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Original poster

Worst thing you left at home when you went on holiday?

494 replies

Clawdy · 27/05/2025 12:49

Years ago, I did a quick clean of the kitchen, just before leaving for a fortnight away. Completely forgot about the dog's bowl which was on the floor with some dog food in it. When we returned, kitchen had a weird smell, and the bowl was a seething mess of wriggling maggots!

OP posts:
mondaytosunday · 27/05/2025 16:12

Keys to the house we were staying in. It was my responsibility. We went back for them, thinking we had time, but consequently missed our flight. The knock on effect of this was a nightmare. My kids were six months and two years. We rebooked to go later that day but had to arrive at a different airport so lost our hire car deposit as well as having to pay again for tickets and the new airport was over twice as far from the place we were staying. To give him credit my DH did not get mad at me and we just slogged through the day at the airport.
Another time, my husband had the tickets and passports. As we piled in to the car I asked him to check he had all the tickets etc. He got annoyed and said I should trust him. I insisted. Turned out he had two of his own passports (he travelled a lot to some countries that wouldn’t accept him if he’d been to other countries) and not our son’s. Disaster averted.
My father and mother travelled abroad as he had an important talk to give. They forgot to pack his suit jacket, he was very tall and so couldn’t borrow one (plus didn’t know anyone to ask). Early morning rush to find a store that would sell one that matched his trousers. I think the talk started at 10am so not fun.

LandSharksAnonymous · 27/05/2025 16:16

I once left one of my dogs (in fairness, I had five at the time). She jumped back out the car and ran into the house and I didn’t realise until the first rest-stop when I got them an out and she wasn’t there.

I had a very long 90 minute drive home and got back to find her on the sofa, asleep, seemingly completely unbothered that two children, her owner and her four other doggy family members had abandoned her for 3hrs…

greatyak · 27/05/2025 16:17

Peridot1 · 27/05/2025 13:42

Any spare underwear. So for a week driving around rural Bulgaria I was washing my undies out every night. Thankfully it was hot so they dried fairly quickly!

If you buy panty liners you can swap them out regularly and wear pants for 2-3 days!

Imogene · 27/05/2025 16:17

Enough of my epilepsy meds - luckily the chemist in our Spanish destination had a stock but it was £££

DelboytrottersDnecklace · 27/05/2025 16:19

The bag with all my clothes in
I had to wash and dry everything
In a caravan
In the worst weather of the year

TorroFerney · 27/05/2025 16:22

Tripadvisor101 · 27/05/2025 13:29

My pants.

Similar

Bra. Spent the week in my bikini top , not really any bra shops where we were. Although I wouldnt have bought one to be honest as I’d offer to be uncomfortable all week as punishment!

never count enough knickers out for some reason, had to do an emergency Uniqlo shop in Bangkok.

greatyak · 27/05/2025 16:22

Driver’s license. Arrived on the other side of the world jet lagged to hell and couldn’t pick up our car. Had to arrange for someone to get into our home and fedex it over to us. Took a few days

dontcomeatme · 27/05/2025 16:23

I vaped at the time, before it was "cool". I was genuinely trying to quit smoking. When I got there and admittedly went on absolutely ridiculous about the lack of vapes you could buy I realised how addicted I was and quit 100%. Haven't smoked or vaped in about 4/5 years 🥳

Catsandcannedbeans · 27/05/2025 16:23

Left my contraception at home on our first child free long weekend away when DD was 2… thought it would be fine, it’s not like I’m going to get pregnant after a few days off right? Wrong. I am happy it happened now and it’s completely my fault, but at the time we were both shocked.

Delatron · 27/05/2025 16:25

All the kids Christmas presents 😭. We were staying at my parents and drove up on Christmas Eve. So I discovered this fact when we arrived. DH thought I’d put the sack in, I thought he had.

I cried! Fortunately my lovely Mum had actually bought the kids quite a lot and they were youngish so didn’t really notice. But what a stress. I felt awful.

BoarBrush · 27/05/2025 16:26

Dh left the bag of suncream on his bedside table last year. It was 30°c+ and nearly £20 for a small bottle where we were, there's 6 of us so need a fair few bottles too. Daft bugger, I think I'll pack them first this year!

QOD · 27/05/2025 16:32

Caught by the Ash cloud - had gone for a 2nighter for a funeral very very very expensive place, got stuck for a week. The first morning was when I realised I hadnt packed knickers for dd. She had one pair and then started her period. Had to borrow her cousins 3rd pair

Camping on our honeymoon - had champagne, alllll the food & cooking equipment, no plates or cutlery. Had to borrow off the farmer

girls holiday - rented the same place 3 yrs running.

1st time - no bedding provided due to covid.

2nd time all bedding and towels provided
3rd time NOT provided

Had to ring girl 4 who hadnt left yet and get her to bring bedding for 5 beds haha and towels and bathmat and tea towels ...

why the ruddy changed the set up was so random

chunkyblighter · 27/05/2025 16:33

I sometimes think that if you left a lot of clothes behind you'd just have to go shopping for some nice new togs either at the airport or in resort and longs as some flash sucker was footing the bill it might be quite exciting. I mean, you'd end up with some odd things, a bit like a supermarket sweep but what fun!

samarrange · 27/05/2025 16:33

TheNightingalesStarling · 27/05/2025 13:41

We also once got home to discover the freezer had died while we were on holiday. The smell was horrendous.

DP turned the fridge (empty) down to minimum to save energy, but put it down to 0 instead of 1, and the freezer bit was full, much of it meat. It was also our longest ever holiday, 4 weeks. We ended up buying new door rubbers for the freezer.

rosemarble · 27/05/2025 16:34

New Road Tax disc (back in the day). It was a UK holiday so we needed the road tax. Added an extra 4 hours to the journey.

My neighbour left a banana. The flies got the banana and made lots more flies.
A neighbour noticed flies around the inside of the window and decided that the RESIDENT WAS DEAD. Called the police, who broke the back door down.

I got back from a run and was able to tell them that banana neighbour was actually in France. Then I needed to call banana neighbour and tell him the police had bashed his door down. We laugh about it now.

Left the heating on high for a week. Everything was peeling when we came back mid Feb - had to throw the windows open.

steppemum · 27/05/2025 16:36

passport. crossing dover calais to Holland.
pre 9/11 and pre Brexit - blagged my way onto ferry with ID
got to France and they asked where we were going and we said Holland and he shrugged and said it is their problem and let us in.
I got it posted to my SILs house in Holland!

freezer. electricity went off and came home to carnage. In garage and the spoiled meat juice soaked into the concrete floor....

Elderflower14 · 27/05/2025 16:38

Knickers!!! Realised going over the QE2 Bridge.. We were staying near a Primark so I nipped in there and got some!!

rosemarble · 27/05/2025 16:42

Oh, some blue insert thing that was meant to go with my US temp work visa.

I'd been to the US embassy with the blue form and got the visa ie the stamp showed that I had the blue form.

I did not argue the point with Home Land Security, I just meekly sat in the naughty traveller bit while my colleagues rolled their eyes and laughed at me.

They said technically they'd have to put me somewhere while the form was sent over, but since I was only there for a week I'd be going home before it arrived, so they let me in.

AddictedToBooks · 27/05/2025 16:43

When we first discovered I was pregnant, I'd had a brain-splitting migraine all day and my husband arrived home, all excited because he'd secretly booked us a week camping in Benllech and we were leaving that evening as soon as he got home (he'd had no idea that I'd had a migraine all day and was only trying to be romantic and we loved camping).

Got into the car and felt like death all the way to North Wales where every headlight felt like a spear to my brain - he'd offered to cancel the holiday but I'd insisted on still going - we stopped off at a beautiful Welsh restaurant - very small and posh and that was when my unborn daughter decided she didn't share my love of mushrooms and I projectile vomited the (gorgeously presented) home-made mushroom soup at my poor husband infront of a shocked waitress and horrified diners - I muttered my apologies, muttered that I was pregnant and left as my husband paid for the full three course meal and a tip (and we'd not even got past the starter)

Finally got to the campsite, I sat in the car as my husband erected the tent on a clifftop pitch facing the sea ........... then realised he'd brought nothing else - no bedding, no sleeping mat, not even a pillow and it was a freezing night despite it being August.

We still laugh about it now, 27 years later.

SparklyGlitterballs · 27/05/2025 16:44

Many years ago, DH (when we were still bf/gf) left behind all his foreign currency once (days when you had to get travellers cheques and currency). It would have taken the best part of our week away to get the money replaced, so we had to cope with what I'd taken.

A few years back, when DDs were late teens, we entrusted them to pack their own suitcases. For some odd reason our eldest DD only packed 2 outfits for the whole week. Bloody nightmare that holiday.

The worst was leaving behind a hastily mopped up mess when our DD was a baby and had sicked up milk just before we left for the airport. The smell on our return of curdled sicky milk in the carpet was just vile 🤢

Pleasegodgotosleep · 27/05/2025 16:46

My "just in case" antibiotics for recurrent utis. Ended up paying for doctors appointment, urine dip, writing of prescription and then actual meds in the USA. Cost me about 300 quid!

FigTreeInEurope · 27/05/2025 16:46

My MIL

Aussiegold · 27/05/2025 16:49

Got to Cornwall, only to discover dh had decided the stack of my ironed tops next to our bag, waiting for him to put his trainers in the bottom, were surplus to requirements and had put them out of sight in a drawer.

So only having the top I was wearing for a 5 day stay had to go clothes shopping in Newquay.......

Looked like the poster girl for Fat Willies.......at 42........

ThereIsACatOnMyLapAgain · 27/05/2025 16:53

My suitcase. Somehow I managed to take an empty one! 🤣 How I didn't notice I've no idea! Luckily it was a UK trip and I had my medication, phone charger, purse etc in my handbag.

We were going to the middle of nowhere and didn't have a car. There was a 40min change between trains so I had just enough time to buy a wash kit, a pack of knickers, and school socks (🤣) from Tescos by the station (they didn't have any other clothing) and some tshirts from the pound shop next to that. I had to wear the same trousers and jumper all week. What was worse though was wearing the same bra. There wasn't even a hairdrier so I could hand wash it at night.

Loub1987 · 27/05/2025 16:53

About 15 years ago, I was living in a studio and took the bin bag out before going on a 3 week holiday. Forgot about it and came back to an entire apartment filled with flies. I still have stress nightmares about it!

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