Squeaky clean traveling

This is my second post that involves a particularly unusual dilemma.  I am not yet concerned and I hope that this blog won’t become a chronological reference guide of what to do in questionable situations.

Last week I returned from a 7 day vacation at the beautiful Turks and Caicos.  It was the best of times.  Looking back I have to attribute the success of the trip as a partial reason that lead to the concluding calamity.

After my return; on the following Sunday I was scheduled to go on a business trip.

This Sunday while packing the new dilemma elegantly stood up and introduced itself:

What do you do after you come back from a long vacation: throw all your clothes in to the washer.

What do you need to travel cross border: a passport and associated business identification.

What happens when you find a pair of squeaky clean pair of shorts and [although equivalently clean] mangled passport in one of the pockets: the usual: momentary sense of anger, disbelief, frustration, and agony typically expressed in some form of blame or verbal foulness.

That’s right, in that particular moment there’s no better way to define my state of existence as: over hyped uncertainty.

Yes, I was packed: all my belongings were patiently waiting by the side of the door.

Yes, I wasn’t sure how bad the situation was.

Yes, I had mixed feeling of worry and relief.  This could either be devastating for my business and my ability to travel or this can be an excellent excuse to avoid another trip.  A part of me was even excited that I didn’t have to go anywhere and could run down to the gym.  I know talk about my actual priorities!

So, what happened next.  I took a few deep breaths.  Analyzed the situation and acted accordingly:

• The passport was still readable; just mangled
• I called the border crossing patrol and explained the situation; the gentleman was quite nice and suggested that if the document was still legible it’s worth going through with the trip
• I’ve considered the possible outcomes, pros, cons and decided on a direct coarse of action

The analysis took at most 15 minutes. I was calm, collected and actually excited to discover if moving forward with the trip would yield a positive outcome.

I was confident that if I am honest, sincere and can explain my situation to the border patrol; then the officer would be able to pull up my digital information and let me through.

I’ve told myself that in the worst case scenario I would be turned back and would have wasted some travel time.

So, that is exactly what I did.

And yes, this story does have a happy ending.

I’ve made it through with flying colors.

So, what do I want you to take away from my experience?

1. That I had an amazingly relaxing vacation in Turks and Caicos – I strongly recommend the place if you’re looking to get away from reality [just make sure you keep an eye on your personal belongings and check all your pockets before throwing things in to the washer]
2. Don’t blame yourself: accept that things happen and move forward
3. It’s important to stay calm, rational and think things through carefully in great moments of stress – yes, the future can seem bleak; but if you take your time, think things through, understand your situation and what is in your control then a possibly disastrous moment can turn in to a new adventure

Until next time,

Max