I guess this is one of those stories where there is a quirky cartoon drawing and a caption that says, “Travel experts: They’re just like us.”

As I finished completely filling up my tank, we’re talking the last drip of gas went into my tank, we were headed into a national park with little services, I thought, well, that was easy. And then I looked at the handle again- it was green and green meant gas.

Wait. Gas. No, no, green is diesel. GREEN IS DIESEL.

Not in the UK. In the UK, Green is gas and black is diesel.

Well. Shit.

Apparently I am not the only person who has done this, because as the Fuel Doctor (yup, that’s a legit company in England) connected my car to a tool to suck all the gas out of my car, not one, not two, NOT FIVE, but EIGHT people at the gas station came over to tell me that they had made this mistake too. So, the good news is that people in Wales are very friendly, offering a smile instead of a shaking of the head (like I was doing to myself). Like if this had been an emojis in the wild moment, the girl with the face palm to her head would have been me.

The other good news was that I was with a new friend, someone I have followed online for awhile and deeply admire, and we had plenty to talk about. From biz to boyfriends, weddings to kids, I loved the conversation. And, while I was definitely beating myself up about this silly mistake, Arielle was looking on the bright side- it had started pouring rain as I realized what I had done- and said things happen for a reason.

An hour later, we were on our way to Snowdonia National Park and the sun was bursting out of the clouds. Everything from the sheep to hills were beaming in the gorgeous afternoon light. We stopped a half dozen times right along the road because it was just so beautiful. We were screaming with delight because those rolling hills, fresh mountain air and countless lakes in Northwest Wales are unlike anywhere I’ve ever been before. The last time I was in Wales (10+ years ago) it was a late November weekend, and while still drop dead gorgeous, it was more cozy, moody hues than bright electric summertime colors.

This story ends in a very cliche way- another lesson in “it’s not all about the destination, enjoy the journey”. This road trip was very much about the journey and bonus points for us, the end destination was pretty epic too.