I returned to my hotel after a long day of strolling along the busy streets of Istanbul. I was exhausted, but ready to look through my photos and begin the editing process. My trip to Turkey wasn’t merely a trip to photograph major sites, but also a lifelong dream. Plus, I am working on a travel photography book, and I have been gathering photos from my trips for a future publication. When I opened my bag to take out my extended storage, it was nowhere to be seen.
I take thousands of photos when I travel. Most travel photographers do. My laptop doesn’t have enough memory to hold all my files, so when I have time during a trip, I download all photos from my camera onto a small Oscoo SSD drive. It’s what I have always done with no issues. During the above-mentioned moment, I had over 20,000 photos in my external storage.
As I tore through my bag, my stomach sank deep within me. I panicked. I tore through all my bags, gift boxes, and dirty laundry. The file was missing. I contacted the travel company from my previous location to see if they would call the driver who took me home from the airport. The last place I remembered using the file was at a previous airport.
I was on an extremely busy and rushed trip in Turkey. Over a 13-day period, I took 7 flights to 5 different airports. I stayed in 7 different hotels and took many shuttles. The goal was to fit as many sites into 13 days that I could see. The trip was phenomenal, but exhausting. The stressful moment took place towards the end of the trip.
It was late and I was exhausted. As I tried to collect my thoughts and backtrack to when I may have lost the SSD drive, I figured it might have happened at the Izmir airport. Ephesus was a whirlwind of a trip. I flew in and out of Izmir when I visited Ephesus. I arrived at my hotel in Ephesus at 2:30 AM and woke up to begin my tour at 6:30 AM. I arrived back at Izmir Airport the same day at 8:00 PM.
The Izmir airport is small and does not have large screens that show the gate your flight will take off from. You must go to the airport’s website that shares flight information. After I passed through security, I checked the site to see which gate my flight would depart. I found my gate and sat at a nearby desk to edit my photos. I pulled out the extended storage and plugged it into my laptop.
After editing photos for a long time, I checked my watch and time had gotten away from me. My plane should have been boarding by then, but there were no lines at the gate. I opened the airport’s site to make sure I didn’t get the boarding time wrong. My flight was currently boarding at the other end of the airport. I quickly stuffed my laptop into my bag and ran to the gate. I arrived rushed, sweaty, and breathing hard. I found my seat and thanked the Lord I made my flight, because I was exhausted from the day.
My ride was waiting for me when I arrived in Istanbul, and after a 45-minute drive to my hotel, I slumped into bed and fell fast asleep. I slept in the next morning and when I awoke, began another day of being a tourist photographer.
After realizing that my storage was missing and where I may have lost it, I sent emails to Izmir Airport, Istanbul Airport, Turkish Airlines, and messaged the travel companies that I worked with. Then, as one creator does, I vented on social media. The support I received was comforting. I had people from 3 different faiths say they would pray for me. I joked with a new Muslim friend I made on the trip that my missing storage brought Christians, Jews, and Muslims together and world peace was finally attainable.
Although I received comfort from all the support, darkness crept into my hotel room. I was angry with myself. Out loud, I said things like, “You’re so stupid! How could you let this happen?” I would pray, but immediately after, go back to calling myself names.
I received an ADHD diagnosis late in life, at 49. I’m 51 now. After receiving the diagnosis, everything made sense. I have always had a terrible time focusing. My brain has an inner dialogue that shoots from one topic to another. I’m never bored because my brain is always bouncing. Growing up, I was a terrible student during every phase. I could never pay attention in class, nor could I concentrate on homework or tests. I always thought I was smart, but my tests and grades said otherwise, so I doubted my intellect. Since I lose things and overlook minor details, I have moments where I am extremely hard on myself. When I mess up important things, I dance along the border of self-hatred.
The last thing I said to myself before falling asleep in my Istanbul hotel room was, “You’re so stupid.”
When I woke up the next morning, the sounds of Muslim prayers echoed from nearby minarets and into my hotel room. I stretched and rose from my bed. I opened the curtains and looked down over a busy Istanbul street and took a deep breath and said, “Jason, you’re in Istanbul. Enjoy it.” I was determined to have a good day. I had previously made up a schedule for each day, and I looked forward to the excitement that the day would bring. I picked up my phone and I had many more messages on Instagram telling me I was being prayed for and loved. I responded to each one and then checked my email. The Izmir Airport had found my file.
I cannot accurately express the relief and joy that overflowed from my body. Someone had found my small file and turned it in to the lost and found. After receiving my email, the airport sent my storage on a Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul, and my file was waiting at the Istanbul Airport lost and found near baggage claim.
I had a scheduled tattoo session in the morning, and I arrived at my appointment beaming with happiness. After my new tattoo was completed, I hailed a taxi and headed to the airport.
You can’t enter through baggage claims at Turkish Airports. This was something I forgot when I told the taxi driver to drop me off at baggage claim. At Turkish airports, anyone entering the airport must go through a security checkpoint at the main entrance. There’s another screening before entering the gates. I had to run around to the entrance and go inside. From there, I went to baggage claim.
I walked up to a security officer and asked where lost and found was, and she told me where to go. The Istanbul Airport is a long airport, and I rushed to the end she mentioned. I arrived at lost and found and waited in a long line. When I finally reached the counter and explained everything, the man behind the keyboard said, “You lost your item within Turkey and this is international lost and found; you must go to the other end where domestic arrivals are.” And so, I ran to the other side.
I walked around and looked for a lost and found, but couldn’t find anything that resembled a lost and found desk. Google Translate has been my best friend on my recent travels and I used the app to ask another security agent where the lost and found was. She typed into my app, which said it was close by. I circled the area and could not find it. Finally, I saw a telephone that appeared to be a lost and found phone. I picked it up and someone was on the other side. After going through all the details, 15-minutes later someone from Turkish Airlines brought me past a keyed entry door to a desk. Within minutes of sitting at the Turkish Airlines lost and found, I had my storage in my hands.
I arrived back in my hotel room and shared my appreciation for everyone that reached out, said a prayer, or offered a sympathetic response. Tears of joy filled my eyes as I plugged my storage into my laptop and the files popped up on my screen.
The word “miracle” was tossed around a lot in responses that I received. I can’t say for certain if a miracle took place, but I’m thankful that a tiny 2.5” x 1” file was found by someone and given to lost and found. It’s so small, it could have been swept up and tossed away. I’m thankful that 2 airports worked together to coordinate with an airline to ship the file to Istanbul. I’m thankful for Turkey Adventure, that made phone calls and messages to find my storage. I’m thankful that 3 faiths called upon God to help me out during my time of need. I’m thankful for the atheists’ wellwishers who sent messages of sympathy. I’m thankful for family members and friends who knew I was struggling and reached out.
It was a minor instance, but proof that a common good can bring people together. Religious people and atheists sent hope and sincerity. Friends who might no longer speak to one another sent common well wishes. My new Turkish friends sent messages, as well as my old Greek friends. I often hear that people will come together if they have a common enemy. They can also come together for a common good.
What fuels my reason to travel isn’t to see a beautiful place, although that is a definite perk. I love to travel because interacting with people different from myself fills my tank. When I’m talking to someone in a faraway land, I feel present. My ADHD seems to be non-existent, and I’m alive in the moment.
Because of my ADHD, I travel with checklists. I go over the list several times because if I didn’t, I would leave behind a lot more things than a phone charger. My extended storage now holds another space on a long list of things to check off.
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