Trips, travel, and journeys are always fun and carefree, right? Whenever someone else shares their travels, everything from the observer’s point of view looks utterly spectacular and magical. It’s easy to get lost in a manufactured story that portrays this person’s journey as a flawless one and one without any SNAFUs.
Let me tell you now – this is indeed the fantasy the observer creates. In reality, travel is dynamic and spontaneous. The unexpected happens all too often. Travel will try your patience and test your tenacity. Traveling is, certainly, wondrous and full of beautiful discovery. Still, Chinese philosophy demonstrates to us that with the positive Yang moments, there are the challenging and sometimes scary Yin moments.
One of our most unsettling, Yin, travel moments happened to us very early in our travels. It happened on our way out of Kathmandu, Nepal.
Leading up to this moment, we had spent 10 incredible days traveling through Nepal. We were astonished that in such a seemingly disorganized and slapdash kind of place, we had not encountered any issues that derailed our travel plans. None of the buses we rode broke down, had flat tires, nor left without us on them. We found suitable accommodations everywhere we went, were free of any travel sickness, and even had favorable weather. It felt too good to be true!
Our calamity was waiting for us on departure day, though.
For as busy as it is (7.1 million passengers in 2018), and being the country’s primary international travel hub, the Kathmandu airport is relatively small. The airport has only two terminals; one for domestic flights and the other for international.
When we arrived at the entrance for international departures, I remember thinking to myself, ‘this must be what cattle experience when being transferred to a new corral.’ A large crowd of people were gathered together on the sidewalk, spilling over into the passenger drop-off area for taxi’s and other vehicles. There was no semblance of an orderly line. All that I could make out was a single entryway that everyone appeared to be funneling there way towards.
We joined the herd and pressed our way towards the entrance.
It soon became evident, the bottleneck at the entryway was a result of a security check being done for each person and bag before entering the airport. Although we have encountered this many times now, this was the first time we had seen it done. One by one passenger’s tickets and passports were reviewed by a security official. Once he was satisfied, passengers were then instructed to place all baggage on a conveyor to be x-ray checked. As the bags passed through X-ray check passengers then were asked to pass through a metal detector, and finally a pat down by hand before being granted access into the terminal. The security protocols were meticulous. I was impressed with their diligence in checking each person, especially considering the mass of people waiting to get in the terminal.
Ahead of us in ‘line’ (or should I say the human-funnel), was a large group traveling together. It appeared to be a family of maybe twelve with members from three generations, mostly women. They were a disorganized mess (a real sh*t show). It never fails to surprise me how people in situations like this appear to panic for no reason, which just exacerbates any confusion. The elders of the group were confused with what the officials wanted to see, the younger children were roaming distractedly around, and the alpha female of the group – trying desperately to herd her family through the security checks.
It was a sight to witness!
With all the family members passports and tickets checked, they moved on to schlepping their luggage onto the conveyor. The luggage was even more numerous than their party. If I had to guess, each member of the family had two bags, and additionally, they had a full cart of goods packaged in brown boxes. There was so much luggage an extra security guard came over to assist them with all their stuff. Eventually, one by one, they made their way through the metal detector.
When it finally came to our turn…
..we respectfully greeted the security official with a “namaste” and were well received. Jessica went first and per usual, was making friendly small talk with all the security officials. Her infectious smile has a way of disarming even the most serious of personalities, and I’m sure after that chaotic family, her smile was a much-welcomed change.
After our passports and tickets were cleared, we were asked to place all our bags on the conveyor to be scanned. I was wrangling all of our bags but one, a tote containing Jessica’s purse, all our crucial travel documents, and a considerable amount of cash. Jessica is our travel-day expediter, so I like to make sure she has at least one hand free and easy access to all our documents.
She placed her tote on the conveyor and proceeded through the metal detector. I was a few moments behind her making sure all our bags were together as they went into the scanner. I met Jessica on the other side of the metal detector, where she was chatting up one of the security officials. The comically disorganized family had moved on, having gathered all there belongings and disappeared from sight into the masses of people waiting for service at the ticketing counters.
With the pat-down complete, I was free of the security checks and felt re-born.
What a process! Jessica was still talking to one of the security guys, and I walked over to gather our baggage. I counted 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 …bags. But, where was our fifth bag, Jessica’s tote?!? Surely she must have grabbed it already, as it would’ve been the first of our luggage to pass through the scanner. I motioned for Jessica to come over and rhetorically asked if she had the tote.
The look of confusion on her face made my stomach drop.
Her expression, likely having seen my face turn pale, soon turned to one of panic. We both quickly turned to look all around the baggage area. It was not sitting at the end of the conveyor or anywhere around it. We then turned to the security officials to see if they had possibly grabbed it to put through the scanner again. They had not. Sensing something was not right with our situation, the officials stopped the line behind us and began to help us with the search. The person in charge, the same guy who checked our passports, came over to assess our situation.
For as panicked as we were and as visibly stressed as Jessica and I looked he approached us with a calmness and assurance I will never forget. We explained to him what was going on, described the bag we were missing and made sure to stress to him that bag contained EVERYTHING – our most essential items! He assured us we would find the bag and that not another plane would take off until we found it. He pointed out there were security cameras everywhere and made a call on his radio.
All this happened so fast. The stress and worry of losing that bag sent a rush of adrenalin through me. I left Jessica, who was near tears now, to continue talking to the gentleman in charge. I knew I had to find this bag! It was everything! Our passports, plane tickets, visa approval letters for Bhutan (our next stop), Jessica’s cell phone, medication, not to mention over a thousand dollars in cash.
If I didn’t find it, it would be a disaster!
With my thoughts rushing faster than I could process, I tried to assess our situation. If someone stole the bag, they would likely be making their way toward an exit or away from the ticketing area as quickly as possible. I scanned the perimeter. I realized the only doors in this area were emergency exits, which would sound an alarm if opened. Moving my attention away from the exits, I scanned the scores of people looking for our black tote (I know the hardest color to spot). I strained my eyes, desperately trying to hone my focus as I scanned everyone I could. It was a desperate effort; there were thousands of people. If someone ‘meant’ to take it, they would smartly have dipped out our view by now.
But, what if it was taken accidentally?
I felt the rush of a new possibly fill me with hope. I pushed my way through the crowded ticketing area frantically, searching for the disorganized family that was ahead of us in the security check. I came upon their group midway through the ticketing counter lines. They were still in a state of disarray. I looked at each one of them up and down, none had the bag. Turning to look through the bags on their – cart there it was! Our tote was sitting in the top basket of their luggage cart. Probably the last item absent-mindedly grabbed and added to their pile of stuff.
I walked straight to it and triumphantly embraced our bag.
The relief and joy I felt drowned out the loud and bustling surroundings it was like a moment from in a movie when everything stops, and the world seems to only spin for that one character. Coming back to reality, one of the family members had noticed me grabbing a bag from their cart. I did my best to communicate through our language gap that, “this is my bag, and you guys mistakenly grabbed it.” The matriarch of the group nodded in recognition and looked around to the rest of the family, now all focused on me. No one objected that the bag was mine. She smiled. I smiled, and I turned to make my way back to Jessica.
I felt much like I imagine a fictional hero would feel returning to his princess victoriously from some quest. I saw Jessica still with the security officials in tears looking utterly distraught.
I walked up to her with the bag in hand and a subtle grin on my face. She grabbed me and squeezed me tighter than she ever had before. I did feel like the hero. We were both so relieved.
The security official was surprised I had found it. He wanted to know where it was and who had it. He insisted on speaking with them. Before doing so, though, he asked us to open the bag and confirm all our stuff was accounted for, and there was nothing foreign in there. I hadn’t even thought of that. We checked, and thankfully everything was in order. I led the official over to the family, and he questioned them about taking the bag. They were panicked and concerned at first, but we all agreed it was an accident.
We were just overjoyed; it was a happy ending.
Back at the security check, the line was still held up, and people were growing more impatient for the interruption. Jessica hugged and thanked all the security officials for one final time. I expressed my gratitude as well for all their help and grabbed the rest of our bags.
After getting through the check-in, we went straight to the lounge, and each ordered a double whiskey. Although reassured the near-disaster was behind us, our nerves were still wrecked, and the adrenalin residuals still coursing through our veins.
With the opportunity to now relax and take in all that happened, we both couldn’t help but recognize how extraordinary that security team was. They stopped the entire line behind us without hesitation. They were caring, genuinely concerned, and comforting during the calamity. They acted fast to call on the security cameras and were willing to ground all planes until our bag was found – honestly unbelievable! We were astonished by their actions. We’ve been through many airports now, and I doubt many others would have acted in the same way.
We learned a fundamental lesson that day…
..never let your belongings out of your sight! Granted, this is an obvious rule of thumb when traveling anywhere, but it is an important one. The way we felt when we realized the bag was gone is inexplicably terrible. We hope you never find yourself in a similar situation.
Be alert, and be attentive to your stuff. Although somethings are easily replaceable, others are certainly not!
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Want to read more about our travels in Nepal?
Check out the links below!
Pokhara – Gateway to Adventure
