Have you forgotten something?

 

Michelangelo

There are few of us who have not ventured out of our home forgetting something we intended to take with us and, probably, on more than one occasion.

Often, it is simple to return and collect the item, the one we conveniently left in full sight on the kitchen table, or hallway stand so we would not forget them.

Sometimes the inconvenience occurs when we are well into our journey, yet because of the importance of the article we ‘left-behind’, we must make a swift about turn to collect it.

I recall a wedding some years ago when the groom’s parents arrived in Yorkshire from Newcastle, only to find the grooms mother left her wedding outfit hanging on their bedroom door some 150 miles away. The groom’s father drove the round trip overnight. Bothersome, stressful and aggravating, but not an insurmountable problem.

However, there are certain items which can cause major issues for holidaymakers, particularly when travelling to far off destinations; like the forgotten passports or sundry travel documents. Exasperating enough when you are the culprit, but absolutely frustrating and maddening beyond comprehension when it is another member of your party.

The knock-on effect is often a delayed start to the holiday, the one which was to be a happy, relaxing, stress-free time. Then there are those missed flights or missed ships. Often half the party end up travelling ahead, the remainder trying to negotiate a later flight or transportation to the next port of call.

But what about forgetting someone who should have been travelling with you?

Never you say… oh, yes.

It is known for people to be left behind during the melee of departure. Sometimes, possibly because of overindulgence of alcohol, a medical condition or accident, but sometimes it is simply absentmindedness.

The situation is often worse should the person left behind be elderly, a child or even an infant. Nothing it seems, is beyond possible, even for the most experienced, proficient and practised of independent travellers… like me.

Without further ado, I shall own up to ‘forgetting’ a travelling companion, not once, but on several occasions.

The chap in question is Michelangelo.

Those who follow Wild Geese may recall a post from October the 1^st, way back in 2017, called ‘Meeting Michelangelo‘, which is about, funnily enough, meeting Michelangelo. It is where I suggested you would see Michelangelo appearing in many of the photos posted on Wild Geese.

While he has appeared in the occasional ‘cameo’ and I have photos to be included in future posts, there are far fewer than I intended. This is a situation I shall be rectifying shortly, starting on my next journey to Scotland, when we are visiting the furthest East and West mainland points, via the original geographical centre of Scotland, a town called Newtonmore.

Speyside railway, board at Newtonmore Station

Meanwhile, I have news about Michelangelo.

His hip repair seems to have been successful, although it has left a large visible scar. I think he has now recovered from the operation and is in good spirits.

 

Sadly, little can be done with the missing parts of his right arm… (unless you know better?) He does not let this disability hold him back and is looking forward to our next adventure.

The good news is, he no longer lives alone. Even when we left him behind he was in good company. Here he is surrounded by his friends. (Michelangelo is second from the right.)

I shall post photos of Michelangelo from the various locations we visit on our forthcoming trip.

If you have any ‘friends’ who enjoy travelling with you, send us your photos at Wildgeesetravel@mail.com it will be nice to see our companions.

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If you are looking for a captivating and enjoyable book to read during your next trip away from home, how about getting yourself a copy of

‘The Abduction of Rupert DeVille’.

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