DEBORAH CROMBIE: We’ve been talking about our travel woes,
especially the food (or lack of) on book tours. But I have another complaint.
No matter how organized I try to be, there is always the last minute rush to
pack up in hotel rooms, and things get left behind. I have left socks (I tend to go to sleep in
them and then kick them off in the middle of the night), my travel pillow,
jewelry, phone chargers, books.
But this time, on the first leg of my book tour, I lost my
Bluetooth headset on the very first day. (To be fair, I think that fell out of
my purse in the Uber. Or maybe on the plane.)
Then, in St. Louis, I left my KINDLE! My beloved Paperwhite.
And a pair of socks, under the covers as usual, I’m sure. Along with the
Paperwhite, because I went to sleep reading. The Paperwhite cover was hot
pink—you would think I’d have noticed it in the bed, but, no. I reported it to the Lost and Found website (I didn’t even
know there was such a thing) Chargerback.com, but no success.
I’ve replaced the Kindle, this time with a bright YELLOW
cover, but now I’m going to be really nervous about traveling with it—which of
course is one of the major reasons for having a Kindle…
 |
| Yasu, thinking I should leave the new Kindle at home. |
REDS, what’s the worst thing you’ve ever left behind in a
hotel room? And did you get it back?
RHYS BOWEN: On one book tour I left 3 pairs of sunglasses in three
successive bookstores. I took them off to sign books, put them on the counter
and then went without them. So now I travel with cheepo sunglasses, terrified
I'll leave my Raybans. I left a charger in a hotel, realized immediately and
called them but no, they couldn't find it! And I can't find my expensive
headphones. I think they must have been left on my last plane flight. So
annoying,
HALLIE EPHRON: Worst thing was leaving my favorite glasses
in a toilet stall at Vancouver airport. I remember setting them on the toile
paper dispenser and thinking: don't forget to take them with you. And then I
did. Jet lagged, I suppose. Kindles are too easy to lose - they slide right out
of your purse. I lost one on a plane, and swore never to buy another BLACK
electronics item again. Ever. Because they blend into the carpet, the
countertops... My new kindle is white, but looking at Deb's comment, now
I"m in the market for a yellow cover for it.
JENN McKINLAY: On a road trip cross country with my best
friend, I left my wallet on the top of our car in Oklahoma. Someone mailed it
back to my home in AZ with everything inside of it! On the same trip, I left my pajamas
on the back of the bathroom door in a hotel in Holbrook, AZ. The hotel mailed my pajamas back to me. Granted, this was in 1996, maybe the world
was friendlier and less light-fingered. In fact, it must have been because when I flew out of Kennedy in NYC to return to AZ, I didn't even have
to show ID to board the plane - just my boarding pass.
LUCY BURDETTE: These are all heartbreaking stories. I hate
that you lost things you treasured. But I think I still win the prize for being
a traveling knucklehead, by losing my passport along with my hard-fought visa in
INDIA. (Here is the link in case you want to refresh yourself about that
nightmarish saga.)
All I can say is that experience has made us double and triple check everything
every time we pack up and leave. And from now on, we should all travel with
Jenn who seems to have the best lost item Karma in the group!
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Oh,
this makes me so sad. I was on book tour in San Francisco. It was fleet week,
something like that, so the publisher put me in in a "little boutique
hotel." The lobby was adorable, chic and hip . But he rooms
were..Dickensian. It was bad enough that they were DARK and that my room
overlooked an alley where drunk people were sleeping, I am not kidding, but I
decided to count my blessings that I was on book tour and it would be a good
story. But then I got into the shower, and was dripping wet , and the fire
alarm went off. Long story, but after this happened twice, I realized that the
steam from the shower was setting off the alarm. Okay, still funny. But
then: there were flies. A BILLION FLIES.
I said--get me outta
here, and I dashed to the airport Marriott, and in my wild haste, left my best
little black book tour dress in the DARK closet.
I was so sad. I called
an hour later, and it was...not there. Ah. I still miss it.
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Weirdly enough I'm pretty good at NOT
leaving things behind in hotel rooms. I have a somewhat rigid (obsessional)
protocol for unpacking and repacking my things, and I check over everywhere
before I leave. My weak spot? Rental cars. I have left audio books (always just
the one, irreplaceable CD, of course,) jackets, lip balm, sunglasses, maps and
a folding travel umbrella.
The worst thing I ever lost was my complete book tour travel itinerary! This was in 2003 or 2004, when our phones were dumb and internet access on the road was rare and precious. (Remember internet cafes?) I was on my flight from Denver to California when I realized I had left the itinerary in my rental car. It had names of bookstores and booksellers, phone numbers and addresses and info on my rental car reservations... I was saved by Rachel Ekstrom Courage (now an agent at Folio Literary) who was then the very young assistant publicist at St. Martin's. She faxed the pages to my hotel in LA and I was able to go on my merry way.
The worst thing I ever lost was my complete book tour travel itinerary! This was in 2003 or 2004, when our phones were dumb and internet access on the road was rare and precious. (Remember internet cafes?) I was on my flight from Denver to California when I realized I had left the itinerary in my rental car. It had names of bookstores and booksellers, phone numbers and addresses and info on my rental car reservations... I was saved by Rachel Ekstrom Courage (now an agent at Folio Literary) who was then the very young assistant publicist at St. Martin's. She faxed the pages to my hotel in LA and I was able to go on my merry way.
DEBS: Oh, Hank, Kindles and even sunglasses are replaceable, but the little black dress--that's tragic. (And I think I've stayed in the same hotel.) Lucy, I can't even think about your passport saga. What a nightmare!!
Readers, what have you lost on the road? And what's your fail proof method for keeping up with things?
Oh, leaving stuff behind is so frustrating . . . . I have a special bag for my Nook and my phone, so they generally get packed without any fuss.
ReplyDeleteI once left a nightgown [my favorite, of course] and ever since, I never leave without opening every drawer, checking the closet and the bathroom, and pulling the bedcovers down. [I know they’re going to change the sheets anyway, so when I’m leaving, I don’t feel guilty about not making the bed.]
Normally, my phone goes in my purse, my laptop and Kindle in my carry-on tote bag, so I'm very methodical about where I put things. You can bet that from now on I'll be pulling the covers back on the bed!
DeleteMy mom was very obsessive about double and triple checking everything when we left hotel rooms. I've gotten that habit from her, so I can only think of one thing I've lost. It also helps that I never unpack in a hotel room. What's the point when you just have to repack in a day or two? Yes, my toiletries go into the bathroom, but they stay in my toiletry bag when not in use. And everything winds up piled around my suitcase so it is easy to put it back in.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, the second year I went to Malice Domestic, so it must have been 2017, I had two bookmarks with me. My niece had made me one out of construction paper and I was using. But it is big, so I was only using it on hardcover books since half of it would stick out of mass markets. For mass markets, I was still using the one I've been using since Jr. High, maybe elementary school. Since I had planned to read both types of books, I brought both bookmarks. Somehow, the smaller bookmark I've been using for years didn't make it back home with me. I have looked everywhere I can think of, but it is nowhere to be found in my stuff or my condo. It must have fallen out in my hotel room, or the plane, or some such place and I just missed it.
And I still miss it.
wow Mark, I've never known anyone with super special bookmarks. I will grab whatever scrap of paper is available. But it makes your loss so sad!
DeleteHow is the firefighting going in CA?
Mark, I hope you and yours stay safe out there. Such a horror to see.
DeleteI know what you mean about bookmarks. I still have two, preciously guarded JRW bookmarks that Hank gave me a few years ago.
Mark, I'm amazed that you hung on to special bookmarks as long as you did! I've never been able to keep one more than a few weeks. And how are things where you are in California?
DeleteKaren, I'm sure we can get you a few more bookmarks!
Thanks for asking about the fires. I was evacuated for a couple of nights due to a fire here in Southern CA. I'm fine and back home now. My family is evacuated from Northern California due to the Kincade Fire, however. That one is burning out of control, and my brother just moved into a rebuilt house after having lost his house in the fire in Santa Rosa two years ago.
DeleteSuch stories! Like Jenn, I once left my purse on top of my car at a gas station in Illinois on a round trip drive from Indiana to Iowa. I called the gas station - and they had it! I picked it up on my way home. This fall I left my custom tooth guard in a hotel in New Hampshire, but they mailed it back to me, and I left my turquoise laptop case in hotel in Maine. They kept it and I picked it up a couple of weeks ago.
ReplyDeleteOn airplanes I've left my favorite metal water bottle, and once, years ago, my 5th-grade son left his creative writing notebook. We called but they never found all the stories he'd been working so hard on. ;^(
oh the notebook full of stories is heartbreaking...
DeleteEdith, I have a really nice new metal water bottle. I take it in the car all the time at home, but I've been afraid to travel with it! I'd be crushed if I left it somewhere. I've just been refilling the same Figi bottle since my first flight.
DeleteOh dear. You folks travel a lot, so I guess it comes with the territory (very large territory)
ReplyDeleteBased on losses in the past, the two places I always check when leaving a hotel room: the hook on the back of the bathroom door, and, yes, the bed. I ALWAYS pull up the top covers to see what's lurking underneath.
And having lost my iPad a few years back (it must have slid out of my purse at a highway service centre,) I now have a large clip attached to the colourful case; so I can always clip it to a loop in my purse.
And, yup, colourful eyeglass cases.
There, that's my hard-won wisdom shared.
Susan, that clip idea is a good one. Does it hook onto a loop on your iPad case, like a caribiner? Or clamp over the top?
DeleteOh, yes, the back of the bathroom door is a good one. I've left nightgowns before.
DeleteMy eyeglass cases are gray. Hmm. Maybe rethink that...
CLIP! Taking a note.
DeleteIt's a caribiner, and it goes through a sturdy loop on my iPhone case, which I actually made myself. The case I mean. I am guessing that commercial cases have some kind of loop or ring?
DeleteI once have left socks too but I tend to be a little ( or maybe a lot) obsessive with my things. I try to always place every item at the same place ( even the room's key ), and the valuables in the safe ( even my Ipad).
ReplyDeleteLast year, after travelling 38 days in Australia and changing places 7 times, I only forgot my travelling pillow in the last place.
Ah, Julia, we are kindred spirits. Rental cars are my bugaboo. I left a pair of snow boots in the rental after changing into walking shows, my phone charger plugged into the console (twice), and last year, my hideously expensive prescription sunglasses in the glove box. (Why do prescription sunglasses cost so much? Holy cow.)
ReplyDeleteRental cars are hard! Come to think of it, I have lost both sunglasses and a phone charger in a rental car.
DeleteI think rental cars are so difficult because 99% of them have black interiors - hard enough to spot items in broad daylight; almost impossible in the shadowy depths of an airport rental return lot!
DeleteWhen I travel, I usually pack whatever jewelry I plan to wear into a divided cloth bag. Ten years or more ago, when my goddaughter was graduating from college, that cloth case didn't make it home with me. And of course, it contained my go-to jewelry pieces: favorite short necklace, favorite longer necklace, about three pair of my favorite earrings. That one was a blow!
ReplyDeletehere I was trying to think about things I've lost when traveling and can only come up with a bathing suit top I got back and a nightgown I didn't. But maybe I am psychic because just now I remembered the dream I had last night: I was in a hotel checking out and my very stuffed wallet (you know the kind, cards and checkbook,change and even a spot for my phone) was missing! I woke up in a panic!
ReplyDeleteI do feel everyone’s pain. My big problem is having got me packed, my beloved packed, yes I am his valet, I inevitability leave/forget something I really, wanted to take. For a while I was call muting monthly from Maine to Westchester. My lifeline was a list. Yes one list for packing. And checking, and I still would leave something behind, sigh. But my worst was realizing that I had left my passport, horrors, AND, my organizer (remember those big, important looking books), with the Yaya, (Greek grandmother), in the tiny Cretan village. We were on a bus to Heraklion, before catching the ferry back to Athens to fly back to the USA. We were saved by a guy on the bus who called the village to relate my tale of woe. Then on arrival at Heraklion, Victor reboarded the return bus with a copy of The Mists of Avalon, (did I mention it was a 3 hour ride), and returned to Matala while, Olivia, daughter, and I proceeded to Knossos for the day. Back later, we regrouped, caught the ferry to Athens and all was well. Certainly my most scary forget.
ReplyDeleteAh, the travel litter! It's so easy to lose track of things when you are in unfamiliar places, and outside your normal routine.
ReplyDeleteI left my favorite pink button-down shirt on the back of a bathroom door somewhere in California when Steve and I were traveling right after our Vegas wedding. He was in the middle of a long-planned seven-week road trip, and when he asked me to marry him part of the deal was flying out to meet him before his Vegas speaking engagement, and continue on with him for two weeks. We got hitched in a chapel in the morning, and that evening I was introduced as his "lovely wife Karen" for the first of a jillion lectures I accompanied him to over the years.
After that, I became obsessive about making sure I had all my stuff, especially since we tended to spend a single night at each stop on tours, and sometimes had to leave early in the morning.
The key is to have a spot for your stuff, and not to strew belongings all over the room. When I later did my own lecture touring I had a travel partner who did that, and she was forever leaving stuff behind. It was a running gag that she was a "loseaholic".
Coincidentally, my grandson left here yesterday morning with the remote control for the overhead fan in the guest bedroom (five months old). And now he can't find it.
I took my son to Maryland to visit the University of Maryland during his junior year of high school. When repacking the suitcase to go home, I put all 3 of my brand new, comfortable, well-fitting bras onto the bed and they never mad it back into the suitcase. When I called the hotel, they said they did not find them. I was upset for quite a while.
ReplyDeleteThen, just a couple of years ago, in Maryland again, we left a phone charger plugged in when we left the hotel. A phone call to them was useless. They did not have it.
I have lost very precious things, but not in hotels or rental cars. Too painful to talk about still.
I agree with Lucy that Jenn has the best "lost item karma."
I'm in Celia's camp - I tend to leave things behind at home rather than lose them on the road. I've lost the occasional pair of socks to a hotel bed and one charger to a hotel outlet behind a nightstand. Side note - I love the new trend of having chargers integrated into lamps. I'm much less likely to leave something that is laying in plain sight. The biggest heart breaker was being on a family trip and discovering that the second part of the power cord for my CPAP hadn't made it into the suitcase. It's a two part cord with a fitted plug for the machine - so no purchasing local substitutes. We were moving around a fair bit too, so no getting it shipped to meet me. I was so grateful to my partner whose only comment in reaction to his now much less restful nights was, "well- if we ever wondered if the machine was helpful...".
ReplyDeleteOnce, on a trip to the UK, I left behind my computer power cord, which could not, of course, be replace in the UK. And I was trying to finish a book!! Dearest hubby had to FedEx it to me overnight. Ouch, that was expensive.
ReplyDelete"replaced!"
DeleteI make a packing list with checkboxes on Google Keep, then I make copies of it for each place I stay and rename them for each hotel I stay at. When you check something off on Google Keep, it goes to the bottom of the list, so you can easily see what is still left to pack. And the list is on my phone, or iPad, or any computer I log into, so it's always with me. It only takes a few minutes (I tend to pack the same clothes, and always the same toiletries, etc.) but it has saved me from leaving anything behind!
ReplyDeleteGoogle Keep??? Going now to investigate. THANKS for the tips!
DeleteThis is reminding me of the scandal some years back of airport personnel pilfering stuff from checked luggage. I'm sure a camera (remember those?) and some jewelry went 'missing' that way for me. I hope that doesn't happen as much now. (Traveling in China we saw travelers paying to have their checked lugggage shrink wrapped in yellow plastic wrap at the airport.)
ReplyDeleteOh yes. My husband lost a camera to pilfering.
DeleteShalom Reds and fans. My memory is very weak. Nevertheless, I tend not to lose stuff even when travelling. I think it’s mostly because I am acutely aware of what a nuisance it would be if I lost something truly irreplaceable. My keys are always attached to a heavy dog choker collar which is attached to my belt and kept in my right front pants pocket. Also, in that pocket, is my wallet. Many, many years ago, I did for a while use my passport as identification. And carelessly, I left it on one of the counters at my bank. I never saw it again and only recently did I put together an application to get a new one.
ReplyDeleteI can’t remember what we did before cell phones. (Not to mention, high-priced smartphones. Once, probably ten years ago, I was on route from Boston back home to Philadelphia by Amtrak. For some reason, I needed to make a phone call. There must not have been a good signal in the train station because I went to use a public payphone. I remember using my flip phone, to find the number and making the call. I must have laid my phone on the ledge below the payphone and then walked away without it. I had another phone on the account at home so mostly I just lost phone numbers which I don’t memorize or have written down in an address book. (Now I memorize pin numbers and passwords.)
One scare, I remember, was at my Dad’s funeral. It was about five years ago, and I was attending his funeral in the Bronx. I don’t drive, so I was hitching a ride from the funeral home to the cemetery. I was travelling with a new right out of the box, top of the line smartphone. I usually keep my phone in my left pants pocket but I think it was too difficult to reach that pocket with my seatbelt on so I put it into a sweater pocket. Well, it fell out of that pocket, and I didn’t notice it until we were leaving the cemetery chapel. Just as I noticed it missing, the owner of the car had seen it and was looking for me.
Now, I pay for phone insurance. It covers loss, theft, water damage etc. But the deductible is pretty high. Not to mention the fact, that my whole life is on that phone. It helps that I pathetically check the darn thing every five minutes. So, if it’s not where it’s supposed to be, a little alarm goes off in my head.
I've lost my 15 year old choir cross while house sitting. I realized it was gone and immediately called the people I was sitting for, she said the cleaning lady had just finished and I was welcome to come over and sort through the trash. My knees were the size of watermelons, I had barely made up to my apartment, I wasn't going anywhere. I lost grandma's rings during my move two years ago and didn't realize until six weeks and a fire storm later. My sister thinks Mom pulled them out of a little box and shoved them under the couch back. I had to dispose of the couch, landfill.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a seasoned traveler and tend to be obsessive about stuff when I get to stay in a hotel, especially about my prescriptions, they usually end up in a mediset, in my purse, for short trips but longer ones, the bottles are in Ziploc bags and in the front of my suitcase, next to the handle. I have separate list of my prescriptions, including the doses, in my wallet. I'll check and check, load the car and then check again before I check out of my hotel. I try not to use trunks of rental cars and suitcase goes vertical on the back seat, makes tipping over less likely in case of sudden breaking.
And on another subject: sounds like Mark Baker is Northern California. I know Rhys and her family are in Marin and Sonoma counties. I think there is an Ann up here too, everyone doing okay? I'm evacuated but staying in my office, that part of town is not evacuated and still has power. On top of the fires there were two small earthquakes overnight in the Geyser area. Take care of each other out there.
Oh gosh. Too many of those stories sound familiar. I lost a purse temporarily when I was in college. I asked my not-yet-husband to hold it while I did something and he put it on the roof of the car. I thought he put it in the car. Not until I got to my grandparents' did I realize what happened. It got slung off on the highway, a couple picked it up, and later called me. I had to wait for them to mail it to me in Austin. Very awkward since it had my student ID. My son left his blankie at a motel when he was about 6 or so. We were on a road trip from Ohio to Nova Scotia. We called the motel and they held the blanket for us until we returned a week or so later. It was one my mom had crocheted and he always slept with it. My husband is notorious for leaving things so I always police the room and all the drawers and the shower one last time when we're checking out. Shoot. He even loses his phone. I had to retrace his path last week, calling his cell phone at intervals. We found it.
ReplyDeletePat, one time years ago, I set my purse on the trunk of my car while I was loading other things into the car--and of course drove off with it. Fortunately a nice neighbor saw me drive off and followed me, honking and flashing her lights, until I stopped.
DeleteOnce, setting off for another trip to the UK, I was for some reason I can't remember taking a car service to the airport. Just as we reached the airport, I realized I'd left my passport at home. Panic!! Fortunately, I was really early, and we had time to turn around and go back for it, and I still made my flight. The nice car service driver didn't charge me for the second trip! Now I check multiple times that I have actually got my passport. Also, I keep all the stuff that only goes (and must go) to the UK in a separate bin in my office.
ReplyDeleteI frequently have nightmares about traveling internationally - and that's one of them!
DeleteWe were in a taxi on the way to the train, Bordeaux to Paris, when Julie, organizer extraordinaire, discovered she left her moneybelt , containing credit card and passport, at the hotel. Thank God she speaks French. She called and they went up and found it. All else we may have left pales in contrast to losing a passport
ReplyDeleteHaving started to do some major traveling in retirement, you learn alot with each trip it seems. We now both do a walk through checking drawers, closets, under bed, bathroom, everywhere even we we didn't use that place for our short stay. I have taken a list of what I packed and checked it but found that to be a bit much and you end up not doing it anyway in the hurry to get on the road.
ReplyDeleteThe most important thing we forgot on a trip was our camera charger which charges the batteries for our cameras. Since we love photography and take LOTS of photos that is a major item to forget. Thankfully it was on the last leg of our trip and we didn't run our of battery juice before we stopped in a town where we could buy and new on specifically for our cameras.
After getting home, I did notify the motel who took our information - name, address and room number we were in on what day. They never notified us that they had found it, but eventually got a package in the mail with it. As long as it took, it must have come by mule pack but was glad to get it just the same since it's not a cheap item. At least now we have a spare or we can charge in half the time with each of us having one. Lesson learned - include wall sockets to mental list of things to check before turning in our keys at the motel.
2clowns at arkansas dot net
Oh, yes, wall sockets are definitely on the check list!
DeleteLive and learn! The worst traveling experience was when I left my Cochlear Implant rechargeable batteries and other essentials in a bag in the airport bathroom and I had to pay $$$$$ to replace everything. That was about 15 years ago! Since then, I always travel light! I lost the bag because I was carrying three or four bags! Now I only carry One fanny pack and one carry on baggage!
ReplyDeleteDiana
Not me, but on our class trip to Germany a girl in my class lost her father's new digital camera. A guy from one of the other schools lost his credit card. And one of the teachers almost left behind her passport at a hotel.
ReplyDeleteI was on a ten day business trip in Milano in 2002 and had brought my first and very recently acquired digital camera. In my room, I stored it in a drawer together with my bras, thinking it the least tempting place for possible pilferers.
ReplyDeleteI had just checked out when I realized I had been interrupted while emptying said drawer and had thus left two bras and the camera behind. I got my key back and ran upstairs, but everything was already gone - literally within minutes!!