My Bag's Exotic Vacation

Do you know the feeling as you stand at the airport baggage carousel watching all the luggage make the rounds, hoping and waiting for your own to come down the ramp? You watch with disinterest, then with concern, and finally with prayer until the belt comes to a halt. Then the game changes; your bag is lost. Whatever plans you had after leaving the airport have suddenly changed. Such was the situation for me on Wednesday at the airport in Lisbon, Portugal. I knew there was risk involved in my Denver-to-Chicago-to-Madrid-to-Lisbon itinerary. I even socked away a clean shirt and, well, socks, in my carry-on just in case. Surely my bag would arrive later that day. Right?

Wrong.

The airlines informed me on Thursday that there was no information at all. By that evening they had discovered my bag had taken a detour through London. I would've liked to go to London. My bag obviously had its own itinerary. According to the airline, my bag arrived in Faro, Portugal - a mere 10 miles away - Friday morning. However, it did not arrive in my hands until Friday night around midnight, just in time for me to leave Portugal on Saturday morning.

I was amazed to see how many tags were on my bag. It truly had an alternate plan for this trip. Here I am with my bag.



At first I thought this was an innocent mishap by a well-meaning, but financially strapped airline. That's what I thought, until I found the rest of the photos tucked away INSIDE my bag...

My bag lounging by the pool...

My bag enjoying a drink by the bar. Looks like my bag is partial to international draught lager... Then, and most telling of all...

My bag enjoying some quality time with a pretty lady!

Bad bag. Very bad bag. Next time, I'm not checking a bag at all. I want my bag to SHARE my trip memories, not create its own...