My hope was to blog at least a few times a week about where we have been and mostly (because I’m not a great writer) it’s about showing pictures of where we have been like a photo journal. Well, you can’t do that so well if you lose your device before you even go.
It was 7pm and I wanted to get every last charge I could Into my iPad so that I could stay awake for the flight and get a good night rest in Canada’s airport. I plugged it into the outlet in a great spot a few feet away and asked Anne to not let anyone steal it while I ran to the bathroom right before we boarded. She laughed, she couldn’t even see it because it blended in so well against the black of the floor. I got back from the bathroom and jumped in line right away (priority boarding!! Chase mileage plus card ohh yeah!) and got settled into my seat. I was super bummed that they didn’t have an outlet charger under the seat on this international flight but it was no big deal, I had charged my iPad as much as I could before we left. I settled in, had a chat with the man next to me about his fishing trip to Canada, and buckled my seat belt like the flight attendant said. We were rolling away, on the runway, so excited for the next 8 weeks! Then I turned my phone to airplane mode like the flight attendant said next and thought I should do the same for my iPad. MY IPAD!!!!!! SHIT!!! oh god! I frantically looked in my bag and then looked again and again thinking it would magically be there the eighth time I looked. No luck! I had left it plugged into the stupid inconspicuous hidden outlet! How stupid! I sat back down after my allotted 30 seconds of freak out time I gave myself and felt myself take off. And this is how I start my trip!
So everyone, to not forget things on a flight I suggest don’t do stupid things like plug your iPad into hidden areas. What I will do in the future would be to put the plugged in item on top of my bag or in my bag or directly next to my bag. So that when I pick up my bag I can not forget it.
So, if you loose something... what do you do?
Well, talking to an actual person at an airport is nearly impossible I found out. I called 6 different numbers and after finally begging the person at the baggage desk to give me the direct number to the united terminal guest services I connected with an actual human being in the airport! Not Delhi, not an answering machine, and not a recording! I finally connected with the person that had my iPad in their hands!!! I was so excited it wasn’t gone!! However they couldn’t just send it on the next fight like the pilot suggested. nooooo.. that would be to simple, they have to send it to Houston and then send it to me. Well, I may never get it? Houston still says they haven’t found it! What bad luck! Ohh well, roll with the punches and keep going. I’m sure it will eventually show up. For now, I will have to try to blog slowly when I get a computer at my hostel.
Happy travels!!