A friend of mine, a young man here in Richmond, told me the following story:
He was packing his bags in New Orleans for his trip home to Vancouver and debated whether to put his Tefillin in his carry on or in his checked luggage. The flight left at night and he would be home by morning. His itinerary called for a 2 hour layover in Houston and a quick connection to Vancouver. The trip was short enough that he wouldn't need the Tefilin on the flight or at the airport, but he decided to keep them with him in his carry-on bag.
After getting to the airport and checking his bags, he learned the flight was delayed because of bad weather in Houston. The flight didn't end up leaving for over 3 hours and he missed his connection home to Vancouver. He was booked on the next available flight but that wasn’t for a very long 14 hours. He stopped counting at about 12.
This was definitely an unexpected turn. He didn't bring much along in terms of food or entertainment, but he did have his Tefillin.
Actually, the unexpected turned good -- he got to know a lot of the nice people who worked at the stores in the airport. The best part was that while he was 
taking off his Tefillin after finishing his mitzvah, someone was calling out his name in Hebrew!! He didn't know too many people in Houston, and hardly anybody calls him by his Hebrew name.
A fellow came up to him and excitedly told him, "I was on that same flight, and I too am going to Vancouver. Unfortunately I checked my Tefilin. Can I use yours"?
My Richmond friend was of course happy to do this mitzvah and glad to be able to help! But how did the fellow know his name?!? Then he remembered ... his name was stitched onto his Tefilin bag that I had given him as a gift.
So, the other fellow checked his Tefilin, but my friend didn't. He did end up needing them, but for something completely different. He was able to do a mitzvah and help someone else do a mitzvah as well.
These seemingly random encounters sometimes make the trip better than we could ever imagine. Perhaps these encounters are not random after all. As we get ready to travel this summer, let’s remember the unexpected can give us the chance to do a good turn.
Something needed, something given, something lost or found – do you have a story of travel good turns?
Turn your travels into a meaningful experience.