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Post by whatagain on Dec 8, 2021 15:44:27 GMT
I guess we all make mistakes, some more than others, and i tvink it could be kind of fun to share some of those.
I will share mine from yesterday.
I spent the day close to Birdeaux and took the plane from Lille.
Rented a car, went to work, ate with a friend/colleague in Libourne, then back to Bordeaux airport, sleeping at the airport, flight leaving at 7 am, so a short night.
Come to parking, clean the car, put everything in my backpack, lock the car, drop the key in the dropbox (rental closes at 8).
Goes towards my hotel then...
Yes, my wallet is missing.
Back to the car, wallet in there, in plain sight.
Rental opens at 8 am. Plane leaves at 7 am...
Calling my wife from hôtel, please honey give me your creditcard details, booking another flight at 18 25. Back at rental at 8, got my wallet back.
Stooopid.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 8, 2021 16:17:58 GMT
That's the sort of thing that happens to me mostly only in dreams. But I remember driving through Australia once; I stopped somewhere to go through some stuff (no idea what) and put my passport somewhere (the roof of the car? I don't know.) while VERY DISTINCTLY saying to myself "Don't put your passport there -- you're going to lose it." That's the last I saw of that passport. Why does a person even stop a car in the middle of nowhere to start looking for things?
I know that Australia is very strict about entry and exit to the country, so I didn't know how they would react when it was time to leave. But I generally travel with two passports and when I explained my stupidity, they were very lenient since the computer system had a trace of my arrival. "Since you're leaving, it's not a problem."
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Post by bjd on Dec 8, 2021 19:36:24 GMT
Once, during the 1980s, I was leaving for Canada with my children. These were the days of paper plane tickets and I carefully slid them into the pocket of a bag so I would know exactly where they were. We were living in Besançon, in eastern France, and had to drive to Paris to get the plane.
We were passing Dijon, a hundred miles away, when I suddenly thought, "Where are the tickets?" and feverishly looked in my purse. No tickets. My husband was driving us, and we turned around, drove back to Besançon and were almost back at the apartment when I suddenly remembered where I had put them!
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 8, 2021 22:05:25 GMT
Oh, that's awful!
My mother gave me a beautiful leather purse with all kinds of zippers and pockets. I quickly abandoned it because of the number of panics I had as I furiously unzipped, dug into pockets, etc.
I'm so afraid of that on-the-way-to-the-airport panic that I now set up everything a few days before I leave and continuously go check to see if I put stuff where I thought I put it.
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Post by mickthecactus on Dec 8, 2021 22:17:05 GMT
You and me both. Air travel always puts me in panic mode.
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Post by whatagain on Dec 8, 2021 23:57:35 GMT
I used to triple check my papers every 2 steps.
Nowadays i have everything on my smartphone, i travel totally paperless.
Boarding pass on the app or screenshot, covidpass on app and screenshot, hotel reservations on hotels.com or booking.com.
But i need a spare battery. Fully charged. And the cable.
And my passport.
And best my wallet 😇😇
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Post by questa on Dec 9, 2021 11:46:36 GMT
My first trip...3+ weeks in Thailand and Myanmar. The bus that I rode in had no suspension to soften the hard wooden seat and I returned to Bangkok with a severe backache. A doctor filled me with anti-inflammatory dope and I staggered off to the airport to come home.
Check=in went OK and ditto changing baht back to $A. It was when I went to get some food I found my large wallet with tickets, cash, and all had gone. I rushed around like a mad woman until the tourist policeman stopped me and I could understand him. We retraced my steps and found the wallet at the counter of the money exchange. I'm sure it was that I was doped to the gills that sent me into the tizz, I have had many such events, even been taken sort of hostage, but the first time still makes me twitchy,
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Post by whatagain on Dec 9, 2021 14:55:13 GMT
My greatest mistake was landing in Copenhagen.
10 pm or so, i hail a taxi and say 'hotel xxx, in Aalborg'
The driver laughs heartily and tells me no way he will drive 400 kms to Aalborg.
In petto, i hold him for a fool, knowing the hotel was close to the airport and tell him to go to hotel xxx in Copenhagen.
There, no reservation. Oh, really ? I show it.
But sir, your hotel is in Aalborg. 400 kms away.
Ah. There were 2 airports in Denmark.
Hotel was full but they found me a room they keep for their own use and gave it at bargain price, then helped me book a train to Aalborg, where i arrived only 6 hours late.
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