Kevin Miller considers himself a bit of a travel pro. The photographer says he’s able to fit all of his camera gear into a carry-on bag and mentally puts himself into “airplane mode” as soon as he closes the door on his taxi, a process singularly pointed at getting himself through the airport as quickly and efficiently as possible.
But on one fateful day in Bali in 2013, his usual machine-level precision hit an unexpected wrinkle. He’d checked in, selected a seat, spent the last of his Indonesian rupiah on a souvenir in the airport, and zoomed through the security line. Then he was asked to pay a departure fee.
Miller admits he was frustrated but quickly set to work getting the money — it had to be cash — he needed to exit the airport. But it was early in the morning and the currency exchange counters were yet to open, and none of the ATMs were functioning. Finally, an American tourist took pity on him and handed Miller the needed bills. When he asked to get the man’s business card to repay him later, the man shook his head and said he’d been in the same situation before.
“It felt like a curveball because it came out of nowhere,” Miller says. Due to the extra time spent running around the airport, he and his wife missed their flight to Kuala Lumpur.
“We had to catch the next flight, which we had to pay for, because it was an airport issue and not an airline issue.”
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