My flight was diverted due to weather 2 days before Christmas. Here's how I avoided being stranded for the holidays.

• My flight was diverted due to bad weather in 2010. 
• I got the last seat on a bus, the last hotel room, and talked my way into a taxi. 
• I made it home for Christmas Day, but it was a nail-biting experience. 

Living overseas can be exciting and rewarding, but most of us long to be home for the holidays. In 2010, my husband and I were living in Barcelona. We were flying home to Edinburgh on December 23 via a connection in Brussels.

We left Barcelona behind with sunny skies, fully expecting Brussels to be a little colder. What we didn't expect was a diversion that could have derailed all our holiday plans.

As we got closer to Brussels, the captain explained that the airport was closed due to poor weather, and we were being diverted to the nearest freight airport.

As soon as we got off the plane, I realized we were in trouble. Multiple commercial aircraft had landed due to the weather, and the airport was in the middle of nowhere, with only basic facilities. Some passengers were jostling for the few seats available and settling in for news, but I knew we had to act fast.

We took a bus to another airport

There was no customer service or airline representatives available, only a harassed airport manager in a tiny office — not used to several commercial airlines landing at his freight-only destination.

He told me there were two buses taking passengers to the nearest alternative airport, Brussels-Charleroi. The first bus had already left, and the remaining one was almost full. Two women were arguing because there wasn't enough room for their large suitcases. Anyone not on the second bus would have to wait for the first to come back, which would be at least a couple of hours. The airport was freezing, and all we could think about was getting home. I spoke to the driver and explained we were traveling light, so he told us to take the last two seats.

That bus journey was terrifying. It was pitch black, and our driver did an amazing job through thick snow and patches of ice. I was relieved to arrive at Charleroi but unprepared for the chaos.

We were able to get a hotel room

We were immediately informed there were no flights out. I saw people sleeping on the floor and two women physically fighting over the last baguette in the tiny shop.

There was a huge throng of frustrated travelers around the only customer service agent — who didn't speak English. Luckily, I could remember some high school French, and with his help, I managed to secure the last hotel room nearby. From there, we booked the last seats on a flight from Brussels airport the next day. We just had to get there.

We had a flight home but no way to get to the airport

I woke up on Christmas Eve feeling sick with nerves. We had flights home but no way of getting to the airport, over 40 miles away. Most of the local area was shut down, either due to the weather or the fact it was Christmas Eve.

I called a dozen taxi companies with no luck, even trying the concierge service on my credit card. At our wit's end, we wandered down to reception and saw a taxi loitering outside. I ran over and asked him if he was available. He told me he had a booking, but the person hadn't appeared or responded to his calls, and he was just about to leave. I explained our situation and asked if he would be willing to take us to Brussels airport. His eyes widened, probably at the prospect of a large fare, and after some bargaining (again in my bad French), we had a deal.

We rushed upstairs, grabbed our things, and then we were off. The airport was an hour away. As we traveled there, we could see why things had ground to a halt — everything was covered in a thick blanket of snow. It would have been pretty if I wasn't so stressed.

When we got to the airport, we went straight to the departures board. We knew it had been a risk to leave the hotel with no guarantees that our flight would go ahead. My heart sank as I read canceled, canceled, canceled… until it came to ours: Awaiting information.

For three stressful hours, we sat waiting to find out if we'd be waking up on Christmas morning with our family or on an airport floor. When we were called to board, I was ecstatic, but the airline rep told us the tarmac was still being defrosted and we might not get to take off.

After a nail-biting wait in departures, we were called to board. As we flew home, I thought of all the things that had worked in our favor. I was so grateful for our own little Christmas miracle, but I knew we helped make it happen.