Intense Trepidation!

byMTCandela1

3.9K followers

2 months ago

As much as I had so much fun with my travel to my birthplace, visiting my siblings and relatives, taking part in giving back to the under privileged people of rural area of the country, the thought of traveling back to my family in the USA excites me more.

It looks like a full flight. As January-February is a famous month for Filipinos to travel to the Philippine, as it has a pretty mild weather, and sometimes cooler in the evening particularly in the provinces.

As we were traveling in groups back to the USA, mixed emotions are going through with each of us, no matter how frequently we do this.

As the line of people getting inside the plane are increasing, and I was in a better place to start putting up hand carry luggages, I handed my passport to one person in our group, step up on the seat and start piling up the hand carry luggages in the bin on the plane. Then got seated and intermittently watched the long lines of movies in between plane meals. I felt that food is being served as soon as the previous meal was completed. Remember we have just about 24-hours of plane travel.

I can’t remember how many movies I have watched, nor could I remember how many meals were served. It just keeps on going.

When the plane landed in Newark, as I was getting ready to get off the plane, the first thing I always wanted in my hand is my passport and boarding ticket. My passport is always kept in my body bag, that is always with me wherever I go. This time however, my passport was not in its usual place, My body bag has 4 separate zipper that contains my money in one compartment, my cellphone and its charger in another, gums, lip gloss and a little antibacterial in the 3rd compartment, and passport, boarding tickets in the 4th compartment. For the very first time, in all my travels, that I couldn’t find the single most important item that I very well needed. As we were about to disembark from the plane, my heart dropped as I realized my passport was missing. The intense trepidation and fear was indescribable!

Everyone started getting off the plane. Meanwhile, I was still busy checking each part of my seat, almost turning everything upside down, until the people around me saw my panic-stricken face then asked me “What’s the matter?” I responded by saying, “I don’t have my passport and boarding ticket!” Even the staff of the plane got involved.

What was running in my mind was somebody picked it up ny mistake, thinking it was theirs, There’s a lot of people that already had left the plane. Only the 6 people in our group remained, each trying to check their coats, bags and everything else. At this point, the only US ID I have with me is my driver’s license that is in my cell phone holder compartment as well as my health insurance, and 2 credit cards. It felt like it’s been an hour of searching through out all our bags that proved futile. My passport is gone! How can this possibly happen? Tears were running down my face, and I simply couldn’t understand how this could happen. At this point all my friends were also in panic, as everyone wants to go home but can’t leave me as I don’t have my passport with me. One of us in the group did not realize that he had his body bag pulled towards his back, as he had 3 hand carry luggages plus his body bag that was turned to his back, and was covered by his jacket, that no one noticed the little pouch. All of us at this point, were thinking how to approach the situation. Yes, I have a copy of my passport in my phone! But I want my passport! How can it be gone? The airline staff were trying their best to help. Until one noticed the little pouch on my friend’s back. Check it out! And voila, my precious passport was there! Imagine the relief that everyone felt at that moment! The intense trepidation was replaced by an incredible sense of comfort, as no one will be delayed, as everyone amongst us cannot wait to go home . The relief that washed over me was immeasurable.