They always say that it’s darkest before the storm. In my case, the sun set on a terrific time in Bergen, causing temporary issues, but nothing major! Photo by: Evan Berman

I had a wonderful time in Norway. From Bergen to Oslo to Tromsø and seeing the Northern Lights, my time was a whirlwind adventure. That being said, no trip would be complete without a crazy story! 😉

Note: that I don’t know exactly where I ended up losing the passport. As the great George Carlin said: “Where did you have it last?” “Well if I knew that, it wouldn’t be lost, now would it?!”

Passport in Hand

When you enter a country, you must show your Passport or National ID Card to prove your identity. I flew into Oslo from the US and showed my passport to the customs officer. After that, I was on my way into Oslo before heading onwards to Bergen. After a brief yet enjoyable time in Oslo, I boarded the Norwegian flight to Bergen. I was stuck in the middle seat next to a gargantuan woman who protruded into my seat space.

I normally place my passport and some other valuables in a wearable pouch that goes underneath my clothing so as to make it less obvious where my valuables are located. However, in this instance, I chose to put the pouch into the seatback in front of me in an effort to be somewhat comfortable. After landing, I grabbed the pouch and deplaned.

Where’d it Go?

So far, so good. At least, so I thought. 😉 It was time to head into the city of Bergen from the airport. I grabbed a seat on the bus and a moment later, another person sat next to me. 25 minutes after, I took the stop and headed towards the hotel, beautiful Hotel Havnekontoret. When I walked in the front door, I suddenly realized that I didn’t have my passport. Thankfully, the desk agent assured me that I would not need to show photo ID to check in.

To be clear, this was roughly 6:30pm local time on a Friday night. I had a flight that was to depart the next day at 3pm local time. While I was to remain in Norway until the following Tuesday afternoon, I had less than 24 hours before I departed Bergen. Those of y’all who know me know that I am very even-keeled. I wasn’t worried, I had a plan.

How to Find It

To recap: I lost my passport at some point on the trip from Oslo to Hotel Havnekontoret in Bergen. I originally thought that I must have left it behind on the bus from the airport to the hotel. As such, I called the bus company and asked for a check of the lost and found. He told me that he would ask around and get back to me.

I then thought of the other possibility– maybe I had left the passport on the plane or in the airport. As such, I called the airport police at both Bergen and Oslo. I appreciated the man at Bergen Airport as he offered to call me back when they found anything as opposed to the one in Oslo where I was told I’d have to call back again to see what the status was.

The next morning, around 9:45am local time, I got a call from the airport police in Bergen. They had found my passport! We agreed that I would get to the airport before my flight and I would head to their nase at BGP for the exchange.

After a lovely time exploring the great city of Bergen, I headed to the airport. I hadn’t even considered that this was Saturday and there might not be anyone at the Airport Police Station. When I saw that the door was closed and nobody was home, I called the number on the door where my hero, the man who had informed me of the receipt of my passport answered and told me he would be there in 20 minutes.

The Return of the Passport

Sure enough, 20 minutes later, the man arrived and handed me my passport. All’s well that ends well– or so I thought! Because of how long this exchange took, when my flight was the first in a while that took off early, I missed my return flight back to Oslo. Instead, I was forced to book another flight, this time with a connection on SAS.

On the bright side, this allowed me to get the terrific fish soup at the airport and greatly enjoy it!

The rest of the story will be covered in my reviews but I was able to take these short and uneventful flights and get back to Oslo, albeit later than I hoped for. The rest of the trip was smoother and I ended up flying home on Tuesday without any issues.

What Would Have Happened if No Passport Was Found

While my story has a happy ending, some may wonder what I would have done if the passport had not been found or at least nut until after leaving for my flight to Oslo. If you ever do not have a passport while travelling overseas, you are to immediately head to the nearest US consulate. After explaining the situation, the consulate is able to issue an emergency passport. This is valid for the trip home (or to another country) and requires a new passport to be applied for and used upon return.

This is truly an emergency passport but rest easy knowing that this process takes only a few hours.

Takeaways:

While travelling in Norway, I ended up losing my passport. While I had no need for it until returning home, I phoned the helpful airport police and made sure to call every place that I could have lost it in so that I could cover all my bases. I knew that I had the option of an emergency passport to fall back on, but tried as hard as I could to get it back and avoid that hassle. In the end, I was successful and this became a minor issue.

Should this story happen to you, without the happy ending you deserve, stay calm and know that you have options on how to return. Head to the nearest US Consulate and you will be able to get home!

Evan