Forget Me Not

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.

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?