My 2-hour flight turned into a 6-hour travel fiasco, and it made me realize there's one item I'll never travel without again

• A two-hour flight turned into a six-hour fiasco after windy weather redirected the plane.
• I didn't expect to be without a phone charger for so long, and I didn't pack a portable one.

A low-battery warning popped up on my phone just as a flight attendant announced that we would be on board the plane for a while.

My flight from Bentonville, Arkansas, to Denver was diverted after windy weather prevented us from landing at Denver International Airport.

That meant we needed to land at another airport to refuel. Our captain announced we would be heading to Colorado Springs. A few minutes later, we were told we were going to a small airport in Pueblo, Colorado, instead.

But as the plane landed on the tarmac, a flight attendant announced we wouldn't be getting off the plane. We were stuck on the CRJ700 aircraft while we waited for a fuel truck.

I didn't know how long that would take, but I was convinced my phone's battery wouldn't make it to the end of the flight.

It didn't, and after the headache of not having a charged phone, I decided never to travel without a portable charger again.

I didn't need a portable charger for my vacation, so I didn't pack one

I was traveling for a wedding and didn't think I'd need a portable charger for a long weekend.

I figured there'd always be an outlet accessible if I needed a charge, and I wasn't traveling by myself, so a dead phone wouldn't be the end of the world — I wouldn't be the one looking up directions or researching a place for dinner.

I knew that going into the trip, so I left my battery pack behind.

And just as I expected, there wasn't a single time I needed the battery pack — until I flew home.

I boarded the plane with a partially charged phone. The charge would easily last long enough for me to scroll for two hours and then get me home once I disembarked the plane.

But as so many travelers have experienced, flights don't always go according to plan.

And as my phone slowly died while I sat on the plane in Pueblo, I looked around for a plug.

The plane didn't have outlets, so I couldn't charge my phone that way. I ultimately decided to turn off my phone to save the little battery I had left, and I crossed my fingers, hoping it would be enough to get me home once I landed at the airport.

If I hadn't turned off my phone, I would've had to wait in the airport for my phone to charge, and the last thing I wanted after the long travel day was to spend more time in the airport.

Thankfully, I had just enough battery to use Google Maps to get me partially home, and by the time my phone died, I knew the rest of the route.

If I had been in an unfamiliar city, the dead phone would've been an even bigger inconvenience.

So, after the minor inconvenience of not having my phone for a couple of hours on a cramped plane, I won't forget my portable charger again.