Quick Travel Tip: Be creative if you forget something

a close-up of a contact lens caseYou may remember how I neglected to make a list for my last trip to Boston. Well, in addition to being ill-prepared for the rain with footwear, I also completely forgot to pack my contacts case. Normally, I leave it in my non-liquids travel bag all the time, but after a recent trip to the lake I had taken it out and neglected to put it back in. This is kind of ironic, because I actually have three other contact lens cases in my liquids bag, each filled with various lotions and hair products. While I thought about cleaning one of these cases and using it, I didn’t trust that I could get all of the lotion out. I also briefly considered just leaving my contacts in and sleeping with them, but I really hate doing that because they get so dried out. So I searched around the room for something, anything, that I could use. Inspiration struck when I noticed that I had two water glasses. I ended up squirting just enough contact solution into the bottom to cover my lenses and setting them up side by side on the bathroom counter. More solution was used than normal, but at least I didn’t have to sleep in my contacts.

The moral of the story? Check your list before you leave home! But if you forget something, look around your room. The possibilities for turning something random into something useful can be surprising!

Readers, have you ever forgotten something and adapted a hotel room staple to replace it?

Comments

  1. depending on what we forgot/ran out of (toothpaste), i’ll ask the front desk. they usually have little single use samples. i also try to make note of where any nearby walgreens/cvs stores are to pick up forgotten toiletries.

  2. I’ve actually done the exact same thing, with the water glasses for contacts. Not because I forgot my case, but because I stupidly put the case in my checked bag…which caught up with me the morning after I arrived.

  3. Years and years ago, in high school, I attended a slumber party and forgot my contacts case. I used two shot glasses to hold my lenses, and thought that was quite clever.

    Until the mother of the house, in a nervous fit from having 8 squealy girls in her house overnight, ran the shot glasses through the dishwasher. She must have wondered why there was clear liquid in them.

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