Passport Parody

Afraid of losing your passport or any other important travel documents? Well I can tell you from first hand experience that it can be one of the most stressful times while traveling. Here are a few ways that you can prevent the losing/stealing of your passport and some ways of attempting to get it back.

PREVENTION:

1. Unless you need your passport make sure you keep it in a secret place in your room so that no one can find it. But make sure that you can remember where it is because it can be just as bad if you can't find it when you need it.
2. If you are traveling with your passport make sure you constantly check the bag that it is in to make sure you have it. When you are traveling through airports you are needing to show it to so many people and it is very easy to put it down and forget about it.
3. Always put your passport in the same place in your bag. This will prevent you from constantly rummaging through your bag looking frantically for it.

WHAT TO DO IF YOUR PASSPORT IS LOST/STOLEN:

It is important that you take the proper steps to locating your passport or going about getting a new one. However, once you have reported it lost or stolen to the consulate, it is invalid and even if you find it, you won't be able to use it again. These are step by step instructions on how to go about getting your passport back if you have lost it. 

1. Stay calm. There really is no use freaking out because it only makes the situation more complicated and frustrating.
2. Call the airport and ask to speak to the people who are working in the specific terminal where you last saw your purse/bag/passport. They should be able to tell you whether or not someone has turned it in.
3. Call the airlines. Some are more helpful than others when you are trying to figure out whether you left it on the plane, but they should be able to answer your questions about whether or not you left your bag on the plane. 
4. Go to the police. If it is late at night or you are in an area where there is no consulate for your country they will get you to file a police report which you can then use to talk to the embassy when you find one. 
5. Prepare to get emergency travel documents. This is a very important step as there are many things that need to be completed before you can get emergency travel documents. For example, you are going to need to get passport sized photos, and you need to fill in all the necessary forms in order to get the process started. This hopefully can all be done quite quickly especially if you are planning on leaving the country quickly.
6. Locate the nearest consulate and get there as soon as possible if there is no hopes in finding your passport. As previously stated they will help you as quickly as possible and will provide you with more information about getting a new passport when you get back to your home country 

If you are lucky like my friend Dana was, then you will find your passport wherever you left it. After realizing that her purse with her passport in it was left on the airplane and after 2 days with no money, lots of stress, and many many phone calls and emails she was finally told that they had her purse. She went from this:

To this:

And it made a good adventure and story to tell from our trip to Perth.