Bon Journal

Losing my camera

Darn! I should have taken out my camera, I muttered to myself after I had checked in my suitcase.

Oh well! It's only a camera.

It's the latest digital camera from Sony - all £374 - purchased on my credit card last July. I had regret buying it after discovering e-bay and other online second-hand marketplaces. I also regretted buying such a high-spec machine. I could easily have found a good camera for £100.

So I lived with the regret of buying something too expensive and under-utilising it.

I make a point of never checking in my camera after my auto-focus camera broke. My mother re-enforced this rule, and I, in turn, re-enforced it on others.

But I had too much on my mind on the 12th of February. I took out my wallet, passport, mobile phone, and change purse from the pocket of my small suitcase which I put inside a large empty suitcase. I took off my blue coat and put it inside the large suitcase. I didn't grab my camera. I don't know why I didn't. I only remembered it after the suitcase was checked in.

When I arrived in London, I didn't think of checking my suitcase to make sure the camera was there. In fact, I didn't even think of my digital camera until the next day. And when I couldn't find it, I just shrugged my shoulders. I must have not packed it.

When I returned to Holland, I couldn't find the camera anywhere. So I said to myself, I probably didn't check hard enough in London. How hard is it to check an empty suitcase?

I didn't have travel insurance. The airlines didn't accept liability for valuables placed in checked baggage. I had opted out of personal possessions coverage in my home insurance.

My digital camera disappeared on its way into the airplane. I'm pretty sure of that.

Lessons learned:

Never put valuables in checked luggage.

Better, don't buy a new digital camera.

Even better, don't buy to own something you will regret losing.

It's just a camera. Yet, I feel enslaved by my attachment to it. For £374 I could have bought a return ticket to somewhere exotic. Instead, I spent days brooding over what could have and should have been.

19 February 2004 Thursday

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