Family Travel: Travel Lessons Learned
The New Year is traditionally the time for resolutions and in keeping with tradition I am resolving to be more mindful while traveling to avoid losing or misplacing vital items. Certainly my remarkable luck in getting vital items returned cannot continue.
My experiences have lessons for all travelers and especially so for families who naturally travel with more stuff.
Certainly losing a child is one of the worst possible travel events (I too have had this experience). According to a survey, two percent of travelers confessed to losing their own child while on vacation. Fortunately, that same group managed to also relocate their wayward child.
Travel can be stressful and it is easy to become distracted. Each time I lose some vital item and get it back, my faith in the goodness of most people is restored.
My experience in Cleveland last summer is a prime example. A small group of us were enjoying the world famous Cleveland Orchestra at a concert at the Blossom Music Center, the orchestra’s summer venue.
I had a small backpack with my camera along with my iPhone in a case filled with credit cards, my NEXUS card, driver’s license, and some cash. The concert was ending and I decided the phone case would be safer in the backpack, but in the dark the phone did not make it into the pack although I carefully zipped the pack for safety, after thinking I had put phone inside.
Of course, I did not discover that the phone was missing until I returned to my hotel and it was too late to call the venue. But an honest person had already turned the phone case in to the Lost and Found. Through the coordination of staff from the orchestra and Destination Cleveland, the phone was returned the next day. Nothing was missing.
• Lesson learned: Be more mindful and do not try to put something away in the dark.
On two different occasions while staying a few days at a hotel — once in Hershey and the other time in Sanibel — I decided to unpack some items and put them in the empty dresser drawers. I was violating my usual practice and paid the price. I left without the items and ended up calling the hotels and the clothing was mailed home to me.
• Lesson learned: Don’t unpack except on cruise ships and then open every drawer and double check before leaving.
Losing or misplacing a passport can be a devastating travel experience. I have had it happen twice. I still do not know what happened the first time my passport went missing. We had just arrived at JFK Airport in New York on the way to Jamaica. We had to claim our suitcases and transfer to another terminal. At the baggage carousel, I took out my passport case with my passport, tickets and baggage claim check. That was the last time I saw my passport and I have no idea what happened.
What followed was a police report at JFK where transit police told me stories of creative criminals who prey on unsuspecting travelers. I was allowed to fly and once I arrived in Jamaica I had to report the loss to the American Embassy.
The second time my passport went missing, we were leaving our hotel at an ungodly early hour to get the last flight out of Nassau in the Bahamas before the predicted hurricane arrived. The passports were in the hotel safe in my room and in the dark I failed to grab mine. As it developed, the U.S. Customs and Immigration officers had already fled the island so no one asked for my passport. The hotel returned the passport to my home.
• Lesson learned: Always travel with a copy of the main passport page and put the copy in a separate place. If you have an extra passport photo all the better. This way a U.S. Embassy will be able to issue an emergency passport if yours goes missing.
On two separate occasions I left my purse behind and it was filled with vital travel items: passport, tickets, credit cards and cash. The first time it happened was in the Miami Airport while waiting for the plane home. I ran into friends so I gathered up my belongings and joined them at their gate at the other end of the airport. Once there I realized I did not have my purse. I rushed back and there it was sitting on a table surrounded by other waiting passengers.
The second time was in Washington, D.C. I had been sitting on a bench with my purse and briefcase near the Washington Monument, killing time waiting for a meeting. I decided to take a walk and left my purse behind. As I walked down Pennsylvania Avenue I realized what I had done and ran back to the bench and there was my purse. Clearly, I was very lucky.
• Lesson learned: I now travel with a small cross body purse and a security wallet around my neck containing my ID, credit cards and tickets.
I have not lost a camera but cameras are one of the top lost items. Beyond the monetary value of the camera, the loss of potentially irreplaceable photos can be the worse outcome. Put your name and phone number on the camera. Every night download the photos so if the camera is lost you will still have photos from previous days. Put a strap on your camera and carry it around your neck or in a backpack to keep it close.
Sue Giallella of Grand Island who has traveled near and far with her children and granddaughters said she has never lost any important items but does have a system that has, so far, been fail-safe. “We keep our documents, passports, tickets and copies of confirmations in a zippered wallet type holder provided by our travel agent,” she explained. “To avoid confusion I remove any documents once we use them. We take full advantage of room safes and our phones and valuables are carried in cross body bags.”
She agrees with the advice of Kandis Fuller of Amherst who enjoys traveling with her young daughter. “Make copies of everything: tickets, directions, hotel confirmations and passports.”
Here are other tips to avoid losing things while traveling:
- Have a designated spot for the items you always travel with.
- Have secure places to store sensitive items.
- Always put things back where you got them.
- Check thoroughly every time you leave somewhere. Count your bags and cases and recount at every step.
- Leave an obvious reminder where you will notice it. Are you using the hotel safe? Then put a shoe in the safe so you will be sure to check the safe.
- Make lists and check the list.
Don’t panic if you lose something important. Check again and think when you last saw the item. If you are lucky the missing item will still be where you left it.
If you are going to leave something on a plane the place to do it is Amsterdam’s airport where KLM Airlines employs Sherlock, a uniform wearing beagle, to find owners of forgotten items left on planes by tracking their scent!
The energetic beagle can be seen bounding through the airport with phones and headphones tucked in his pouch and even carrying stuffed toys back to their rightful owners.
Of course, Sherlock has become a star at the airport with grateful customers posing for selfies with him and staff showering him with attention. I would even be tempted to leave something behind to experience Sherlock working his magic. But, no, that would definitely not be right.
Deborah Williams is a veteran travel writer who lives in Holland, NY. Her work has appeared in national and international travel publications and she is the recipient of the Society of American Travel Writers Lowell Thomas Gold Travel Writing Award. Learn more at www.deborahwilliams.com