Losing your luggage is never fun.
It’s really not fun when you’re in a foreign country on a budget airline and an island.
We flew to Mykonos from Split with a connection in Rome.
Of course, the airline we flew on, Vueling, was having a strike at two airports: Paris and Rome.
Like seriously people. Anything bad that could happen to us, does.
So we arrive in Mykonos at 6:30 a.m. after traveling all night and our bags are not there. We wait and wait and wait and finally someone from Vueling comes to tell us that our bags are not coming due to the strike.
We gave her information about where we were staying and how long we’d be in Mykonos and she told us it could be anywhere from 48 hours to a week and a half. We were to only spend five nights in Mykonos so we needed those bags stat.
Oh also, because neither of us have international phone plans, they weren’t going to be able to contact us if the bags did arrive. We would have to hope they called our hotel or we’d have to just keep going to the airport to check in.
The one upside to losing our bags is that we were at the airport longer than we should have been and it was long enough to see Chrissy Teigen and John Legend in the airport!
We went to get out some Euros and of course the ATM we found at the airport didn’t take American Express, which is all I have since getting robbed. Seriously this is just a joke now.
Our room at the hotel wasn’t ready so we set out in search of clothing. We had nothing. I usually pack an extra set of underwear, a bikini and a change of clothes in my carry on but totally forgot this time. Of course. It’s been years since I’ve checked a bag but these small, European budget airlines basically require it.
Mykonos is incredibly expensive. Our options were limited. Louis Vuitton was not going to cut it for these backpackers. So we headed to the first t-shirt shop we found and bought tank tops with the Greek flag on it. No really, we were THOSE tourists. They were the cheapest we could find, what do you expect!?
We walked around the shopping district for a few more hours before we couldn’t stand our exhaustion anymore. Each of us had a bikini and these new tank tops so that was all that mattered.
Also, we realized that they gave us the wrong claim form (we got Matthew Risset’s instead) so we did not even have our correct number to check on our bags. Fortunately they could look us up with our names but seriously, we would get the wrong form.
Next day. Still no luggage. We spent the day in our bikinis and tank tops. Thank god we were on an island and not a city where you need legitimate clothing.
We called Vueling that night and they informed us they didn’t have any information about any bag. Not just ours. Any of them. They had no idea where any of the bags were or when they would be arriving.
We were never seeing those bags. I was convinced.
Tuesday rolls around. We were going horseback riding for the day so we went and bought a pair of cheap shorts and headed out for our ride. Luckily Chelsea had sneakers but I only had flip flops. I’ve never ridden a horse in sandals before but I wasn’t about to buy sneakers I don’t need for one horseback ride.
When we got there, we informed the Australian couple we were riding with that we lost our luggage and that’s why we were dressed like that.
“Oh, I thought you were just typical American tourists,” the Aussie guy responded completely seriously.
Whatever Aussie man! I have no luggage and no money! Give me a break.
But a break finally came. We called the airline Tuesday night and my bag had arrived! But unfortunately Chelsea’s did not. I didn’t believe them. How could mine arrive and not hers? We were going to go to the airport and find her damn bag.
We got there and surprise, the airline was right. Only my bag was there. They said that the next Vueling Airlines flight would be arriving in Mykonos on Thursday (a full day and a half later) and it would be coming from Florence not Rome. She said the chances of it coming on that flight were slim to none but a miracle could happen.
We were one step closer!
Wednesday morning. After breakfast we decided to head to the airport to see if they had any more information about whether or not Chelsea’s bag would be making it on the flight. We are supposed to head to Athens on Friday and then Istanbul Saturday morning but we did not want to leave the island without Chelsea’s bag.
A serious miracle happened. When we got there, Chelsea’s backpack was laying right there on the floor in front of the lost baggage window. We couldn’t believe it. I made Chelsea open it because I seriously didn’t believe it was her bag. It was only Wednesday! They said it wouldn’t arrive until at least Thursday.
But thank goodness it was her bag! We’re going to Istanbul!
And we’ve learned our lesson: If you’re checking a bag, always put a change of clothes and a bathing suit in it! Don’t be an idiot like us.