Greatest Birthday of my Life + Adult accidents in Colombia

Tyler Donahue
3 min readNov 29, 2019

I just turned 26 years old in Lima Peru. Most of the day was spent working and stressing over something I can’t even remember.

It was now 7 pm and my friend Brett and I were still aggressively staring at our computer screens. Both of us often get so caught up in work that we forget to eat or drink.

Zero birthday fun was planned.

We decided to head back to the apartment I was staying at to cook dinner and have a relaxed night with Emma; my roommate in Lima. We had a unique place where the elevator opened up directly into our apartment.

The elevator door opened and I was showered with glitter and money. Here is a quick visual. This is Angela, the mastermind behind the most memorable birthday of my life.

Queen Angela
Queen Angela 👑

It’s pretty incredible what a great group of friends can do to your mood. This was my first surprise birthday party and I fucking loved it.

The whole night was full of dancing, utter silliness, and deep chats and it was incredible.

It was now about 2 am and I had still not packed for my 5 am flight to Cartegena, Colombia. Sleep was not going to happen.

I made it to the airport in time but missed my flight because customs would not let me check-in without a flight leaving Colombia (I know, rookie travel move).

My new flight had a long layover in Bogota and put me in Cartegena about 10 hours later than my previous flight. By the time I make it to Bogota I have been awake for over 36 hours.

Time to board my flight to Cartegena… home stretch!

I scan my ticket, walk down the jetway way and my stomach starts to feel a little funky. There is no pretty way to say what happens next. Just as I am about to board the plane, I shit myself.

There are lots of people around me and I am not about to figure out this situation in the tiny airplane bathroom. I turn around and shuffle my way back out of the jetway to find the closest bathroom. I am now running but am stopped by the gate attendant because apparently I’m not allowed to leave the plane once boarded. Ha!

The bathroom is finally discovered. It’s completely empty. Thank god! I strip next to the sink, throw away every clothing item below my waist and scrub myself aggressively with paper towels and soap. Luckily I had spare clothes in my bag and I was able to board the plane with pants on. 🤦🏻‍♂️

I land in Cartegena with no more accidents. Just exhaustion and wounded pride.

Anyways… I hope this was somewhat entertaining for you to read 🤣

Cheers,

Hi 👋🏻

I am a friend, brother, son, writer, marketer, traveler, and entrepreneur. I like to work on relevant projects with people who inspire me. ​I may or may not be a stranger to you at this point. If we haven’t met or you want to learn more about me, read this 👉 Intro to Tyler Donahue

www.tylerjdonahue.com

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Tyler Donahue

Writer @TheHustle @thriveglobal | Founder @th3kindproject @essentialblankets