Dear LPG,

I would like to tell you a story with a moral.  I am one of those oldies that enjoy spending the summer going on many of the trips that are arranged by my local club, my local church and every now and then my friends and I organise ourselves and plan a cruise.

One day earlier this year I prepared to leave for a trip abroad which started with my normal packing routine.  I have to admit to going away quite often and so I have a case in which I keep quite a few of the things that I normally take with me inside, so packing is a fairly quick process for me.    I added the other things I need and was ready quite quickly.

As people who have done this will know, these trips often involve a coach and meeting quite early in the morning, so I booked a taxi to get me to the meeting point in good time.  I live alone on the third floor of a sheltered housing complex and knew that it would be difficult for me to get the case and my hand luggage down to the front door all at the same time, so I took the case to the lift and down to the front door first and then returned to my apartment for my hand-luggage quietly so that I did not wake any of the other residents. 

That was when everything went wrong.  I locked my apartment and made the trip down to be with my suitcase when I found it missing.

As a result of the incident, there was good news and bad news to report.  The good news is that the case was insured but the insurance company wanted me to give a full inventory of the contents of the case which requires serious memory skills. 

The saddest part of the story is that I had my camcorder in my-hand luggage but it never occurred to me to film myself packing.  I could have watched the film to know exactly what was inside.  I could also have used my mobile phone to take some pictures as I added things.

I lost the case, but even if for no other reason keeping a visual record of what you pack is a really good way of making sure you leave nothing behind when you are repacking your case at the end of your holiday.

They say that experience is the best teacher and I learned this lesson the hard way, in future I will be taking pictures of what I pack.  I thought this was a little bit of advice that I could pass on to LPG readers who are going on holiday this year.

PY, Catford