Funny Stories About People Losing Their Passports

Back when I was involved with a passport expediting company, I heard many crazy phone calls – both directly and indirectly through my staff. These are just some of the funny and unbelievable stories about lost passports I had heard about. It’s never fun for those that lose a passport and it’s almost never timely, trust me I know, I once realized I lost my passport the night before a trip to Colombia. It was a costly incident to say the least. I now joke about my experience losing my passport, hopefully these people do too!

Cruise ship
This one guy, let’s call him Mike, called us while he was on-board a cruise ship, apparently from the pay-by-the-minute satellite phones. He had used his passport at the bar to show the bartender that he was old enough for a drink. And drink he did, he said that he had about eight. Due to his intoxication, he put his passport in a loose shirt pocket instead of securing it elsewhere. On his way to his room, he leaned over the rail to vomit off the side of the ship. He then saw his passport fall from his pocket and into the deep blue sea. Unfortunately we couldn’t help him while he was aboard the ship and we “think” he made it home ok.

Grand Canyon
We got a call from a German lady visiting the United States, She told us she had a tradition that involved taking a picture while holding up her passport at the most amazing places on Earth. This time she was at the Grand Canyon. She slowly made her way over to a ledge for her special picture with her passport. As she held it up and smiled, a gust of wind blew it right out of her hand and over the edge.

Dip in the river
On the second to last days of this one guy’s trip he went for a swim in one of the beautiful rivers of a certain South American country, when he got to the water, He had both his passports and other important things in his pants pockets; because. After a quick swim, he got out of the water and noticed his clothes were gone, along with everything that was in them. After hours of searching, He had to walk miles, yeah he lost his rental car keys too, and with his passport gone, his trip got just a little bit extended.

Seductress
One guy we talked to said he was drugged at his hotel bar in Bulgaria, when he woke up the next day most of his things were gone including his wallet and passport.

I’ve heard about dogs eating passports, accidentally throwing passports in the garbage (coincidentally, that’s how I lost mine), passports that have gone through the washing machine (also happened to me) and so much more….

Depending on if you lost your passport here in the United States or whether you were overseas while you lost it will determine what steps you need to take.

If you lost your passport here in the United States, visit our lost passport guide.
If you lost your while traveling abroad, visit our information about losing a passport while overseas.

Do you have a funny or unusual story about losing your passport?