We had a few tense moments in the Traveling Well For Less household yesterday when I could not find the boys’ passports.
Even though we’re only going to Hawaii, passports are required because we’re going to Hawaii via a free stopover on American Airlines en route to Australia. I’ll elaborate more on free stopovers in another post.
The passports were not in their secret hiding place. Apparently, so secret, I could not remember where I had put them.
I checked all my secret hiding place spots. And yes, I have more than one. Call me cautious, ok, paranoid. If someone is going to break into my house I’m not going to make it easy for them to find my documents. Electronics I can replace and if it means we’re without a tv or computer for a few months so be it. But not having our documents, that’s going to cause trouble. So, I hide them.
Thankfully the lost passports resurfaced…in one of my secret hiding places. And yes, I did look there yesterday, six times as a matter of fact. For whatever reason, they were cloaked, simply took a vacation on their own, wandered off, were playing hide and seek, or just didn’t want to be found.
Which leads to the question, where do you store your valuable documents? In a secret hiding place? Safe? Safety deposit box?
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Debra Schroeder is a travel writer with 26 years of experience using miles and points to travel the world. A former 12-year travel industry executive, she knows how to find the deals and how to creatively finance trips, like getting a trip to Hawaii for practically free or a $26,000 trip to Australia for $208. She’s always looking for the best deal, whether it’s a hostel, luxury resort, or somewhere in between.
Cassie
Friday 13th of July 2012
Glad you found them! Did I tell you that when we returned from Peru we thought we had lost Kevins passport so he cancelled it and replaced it. We found it 2 months later in the camera bag--had slipped down into a space we didn't know existed, between the bag padding and the outside wall of the bag! That was an expensive mistake :(
Debbie Schroeder
Friday 13th of July 2012
Thanks, me too. It was going to cost us $380 in fees not counting parking, gas, and 2 hours off of work for Jeff (since both parents have to be present when you're getting passports for kids under 16).
Hey, now you know you've got a secret hiding spot in the camera bag! :)