Near the end of our recent Caribbean travels, I realized I had left my iPad on the Arajet flight from the Dominican Republic to Jamaica. I never got it back; had to buy a new one. So this morning when we climbed into our Lyft to the airport, the first words out of my mouth, after checking its spot in my backpack were, “I have my iPad.” It wasn’t until we had reached the airport that Steve realized he had forgotten his.
It was 7:25 a.m., an hour and 45 minutes before our scheduled departure for Honolulu. What to do?!? We made a split-second decision to pay the Lyft driver (Moe) cash to drive us back to retrieve it. On the way to the airport, we had chatted up Moe and learned that he grew up in Istanbul. Although he’d lived in San Diego for 24 years, we assumed he would still know a thing or two about hauling ass behind the wheel of a vehicle. Indeed he got us home in under 30 minutes (only running one red light) and back in about the same amount of time (pushing his Corolla up to 75 mph on I5 South).
One thing I learned from this experience is that, IF the gods are smiling, it’s still possible to arrive at the San Diego Airport just 5 minutes before one’s plane is scheduled to board and get to the gate with time enough to buy two cups of Peet’s coffee. (It’s helpful to be traveling only with carry-on luggage and to have TSA Pre-check status.)
Another insight is that if one of us verbally confirms that she or he has their iPad, it would probably be a good idea for the other one to follow suit.
Hopefully we can remember this lesson in the weeks ahead.
At home and abroad 
have you considered iPad leashes? Have a great trip! We’re in Madrid today.
I’m looking forward to the day when Apple introduces the brain implant version. Hope your trip is going superbly!