-After getting up at 4 in the morning and making it to your bus stop on time, make a prideful comment about the good luck you’ve had traveling so far

-Immediately retract statement, knowing that you have just cursed yourself for the rest of the day

-Joke about pouring libations on said early morning bus

-Purchase tickets for your train (the more expensive ones, of course, since you want to be sure to arrive to your flight on time)

What happens when you piss him off:

-He spills hot tea on your friend on the train, in a forced libation (note: do NOT joke about this as being a forced libation; also, do NOT believe that Apollo has forgiven you. He has not.)

-He makes it so that you happen to be on the train that gets delayed due to a fatality on the tracks up ahead*

-He gives you the option: take a risk on a cab, or take a risk on the train. You choose cab.

-He makes you fork out the equivalent of approximately $110 on said cab.

-He teases you by allowing you to arrive at the airport just in time to catch your flight; the caveat is that your friend cannot check her luggage owing to its size, and she must buy a whole new ticket for the next flight to Amsterdam

At this point, Apollo may have started feeling bad for me, because at that point, when Lauren had to stay and I felt so bad and I was exhausted and stressed, I just lost it. I was sobbing going through security, but of course, in my total disorientation, I didn’t take out my liquids bag, so although my gate is closing in a matter of minutes, Apollo gets one last dig in there to teach me patience: the security guy has to search my carry-on.

To be fair, all of the British people I encountered during this experience were incredibly kind to me; most gave me sympathetic and/or encouraging looks, and one nice lady next to whom I sat on the bus to the airplane chatted with me and definitely helped me calm down. Her best comment was, “Well, you and your friend are healthy and safe, and that is all that matters. At my age, you learn that accepting change is everything.” She is right, of course. I wouldn’t say, either, that I’m generally a traveler who can’t accept this type of change. That’s part of the adventure of travel, it’s definitely all an exercise in going with the flow.

I was also fortunate to have a great flight to Amsterdam, during which I ended up sitting next to a young man who happened to be one of my boyfriend’s close high school friends. Seriously, what are the odds of that happening?! Can someone do the math on that!?

That afternoon I met Lauren at the airport, and we very seriously poured a libation of wine into Marijn and Tijmen’s garden for Apollo. I think they thought we were joking. I assure you, we were not.