Who forgets an entire suitcase at a hotel?!?! This is something that happens to other people. Not the travel blogger. Imposter Syndrome kicks into high gear.
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you.
The Discovery
We arrived at the airport for our return flight home after spending a lovely Pesach (Passover) at a program with about 1500 people. That’s when we discovered that we had forgotten our luggage at the hotel!
When I checked in for the flight the night before, I paid for the checked bags through the airline’s app. So, I knew that we had 5 suitcases plus 1 assistive device (aka car seat). However, we only had four suitcases and a car seat at the airport! WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OTHER SUITCASE?
Actually, my husband and I arrived at the airport separately. We had divided the kids (and my mother) and the luggage amongst two cars. He arrived first with our two oldest kids. He told me that he was checking in three of the suitcases. (Since first checked bag is less expensive than second checked bag, five of us were going to each check one rather than any of us checking two–we can play the same game the airlines play.)
Afterwards, he left the kids and the carry-ons and went to return his rental car. I got to the airport about 15 minutes later. Everyone and everything piled out of my car. I put the toddler in the stroller and bagged up his car seat. My mom sat in the driver’s seat while I did curbside bag check with the kids (yes, we paid the fee since traffic had gotten exponentially worse while we were on the road and we were going to miss our flight). That’s when the discovery happened…
My husband was supposed to have checked 3 suitcases, so we should have still had two in my car plus my mom’s and the car seat. We did not. Mom’s luggage? Check. Stroller? Check. Car seat? Check. Two more suitcases? Nope.
So, I asked my son, who had been with my husband and was now helping me, if he was sure they had only checked three bags. Teenage answer, “pretty sure”. I called my husband, assuming that in the rush he had just decided to check whatever he had in his car and be done with it. And that would be that.
No such luck. He only checked three suitcases. We even discussed which ones he had and which I had. That is when we realized that we were missing our largest suitcase. I had actually been wondering how everything fit in the trunks of the two cars. Since not only did we now have my mom and her luggage with us, but we had done quite a bit of shopping as well and were coming home with more suitcases than we had left with.
Chaos is to Blame…Maybe
As mentioned earlier, we had been at a hotel program with over 1500 people. Passover ended around 9 o’clock Saturday night. We were up packing until about 2 AM. (Until we got to it and we had to do a lot of moving and shifting around especially since we had already been in town for over a week before Pesach even began and had done quite a bit of shopping, etc. Suffice it to say, that the whole way this went down was asking for trouble from the start.)
Many people check out of the hotel Saturday night. But, many people did not. As 11 o’clock check-out time approached, there was an hour wait for a bellman. So we decided to bring all the luggage down ourselves.
Toddler in the stroller, all the suitcases and carry-ons and backpacks and hat boxes and everything else. But, everyone else is doing the same thing at the same time. The hallways are crowded with people and kids and suitcases and bellman with luggage carts. The elevators and packed with the same. Everyone is cranky and tired and feeling pressured.
We FINALLY get everything and everyone down to the lobby. And, the elevators to the parking garage are broken. There’s NO WAY we can carry everything down the stairs to the cars. So, my husband and I decide to bring the cars to the hotel driveway. He gets out of the parking lot first (since I was bucking the baby into his car seat). By the time I get to the exit of the parking lot, it’s blocked by several employee shuttle vans and a delivery truck. When they finally move, there is a hotel doorman there directing traffic. He tells me I can’t go to the hotel driveway since my car will get towed if I get out. I assure him that I won’t get out, I am just going to meet my husband who has all our suitcases.
When I pull up to the circular driveway, I am met by utter chaos. There are people and suitcases and cars everywhere (unfortunately I did not have the presence of mind to take a picture to share with you here). I can’t even get in to the actual driveway. But I can get close enough to my husband’s car which is already loaded. We all pitch in and finish loading everything into my car. All the while everyone is honking and the doormen are blowing whistles and yelling at everyone to move.
So, as soon as we loaded everything (so we thought) and everyone, we left. We still didn’t have a plan as to where we we going (we had a few hours until we had to get to the airport). There were several other adventures and mishaps throughout the day. But, I’m sure you can see why it seems chaos is to blame for the forgotten luggage.
But, the Navy Seals have a saying:
Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.
We just gave into the chaos instead of taking our time to ensure that we were moving smoothly. Now, because we rushed, it is costing us more time and money.
Check out Reason 5 of 7 Inspiring Benefits of Family Travel Experiences
Forgotten Luggage
So, now we know how we forgot a suitcase. We didn’t take time to double check that it was all there. I’m not even sure I communicated with my husband how many we should have total since I was the one who did the counting. But we still didn’t know where it was. In the hotel room? Least likely. Although we had three connecting rooms, we triple checked that everything was out. In the elevator? Also not likely since the next people coming in would have said something. But, it could be the hallway or the lobby or the driveway or anywhere in between.
By the time we realized we had left a suitcase behind, about six hours had passed. So, if it was indeed at the hotel, I assumed it would have been found after everyone cleared out and held at the front desk. I assumed correctly. The hotel had the suitcase. Good thing it was one that actually had a luggage tag with our name on it.
But they won’t ship it. Now what?
Luggage Shipping
Here’s the irony. We had contemplated shipping some of our luggage home rather than deal with fitting it into the car on the way to and from the airport, amongst other reasons. (Remember: the only reason everything fit was because we forgot the largest suitcase). We have shipped luggage in the past and had a positive experience. The timing does not always work for us. We tend to be last-ish minute packers and much of our stuff we need when we get home. So we don’t really have the transit time available.
But, this time I actually considered it. However, by the time I called Luggage Forward, there wasn’t enough time to get the shipping tags sent to us. And, since they don’t pick up on Sundays, it would take even longer to get the suitcases to us at home. I didn’t think we could be without our stuff for a week. How ironic!
They did tell me that there is an option to print the shipping tags and attach them myself if I don’t book far enough in advance. This piece of information now came in handy! So, I made the booking online from the plane before I had to shut off my phone. But I needed someone to take care of tagging the bag.
My husband called the Rav HaMachshir (kosher certifier), under whom my son had just learned and worked over Pesach, to find out if he was still at the hotel. He was not, but he gave us the contact info of one of the program directors. As we were about to taxi to the runway, he responded that he’d be at the hotel the next day and we should be in touch to let him know what needs to be done. We thanked him profusely and told him we’d be landing too late and call tomorrow. He was able to print and tag our suitcase for us and now we are patiently awaiting it’s arrival.
Since we rearranged the packing so many times, we aren’t even sure what’s in the forgotten suitcase, other than most of MY clothes (and a bunch of stuff we don’t really need any time soon–I think).
I’ll provide an update when we receive our forgotten luggage…hopefully very soon.
UPDATE: Our suitcase was scheduled for delivery “by end of day” on Tuesday and we actually received it by noon! Would definitely use Luggage Forward again–hopefully intentionally next time.
Imposter?
Forgotten luggage is definitely a mistake that could lead to a “travel blogger” suffering from Imposter Syndrome. However, we all make mistakes. The key is how we handle–and learn from– them and their fallout.
In all of my travels, I have never forgotten luggage. But I guess the more chaotic the situation and the more moving parts involved (aka small humans), the more likely mishaps are. They are less likely when you don’t give into the overwhelm. I know, easier said than done.
What are your “Imposter Syndrome” moments? Let me know!
Want to ship your luggage? Get a 5% discount when booking through this link with Luggage Forward.
You might also like:
5 Advantages of Flying with a Toddler