Top 10 Things I’ve Lost Traveling South America
I’m usually pretty careful with my belongings, and don’t forget and lose things. Garret is really good when checking out of hostels; he always does the “once over” looking behind us, lifting the covers, peeking under the bed, and looking in the closet and drawers for hidden or forgotten items. We’re careful when we leave busses and airplanes, looking in the seat pocket, under the chairs, and in the overhead storage. But I guess it was inevitable that we would lose certain possessions while traveling. While we’ve lost a few more than 10 items, here’s my roughly chronological list of the first important 10 items we’ve lost.
1. Brown hat. One of the few items that I actually purchased especially for the trip, a cute floppy brown sun hat from REI disappeared at the language school in Quito. I set it down in the kitchen and 5 min later when I went to retrieve it, it was permanently missing. I hope you are enjoying it, whoever you are.
2. Eye mask with extra earplugs. On my first long bus ride in Ecuador, I managed to forget my lovely black eye mask with Velcro earplug storage. This has sense led to us checking the seat pockets much more thoroughly before disembarking. Huge bummer, because I am quite sensitive to light, and generally wake with first light (which in Southern Patagonian summer is at roughly 4 am). I have sense recommissioned my black tank top to serve as an eye cover.
3. Spanish notecards. ALL of the notecards that I painstakingly made from SIX weeks of private language study, which were organized into sets of “verbs”, “phrases”, and “vocabulary” and stored in a giant Ziplock bag were somehow forgotten on the airplane to the Galapagos Islands in August. Huge bummer; I could have been studying them all this time… I was sick about this for a few days when I realized I’d lost them.
4. One white sock. Laundromat in Cusco lost a white sock. I knew it immediately, and asked the hostel desk to contact them, but it was never found. Wouldn’t be a big deal except that I had only packed 2 pairs of casual socks.
5. Yellow shirt. Another Laundromat in Peru failed to return a yellow shirt with fun sparklies on it. I didn’t realize it for a week or more when I went to wear something else, so it was too late to ask about it. Hmmm… already slim wardrobe options reduced even further.
6. Pair of Smartwools and bag of freshly washed fruit. This was just utter stupidity. On the way to our trailhead in Ausangate, Peru, Garret and I placed a grocery bag containing all the delicate fruits that we planned on putting in the top of our backpacks for our five day hike, as well as eat the next morning before we started hiking. Also inside, was one of two pairs of hiking socks I had, still drying from being hand washed in the morning. When our stop came up quickly, we hopped off the bus with only our big backpacks; sans fruit. Oh how we lamented our rush later!
7. One of Garret’s earplugs. For sure the cheapest item on the list, I wouldn’t even mention it except for the fact that it took several weeks to find a replacement pair. In the meantime, Garret had just one earplug, and would sleep on his side, alternating which ear he put the plug in. This worked OK, except when we were in hostels with lots of street noise like the first one in Rurrenabaque and he didn’t really sleep…
8. USB thumbdrive. We still don’t know where this went. It was even on a lanyard and just completely disappeared. Could have been quite handy on any number of occasions.
9. Bra. I brought two with me to South America; one nice new Victoria’s Secret $45 bra, and a ratty one. You can probably guess which one disappeared in a hostel somewhere in El Calafate and which one I’m stuck wearing for two months straight.
10. Grocery bag with peanut butter. This one hurts the most, because it was the most recent. After cooking veggie burgers for dinner, we cleaned up our dishes and went to our room, somehow forgetting our green grocery bag of non-perishables. Although we remembered it in the morning, someone in the very large Freestyle hostel we were staying at saw fit to take the entire bag with powdered milk, tea, sugar, rice, crackers, cookies, and peanut butter. I wouldn’t care as much except that peanut butter isn’t available in the grocery stores I’ve been at so far in Argentina, and I had just purchased this one two days before in Chile, so it was irreplaceable. Whoever you are, I hope you are enjoying my peanut butter.
I’m usually pretty careful with my belongings, and don’t forget and lose things. Garret is really good when checking out of hostels; he always does the “once over” looking behind us, lifting the covers, peeking under the bed, and looking in the closet and drawers for hidden or forgotten items. We’re careful when we leave busses and airplanes, looking in the seat pocket, under the chairs, and in the overhead storage. But I guess it was inevitable that we would lose certain possessions while traveling. While we’ve lost a few more than 10 items, here’s my roughly chronological list of the 10 most missed items we’ve lost.
1. Brown hat. One of the few items that I actually purchased especially for the trip, a cute floppy brown sun hat from REI disappeared at the language school in Quito. I set it down in the kitchen and 5 min later when I went to retrieve it, it was permanently missing. I hope you are enjoying it, whoever you are.
2. Eye mask with extra earplugs. On my first long bus ride in Ecuador, I managed to forget my lovely black eye mask with Velcro earplug storage. This has sense led to us checking the seat pockets much more thoroughly before disembarking. Huge bummer, because I am quite sensitive to light, and generally wake with first light (which in Southern Patagonian summer is at roughly 4 am). I have sense recommissioned my black tank top to serve as an eye cover.
3. Spanish notecards. ALL of the notecards that I painstakingly made from SIX weeks of private language study, which were organized into sets of “verbs”, “phrases”, and “vocabulary” and stored in a giant Ziplock bag were somehow forgotten on the airplane to the Galapagos Islands in August. Huge bummer; I could have been studying them all this time… I was sick about this for a few days when I realized I’d lost them.
4. One white sock. Laundromat in Cusco lost a white sock. I knew it immediately, and asked the hostel desk to contact them, but it was never found. Wouldn’t be a big deal except that I had only packed 2 pairs of casual socks.
5. Yellow shirt. Another Laundromat in Peru failed to return a yellow shirt with fun sparklies on it. I didn’t realize it for a week or more when I went to wear something else, so it was too late to ask about it. Hmmm… already slim wardrobe options reduced even further.
6. Pair of Smartwools and bag of freshly washed fruit. This was just utter stupidity. On the way to our trailhead in Ausangate, Peru, Garret and I placed a grocery bag containing all the delicate fruits that we planned on putting in the top of our backpacks for our five day hike, as well as eat the next morning before we started hiking. Also inside, was one of two pairs of hiking socks I had, still drying from being hand washed in the morning. When our stop came up quickly, we hopped off the bus with only our big backpacks; sans fruit. Oh how we lamented our rush later!
7. One of Garret’s earplugs. By far the cheapest item on the list, I wouldn’t even mention it except for the fact that it took several weeks to find a replacement pair. In the meantime, Garret had just one earplug, and would sleep on his side, alternating which ear he put the plug in. This worked OK, except when we were in hostels with lots of street noise like the first one in Rurrenabaque and he didn’t really sleep…
8. USB thumbdrive. We still don’t know where this went. It was even on a lanyard and just completely disappeared. Could have been quite handy on any number of occasions.
9. Bra. I brought two with me to South America; one nice new Victoria’s Secret $45 bra, and a ratty one. You can probably guess which one disappeared in a hostel somewhere in El Calafate and which one I’m stuck wearing for two months straight.
10. Grocery bag with peanut butter. This one hurts the most, because it was the most recent. After cooking veggie burgers for dinner, we cleaned up our dishes and went to our room, somehow forgetting our green grocery bag of non-perishables. Although we remembered it in the morning, someone in the very large Freestyle hostel we were staying at saw fit to take the entire bag with powdered milk, tea, sugar, rice, crackers, cookies, and peanut butter. I wouldn’t care as much except that peanut butter isn’t available in the grocery stores I’ve been at so far in Argentina, and I had just purchased this one two days before in Chile, so it was irreplaceable. Whoever you are, I hope you are enjoying my peanut butter.
