Of Lost (and Stolen) Things
We left Louisville on Saturday, Aug 7th, 2021. We consider that our official Departure Day - Day 0. Therefore, today marks Day 14. We are officially 2 weeks into our trip and at a good place to take stock of what we've lost in the course of these first two weeks. First and foremost are the tangible things.
I'm a little embarrassed to say I was the first person to lose something on this trip. In my defense, I was making sure everyone else had all their things as we left our first apartment in Porto. I had already laid all my things out on our bed, including my lightweight white Uniqlo Jacket (see previous post on indispensable gear). Unfortunately, the bedding was all white, so when I grabbed all my stuff and then made multiple checks of all the rooms, my wonderful jacket was very well camouflaged and thus the first casualty.
The 2nd item to go was Ava's favorite baseball cap. This item was left on the train as we departed for our stay in the Portugal Algarve.
The last item to go missing was not lost, but stolen, and it was far more valuable. After an incredible day walking the Jardin des Tuileries and the Avenue des Champs-Elysée between the Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe, Ben, the kids and I separated from my parents to ride a few of the amusement park style rides we had passed in the garden earlier that day. My parents were going to ride the Metro back to the apartment.
Within 10 minutes we received a message from my mon that my dad had been pick pocketed and his cell phone was gone! This was bad for a number of reasons. Cost to replace yes, but also because he had pictures of all our passports on his cell phone and no lock. Our hope is that whoever stole it, wiped it without going through the info on it.
Despite the huge misfortune & frustration (more at himself for putting his phone in his back pocket; something he would never do in New York City), my dad took it all in stride and kept his cool, which is impressive if you know my father.
So these are all the tangible items we've lost in the course of two weeks. On the up side, we've also lost the incessant need to check our phones or emails, the compulsion to be on social media, the feeling that we should be somewhere else doing something else, or that we are missing valuable time with our kids during these precious ages of 11, 11, and 8. These thoughts are all also absent, gone, missing; and I'm quite OK with that.
