Audio 25: The Journey We Had to Change Урок курса: 23. Формат: монолог. Слов: 551. Hi, I’m Rosa. Last autumn, my friend Ben and I hired a car for a weekend in the hills. We had made a reservation at a guesthouse, packed our bags, and chosen a hiking trail that ended near a lake. Ben had planned the route carefully. I had checked the weather. Between us, we felt we had covered almost everything. We left early to avoid rush hour, but halfway there we found signs warning of a road closure. The navigation app offered a shortcut. It looked simple on the screen: a narrow road through a village, then back onto the main route. We took the detour without discussing it very much. At first, the road was pleasant. There were farms, old stone walls, and hardly any traffic. Then it became much narrower. A delivery van appeared around a bend, and Ben pulled over to let it pass. When he tried to move again, the engine stalled. It started on the second attempt, but an unfamiliar warning light stayed on. We stopped in a safe place and called the hire company. The person on the phone asked where we were. I could name the nearest village, but I could not describe our exact location. We had been following the blue line on the screen instead of paying attention to the road signs. Fortunately, there was a small garage nearby. We got the car checked, and the mechanic explained that it needed attention before we continued. The hire company arranged a replacement, but it would not arrive for several hours. By then, our carefully planned walk was no longer realistic. Ben became frustrated. He kept calculating how quickly we could still get to the lake. I understood why. We had only two days, and it felt as if half of one had disappeared. But every version of the original plan now depended on rushing, missing lunch, or arriving after dark. I suggested calling the guesthouse before making another decision. The owner said we could arrive later and explained that a local bus stopped near the garage. There was also a shorter walking route from the guesthouse itself. It did not include the famous lake, but it passed an old railway bridge and a village market. We left the car where the company had asked us to and took the bus. During the journey, we talked to a woman carrying two large shopping bags. She told us which stop to use and recommended a bakery beside it. None of this had appeared in our original plan. The replacement car arrived that evening. The next morning, we walked the shorter trail. It was not a secret paradise, and I would not claim that every problem happens for a reason. We had lost time, and dealing with the car had been stressful. But the weekend had recovered because we stopped defending a plan that no longer fitted the situation. Now, when I travel, I still make reservations and check routes. I also keep the hire company’s number somewhere separate from my phone and notice landmarks along the way. More importantly, I try to distinguish the purpose of a trip from its schedule. We had gone away to spend time together outdoors. Once we remembered that, changing the route felt much less like losing the whole journey.