Mumsnet users share with HomeAway the strangest thing they've found or left behind in a holiday home

[EllieMumsnet]

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The chance to spend time away from home and in a new environment is a treat that many of us look forward to. Occasionally, however, we can forget to take everything back home with us once the holiday is over. HomeAway would love to hear about the strangest things that you have left behind or found from former guests in a holiday home.

Here is what HomeAway has to say: “HomeAway offers more than 2 million unique places to stay in over 190 countries around the world, from villas to cottages, from beach houses to tree houses, from mountain cabins to even castles! Over one-third of HomeAway's nearly 1.5 million online bookable listings are now instantly bookable, with no wait for confirmation. The holiday home expert’s mission is to provide families and groups of travellers with the perfect match holiday home to create unforgettable memories together. Not only do holiday homes provide excellent value for travelling families and group of friends, booking a whole house also guarantees more space and flexibility than a hotel or resorts.

Ever wondered how much your home could earn for you? HomeAway is here to help you learn what it takes to rent your home and invite travellers in for unforgettable experiences. Click here to find out more.”

Have you ever found unusual items in the fridge? Maybe you managed to leave just one shoe in the wardrobe? Or your underwear in a strange location? Perhaps you’ve even found something as random as a walking stick or a diary? Share them all on the thread below...no matter how strange!

Everyone who comments on the thread below will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs Apply

Not particularly 'strange' as such, but I once hired a static caravan at a holiday park on the Isle of Wight and, upon pulling back the 'clean' bed sheets, found four dead flies in the bed.

We found a Calpol syringe last year. Needless to say, we wiped all the surfaces with dettol wipes so we didn't pick up whatever illness may have been lurking in the cottage!

we found a pristine cricket ball under a bed...

Once one if the children left a watch where we had been staying in a house. When we went back it was found strapped to the springs of the top bunk. Only seen from lying in bottom bunk,

A stick inset in the kitchen cupboard!

Left my walking boots behind after a time in the Alps. Couldn't believe I'd been so forgetful. They weren't the most expensive, but I'd had them for a long time and they were supremely comfortable.

It is probably not a strange thing to lose but we left our house keys on top of a kitchen cupboard when we went on holiday to Cornwall. My husband thought it would be a great idea to hide them whilst we were there and forgot to pick them up. We then had to fork out to have them posted up to us.

Left behind one knee high boot managed to pack one, but left the other somewhere in the room - they were my favourite too

Found, under a wardrobe looking for some coins that had rolled out of my bag, a notebook that was full of pages titled positive affirmations, 'thoughts to release to the air" and other such interesting topics. They started quite positively. Take time to look after yourself, let go of negative feelings type of thing but they started to get darker and more disturbing the further you went through the book. Let go of the thoughts of stabbing him, the devil is not alive in him type of thing.
I was 18 and my sister, who was sharing the room with me, was 13. We put it back under the wardrobe and didn't speak of it until we got home ... 800 miles away!

Congratulations to jessiecat33 for winning the £300 voucher

Whenever we stayed somewhere that wasn't a campsite (rare!) I would hunt for treasures and abandoned toys. I had a little box full of buttons and bits of metal that I cherished for years and which made me grin when I saw them!

We once left ds's favourite Playmobil figure Norman the Foreman in our holiday cottage in Dorset. Didn't realise he was missing until we were half way home. I emailed the cottage owner, who sent him back in a Jiffy bag.

Poor old Norm, we were so pleased to see him when he landed on our doormat!