurricane at the hotel. A variety of our customers did the same. I read this morning that they were all able to leave over the weekend. Most got flights out on Saturday, a few had to wait until Sunday.

This makes me more glad I scrambled to leave when I did. Recall I decided on Monday to drive 3 hours to Jacksonville to fly home on Tuesday when the soonest my original airline could get me out of Orlando was Wednesday. That Wednesday flight was subsequently canceled and the whole airport shut down for a few days.

Last Monday I decided, "If I don't get out of Florida by Tuesday I'm likely stuck 'til Sunday." That's why I scrambled with booking to another airline, renting a car— which cost about $150 including gas— and driving 3 hours. The news from my colleagues validates my choices. My estimate was accurate. And they also validated my expectation that being in a hotel, even a nice hotel, even a very nice hotel, for 4 extra days while a hurricane rages outside sucks.