This P.E.I. family finally got to celebrate Christmas after a week of travel woes | 24CA News

It all began when Joseph Luppe’s flight from Vancouver to Toronto was cancelled on Dec. 20 due to dangerous climate. 

Joseph, a scholar on the University of British Columbia, was planning to journey again dwelling to his household in Wood Islands, P.E.I., for Christmas. But like many Canadians this vacation season, his travels didn’t go as deliberate.

“I wasn’t mad or anything,” Joseph stated about his journey woes. 

“I was just kind of surprised at how, like, ridiculous everything was. Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong that night.”

After his first flight was cancelled, Joseph was rescheduled for an additional to Montreal on Dec. 26. He stated he was disillusioned he could not get again dwelling for Christmas Day, however once we spoke to his mom on the cellphone, they realized it wasn’t the worst that might occur.

“Christmas is really, it’s just a day. We could have Christmas whenever we wanted to.”

But that was simply the beginning of Joseph’s journey disruptions.

With storms throughout the nation on Christmas weekend this 12 months, 1000’s of Canadians confronted cancellations and delays in airplane and practice rides. Even although the climate is now clearing, many have nonetheless not reached their vacation spot.

‘It was a joyous homecoming’

Joseph’s flight to Montreal was delayed on Dec. 26, so he missed his connection to Charlottetown. 

As he arrived in Montreal late at evening, the airline informed him they’d put him on standby for the subsequent day’s flight, they usually gave him a voucher for a close-by lodge. 

But when he took a cab to the tackle, Joseph stated there was no lodge there — only a body the place a constructing as soon as was. 

“I don’t really know what to do now,” Joseph stated, recalling the incident.

He stated his cab driver was good sufficient to take him to the closest lodge. When he bought up the subsequent morning, his mom known as with good news: she’d booked him a flight to Sydney, N.S.

Kathy Luppe, Joseph’s mom, stated after reserving the flight, the household needed to instantly get within the automobile to drive six and a half hours to get to Sydney. She was fearful the whole trip over that Joseph’s flight would get cancelled once more.

“It’s almost like a surreal thing because I said, ‘Until I see him, until I see his physical person walk through, I still, I have a hard time believing … we’re really going to see him,” stated Kathy, who’s a retired instructor.

But see him they did. Joseph lastly landed within the Maritimes on Dec. 27, every week after his authentic flight.

“He did a very big happy dance right there in the airport,” Kathy stated.

“It was a joyous homecoming. We had a big family hug.”

Resuming household traditions

This Christmas was an additional particular one for the Luppes as they simply moved to P.E.I. in August. The household hadn’t been capable of rejoice their common Christmas in years as Kathy and her husband had been educating in Saudi Arabia.

“The last six years, Christmas has been transient,” Kathy stated. 

“We’ve traveled to a different country or we’ve had to meet up in an Airbnb and, you know, just make do with this or that.”

But with Joseph again dwelling, the household lastly celebrated the vacations collectively like they did in years previous. Wednesday was the household’s Christmas Eve, they usually spent the day adorning their tree, opening introduction calendars and ingesting scorching chocolate. 

Even the Luppes’s prolonged household in Charlottetown held off on celebrating Christmas this 12 months till Joseph got here dwelling. 

Despite the difficulty the it took for Joseph to get dwelling, Kathy stated it was all for the perfect.

“When bad things happen or you’re disappointed, there’s always a flip side. There’s a silver lining, and the waiting is worth it.”