A traveler’s worst nightmare
© Creatas

Travel Tips: How to Bounce Back After Losing Everything

It takes only a moment, literally seconds, to change a trajectory, a plan, a journey. That’s the moment when you lose everything.

I have slippery fingers (in the sense that I often lose things). I misplace an item, forget to take it with me, or stash it somewhere so secret, so perfectly hidden that I never find it again.

When I travel abroad, however, lost and found has come to have a different meaning for me. Yes, I have left on flights from Lima, Zurich, and Mexico City without money and belongings—all lost— but I have also come home with wisdom found through a series of “Oh, I see” moments.

The wise travel tips here surfaced during these moments after losing what seemed like everything and finding the creativity of my travel ninja within.

This journey began in the green hills of the Basque country.
© Eva Boynton

A Fairytale Landscape Sets the Scene

In 2011, I started walking the Camino de Santiago (Road to Santiago). The Camino is a network of pilgrimage routes and trails across Europe, each leading to Santiago de Compostela, Spain, and the cathedral there that is said to house the remains of the apostle Saint James.

Walking from one small town to another, I met Camino walkers from around the world. The first major city I encountered was on the sixth day when I confidently strode up to the walls of Pamplona.

Reading the signs
© Eva Boynton

With each step of my mud-caked boots, foreboding music squished out from underneath the soles. But somehow I missed the cue.

I left my backpack with two fellow walkers while I used a cafe’s bathroom.

When I returned to my friends, I quickly realized I was empty-handed. The wallet I had carried with me into the bathroom was missing.

I ran right back, but to my utter dismay and feared prediction I found a bare room.

Travel Ninja Tip #1: Slow down and organize. Secure important belongings by designating separate pockets for them in luggage and clothing or by duct-taping them onto your body. Always take a moment to scan an area before leaving.

I lost my wallet and what seemed like my ticket home.
© Eva Boynton

Stopped in My Tracks

My wallet held my passport and the last of my traveling money (about 300 dollars/276 euros).

A lump formed in my throat. I was nauseous. The consequences of these life-changing minutes and seconds simmered. I felt the loss that always comes with abrupt and unwanted change.

Goodbye walking. Hello bureaucratic paperwork and phone calls. I had to backtrack to France by bus on a ticket funded by my Camino friends.

The bus ride was a suspended moment of disbelief and regret at a trip cut short.
© Eva Boynton

Right outside my window were fairytale hills decorated with sheep, cows and wild horses. But I spent the ride cursing my reflection and missing out on the view.

Once we reached France, the bus stopped and so did my pernicious wallowing. It was time to move on and decide my next move.

Travel Ninja Tip #2: Accept and move on. Rip off the band aid of self-pity to uncover a new journey. This helps to avoid a bad case of the should-a, would-a, could-a’s.

A new passport meant new pages to fill.
© Jon Rawlinson

Securing a New Identity

With the last of my gifted money and the help of generous strangers, I reached the American Embassy in Paris. I was asked a series of questions to verify my identity.

Unfortunately, I got the main one wrong (my parents’ dates of birth, now engraved in my brain). The clerk was suspicious and angry with me. To make matters worse I did not have a second form of ID. Behind the glass window, embassy staff spent 30 minutes discussing my future.

My name was called and, to my surprise, I was asked to raise my right hand and answer the question, “Do you swear you are Eva Claire Boynton?”

I replied, “I do.” I was stamped, verified, and half-way home.

Travel Ninja Tip #3: Embrace unlikely surprises. While traveling, solutions to roadblocks can appear out of thin air. With a little luck and good humor someone may offer to bend the rules or lead you along the back roads.

Although they are time-efficient, fast trains cost a pretty penny.
That’s bad news for the penniless traveler.
© Sheron Long

The Travel Ninja Awakens

My last challenge was getting to Zurich for my flight. I had found my Eurail pass, allowing me to ride trains in France. But, of course, there was a catch.

Although Eurail passes function as a ticket, a costly reservation is also needed to claim a seat on a TGV (train à grande vitesse, or high-speed train). I was in the homestretch: Paris to Zurich. I needed 20 euros to reserve a seat. I had no cash left, and I was $150 in debt from borrowing money for my passport.

So close, yet so far
© Sheron Long

I took a deep breath, stepped onto the TGV, stored my backpack, walked three cars down, and opened the bathroom door. I split the next eight hours between four bathrooms (switching so as not to appear suspicious).

My flight was leaving the following morning, and I was going to be on it.

Walls of a public latrine were no French countryside, but I was
not about to be derailed by a simple reservation fee.
© Eva Boynton

The stress of being caught eased as time passed and I realized my quick thinking had paid off. After losing everything, I was going to make my flight.

My journey began and ended with a bathroom. The travel ninja within me turned the birthplace of my problem into an unlikely solution. I lost my wallet and found my own, creative way home.

Travel Ninja Tip #4: Adapt and get creative. You are more creative than you think. Keep your eyes and ears open for your own lavatory, ready to be adapted into a ticket home.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.