The passport is missing.... part 2

What is a traveller without his documents?
Like a man without legs who wants to walk.

The essential documents are the European passport and the Mexican residence permit.
They were needed to enter the United States recently.

In the European passport is stamped the visa to enter China and stapled the visa to be in the USA.

After the border crossing these two documents were put underneath the map of California next to the driver’s seat.

From the Tijuana/San Diego border to the dear friends in Temecula is about two hours driving.
Immediately after the Fuso Szulc arrived on the friend’s estate, there was the celebration of seeing each other again.
Talking about the recent events in life and enjoying very much being together again.

Some time later we went for dinner in a Mexican restaurant.
Eating fish cooked in the Vera Cruz way served by a waitress who looked exactly like Frida Kahlo, the famous Mexican painter.

Returning to the Fuso Szulc late in the evening many hours were spent watching news programs from European television through Internet.

Nevertheless, as always, the next morning at the break of dawn life was started vigorously again.
One of the things to do was to clean up and arrange things in the Fuso Szulc after the weeklong journey from La Paz, Baja California, Mexico to Temecula, California, USA.
Following the strict protocol of putting everything back in the usual places.

It was then that it was realized that the passport and the residence permit were missing.

There was no immediate panic.
Quickly the cabin of the Fuso Szulc truck was checked, particularly underneath the map.
No passport and no residence permit.
Maybe they had fallen off the console?
Keenly every corner of the cabin was checked but in vain.

This was puzzling.
Every possible place where the passport and the residence permit could be was checked.
And checked again.
And again.
Nothing was found.

At this point in time desperation was creeping into the mind.
And that created a range of weird and unsettling thoughts.
Maybe the documents were stolen from the Fuso Szulc while seeing the dear friends in their house?
Impossible: the estate is a secure area.

Also the consequences were contemplated of not having a passport and residence permit anymore.
Rather devastating.
The journey to China would have to be cancelled.
That by itself would be disastrous as many people in China are now involved in the project and waiting for the artist’s arrival.

The process of obtaining new travel documents is complicated and time consuming and disrupts life for a long time.

The fear of being in a catastrophic situation was mounting to Himalayan proportions.
A new existential crisis announced itself.
The whole way of living was questioned.
It is all very well to live permanently in an expedition vehicle and travel all around the world and be unlocked from materialism, marriage, consumerism and communism.
But should one living so preposterously at least not be able to safeguard the essential travel documents?
It is all very well to live as free as a bird and pretend to flow with the river following Lao Tse with his being strong as a rock and flexible like water.
But what about some sense of auto-responsibility and discipline?

Those are not very pleasant whirlwinds twisting and twirling in the mind.
Missing travel documents breaking down one’s foundations of belief in the personal existence.

Being now in a state of pandemonium-like panic and in a colossal crisis therefore ready to end life once and for all, an inner voice ordered:
“Relax.
Calm down.
Be rational”.

Forced to sit down in the chair, the eyes were closed and a film was watched following everything concerning the travel documents since the recent border crossing.

It was sure they had arrived with the Fuso Szulc in Temecula.
As usual things from the truck cabin had been transferred to the camper box.
This time more things as usual because of gifts for the friends.
It was remembered that there was so much that not everything could be carried.
Somehow it was believed that the travel documents had been put in a pocket of a sweater.
But as that had been completely outside of any protocol, it was forgotten to take the passport and the residence permit out of the pocket once inside the camper box.
Logically, the travel documents had fallen out of the pocket somehow somewhere later.

Carefully the tracks walked since arrival were checked.
Nothing.

Next, a visit was made to the Mexican restaurant.
Maybe the travel documents had fallen from the pocket in the booth?
Nothing was found.

Because the dear friends had left for the day, their car and their house could not be checked yet.
This had the horrible consequence that the whole day desperation, hope and fear were strongly experienced.

How about calling the police to ask if anybody had found the travel documents?
Calling the friends on their mobile phone to ask to check their car?

But it was considered better not to involve other people in this disaster.

When the friends returned their limousine was checked carefully.
Nothing.

A search in the house was without results also.

But while researching the house a sudden thought came.
There had been a business bag in the cabin of the Fuso Szulc that had been used to arrange the visa at the Consulate of China in Tijuana, Mexico.
And like a falling star describing a short lived but clear white line in the dark sky, the idea seemed realistic that the passport and residence permit might be in that bag.

Quickly that was checked and indeed, they were there.

Of course there was a monumental feeling of relieve.
But also of anger.
The strict rule of the protocol to always put things in the same place had been violated.

However, one peculiar aspect is that there is no memory at all that the documents were put in the bag.
Dear friend John, hearing the story later, said:
“Those are the first signs of Alzheimer”.







.