Skip to site content
Group Travel Leader Group Travel Leader Group Travel Leader

Staff Sound-Off: We Forgot…

We asked our staff, “Have you ever forgotten to pack something important?” We’re only human, see what we forgot while packing.

If I’m going to a city that has great shopping, I sometimes “accidentally” forget to pack things so I’m forced to go shopping!

— Kelly Tyner, director of sales and marketing

I’ve forgotten to pack deodorant a few times. I usually fix this by getting some from the front desk or taking an extra-long shower. It hasn’t been a problem yet.

— Kyle Anderson, account manager

I’ve left a whole outfit I needed for an event. Luckily, where I went they had a mall close by — an upscale mall at that — so I ended up buying a brand new Express suit. Also, I have left toiletries and cologne. My friend had extra cologne, and the hotel helped me out with the toiletries.

— Daniel Jean-Louis, account manager

I have a history of underpacking for events in Louisville, Kentucky, which is about an hour’s drive west from my home in Lexington. The worst was an overnight a couple of years ago: Upon arrival at the hotel I realized I had forgotten my wallet, so I had to sweet-talk the reception agent into letting me check into my room without ID. Then when I went to bed that night, I realized I had also come without a phone charger; luckily, the front desk had one I could borrow. But the worst part was that when I left, I realized there wasn’t enough gas in my tank to get me all the way home. And without a wallet, I wasn’t sure how I was going to be able to buy any. Luckily, I found a gas station along the way that would manually enter in my credit card info, so I called my wife and had her read it to me over the phone.

— Brian Jewell, executive editor

I got everything packed for one of my husband’s board meetings, except my pajamas. Luckily, it was only an overnight, so I was able to sleep in one of his extra shirts and pairs of shorts.

— Ashley Ricks, graphic designer and circulation manager

I’m going to take the liberty of transitioning here to a time when my entire suitcase never left Newark for a group trip to Italy. I was with a group of tour operators on a FAM that NTA was running, and two others in our group were in the same predicament. Our tour director took us to a strip mall outside Florence, and I bought a white shirt, black socks, a black wool sweater, a pair of black dress slacks and some great black Italian shoes. I wore this constantly, and as I was in Italy, I actually got a lot of compliments on my sense of fashion throughout the week. I came home considerably more European than when I left. After a few days, my wife told me to knock it off.

— Mac Lacy, publisher