It's only happened twice to me in 30 years...

Deep sleep.
Bzzz... Bzzz... Bzzz... "What is that sound?"  
Bzzz...  Bzzz...  "Oh, it's my phone.... But why is it ringing at 4:30a?"
Bzzz..."Wait... Something is wrong.... Where am I? Think. San Francisco.That's right, I'm flying home today."  

Suddenly it dawned on me: "I over slept! My cab is outside!!!"

Reenacting the scene from the movie, Home Alone, I sprang into ACTION. 

By the time I managed to answer my phone, the cabbie just hung up. "Don't leave. Don't leave.... Please, LORD!" I fumbled to return the call. The cabbie answered, "Hello?" 

"I can't believe I over slept. I can be down in 10 minutes -- OR less. I promise!" Dead silence.

"I will wait 10 minutes." He said, in an ominous tone. "Thank you," was my obvious response.

Much to my surprise and a total praise to God, I was dressed, packed and out the door in 7 minutes -- I will spare you the hygiene details, or lack there of.

As I approached my cab, the driver was unimpressed. He'd seen it before.

Driving to SFO airport, I realized managed to avoid disaster by doing a lot of things right the night before that enabled my quick escape -- years of ritual, had actually paid off. 

Perhaps these 10 TRAVEL TIPS will one day save you?

Before turning in, the night before traveling, I always:

     1) Pre-pack as much as possible
     2) Consolidate and stage all my belongings into one area 
     3) Lay out my clothes before turning in
     4) Research any ground transportation in advance, looking for positive reviews
     5) Book* my cab or ground transportation in advance
     6) Review my travel itinerary
     7) Launch my alarm clock app and set the alarm
     8) Position my charging phone so I can easily read the clock app
     9) Fall asleep saying my prayers...

What I failed to do, was number ten: Turn in early and get a good night sleep

Our business meetings went late. By the time I said goodbye to my colleagues, tidied up the meeting suite and completed items 1-9 above, it was past midnight.

Imagine, however, if I had decided to skip the above?  I would have been toast.

Winging my way home as I write this, I am THANKFUL for happy endings.

SL

-------------

* A note about booking any reservation over a phone: Remember to smile. Smiles can be heard over the phone and sometimes just being pleasant can make the difference between getting the reservation you want, or not.  :-)