Help! I forgot my photo ID. Now what?

What's the number one item you need for travel? Your ID.

Every couple of months, I fly to South Carolina to visit my father. It's a very routine trip for me, and, being a domestic route, I know that I only need my driver's license to get through security. And my driver's license--which has been REAL-ID compliant for many years--is virtually always in my wallet.

Until it wasn't.

You know how it is: we ladies change purses for special occasions. When we 're using an alternative pocketbook just for a few hours, we just grab the bare minimum essentials from our daily handbag--identification, a credit card, a bit of cash, a phone, a tube of lipstick.

Well, that's what I did on Easter Sunday. When I came home after brunch and moved the items I had transferred into the little purse back to my daily, my driver's license did not make the return trip to my wallet.

I didn't realize it until I was well on my way to the airport a couple of days later, and instead of turning around and going back home to retrieve it, I decided to continue on to the airport to see how things might unfold. There was a later flight available if I did end up booted by TSA, so I was willing to test the procedures in place. 

It's highly embarrassing for me, as a travel advisor, to admit this failing! But I knew it would make a good newsletter in the end--you know how I always try to turn lemons into lemonade.

So, what happened at the airport?

Since my boarding pass showed my TSA Pre-Check credential, I decided to go ahead and use that lane. Once I got to the podium, I explained the situation to the TSA officer, and he called a supervisor over to assist me.

She had me step off to the side with her, but inside the TSA secure area for what is known as 'additional screening." Naturally, I thought I would be taken into a room and who knows what might happen next, but she was very kind and patient. No exasperated attitude from the supervisor, and no special room for me.

The first thing I did was fill out a short form with basic info (full name, address, etc). Next, the supervisor called a special office of the TSA who handles the troublemakers like me. I was then asked several other questions to verify my identity. These questions can be the same kinds used to verify your identity when you are collecting your credit report or logging into certain government accounts: your car registration, relatives' names and birthdays, previous addresses, names of neighbors, etc.

And then?

Once I had performed satisfactorily with this portion, I was then ushered over to the physical screening area. Of course, I did receive a pat-down, as I expected. And my carry-on bags were quite thoroughly searched, with many (if not most) items being removed and test-wiped, lots of digging around, etc. 

Finally, once this was all finished, I was allowed to exit security and headed for my gate. All in all, I'd say it took about 15-20 minutes to complete all of the steps described above, since I did have top sometimes wait a few minutes for the next person to perform their part of the checks.

What about the return trip?

I wasn't at my dad's long enough to risk trying to ship my license overnight on a weekend, so I had to take my chances again on the return flight.

The procedure was much the same, and I could tell that the person on the other end of the phone was a little bit more suspicious since I had recently flown without my proper ID, so the agent with me explained to her colleague at the other office that it was the same trip and I had not had the chance to recapture my ID in the past 48 hours.

This was the only part that concerned me. I suppose, at some point, a person might exhaust however many extra chances one is allotted; but fortunately, they still allowed me to continue through the process and, eventually, to make it to my flight. For the rest of my traveling life, let's just say I will pray to never need to go through this again, in case the outcome might be different the next time.

The final verdict?

Don't let this happen to you! I have no way to know if I was lucky or if this happens all day long, but I imagine that it is now occurring considerably more often because some people may still not have a REAL-ID-compliant piece of identification. It was nerve-wracking because you don't know until the end if you are going to be booted or not.

That said, every single TSA officer I dealt with during this entire process, in both directions, was pleasant, cordial, and patient to a fault. They never made me feel like a fool or a criminal, just a human with foibles like any other. But they take their jobs seriously and all checks they performed were deliberate and thorough. I was going to write the TSA to praise its employees who dealt with ID-less me, but then I started wondering if that would make me a security red flag the next time, ha ha!!

Updates on the 2026 Groups Calendar: 

Colombia, Turkey, three European river cruises, Shanghai & Seoul 

Wonders of Colombia with a cruise on the Magdalena River: 

One cabin may be available, late January 2026. Land extensions for Medellin, Cartagena, and Panama. Contact me for availability and pricing. 

Booking now: Did you miss out on last year's Incomparable Istanbul trip?

Turkey is back on the docket, bigger and better than ever. Join me for Crossroads of Civilization from May 1 to 15, 2026. This itinerary is filled with wonder, art, architecture, and, we hope, some illumination into the history of humanity: Turkey has seen the sometimes complicated intersection of the earthly and the spiritual over many millenia, and we'll delve into the major cultures and religions that have called this region home. While the trip isn't a pilgrimage, religion has played a big role in Turkey's history and we will learn more about the role of the three major Abrahamic faiths in the very human history of this particular part of the world. Check out the brochure HERE!

Booking now: Are you a Ben Franklin graduate from New Orleans, like me?

July 8-15, 2026, join fellow Franklin alumni for a sailing on the Main, Rhine, and Moselle rivers. Take advantage of a significant discount of $1000 per person--but only through the end of June. For more info, visit the dedicated web page here.

Booking now: Not a Franklin alumnus? How about a trip with musician Alan Walling, of the popular Oktoberfest-style band AlpenMusikanten? 

We'll sail up the Danube from Budapest, Hungary to Vilshofen, Germany July 20-27, 2026. The Danube ports of call are some of my favorites, and this cruise will be a fun way to enjoy not only the outstanding variety of excursions and the delightful local entertainment provided by AmaWaterways, but also the talents of Alan himself: he'll be performing on the ship! Again, there is a significant savings of $1000 per person on this sailing, but the promotion is slated to expire at the end of June. Learn more here and reach out to me for current pricing.

PLEASE NOTE: I will be traveling with a group in Eastern Europe from June 16 to July 5th of this year, so it's best to snag your $1000 savings on either of these two July 2026 cruises NOW, before I'm in a wildly different time zone and tied up with clients on the ground.

In the planning stages, a DOUBLE Asian City Break in late September 2026:

Next year's installment in the City Break series will be a week in Shanghai paired with a week in Seoul! You will be able to choose either week alone or join me for both--these Asian cultural capitals are only two hours apart by air, and there are nonstop flights to and from both cities out of DFW and other major US hubs. The early fall is a great time to visit both. I'm working with an outstanding regional partner to design the itinerary and select our accommodations, so stay tuned for more on this exciting trip in the coming months. Let me know if you want to be on my Sneak Peek list once the details are confirmed.

Booking NOW 🎄🎁 Christmas Markets on the Rhine (river cruise) December 10-17, 2026, with optional pre-cruise Switzerland package. This is going to be SO FUN!!! At the ASTA River Cruise Expo last month, AmaWaterways had decorated one of its ships just as it would be dolled up for these cruises, and simply walking on board instantly lifted my mood on a gray, wet, windy day in Vienna. I can't wait for this one!

Check out the itinerary here.

This sailing is already seventy percent booked up--and we are still a year and a half away from the trip! Some cabin categories are completely sold out. Ours is a PRIME DATE for a Christmas Market sailing, so don't be left with coal in your stocking!

Your deposit is only $400, with the balance not due until 90 days before the trip (early September 2026). Contact me to check availability and snag your cabin today, and then sleep easy for another year and a half.

ENGAGE MON VOYAGE FOR YOUR PRIVATE PLANNING

The Mon Voyage private planning calendar is getting very, very full for the rest of 2025, so speak now or you may not make it into my book! It's not too soon to start planning for 2026, either.

À la prochaine,