There are all sorts of tricks I’ve learned from traveling on business or being relocated by employers around the country. By all means, talk to folks who do it regularly.
Yes, the airline finally found my luggage on that occasion. It was delivered to my apartment in CA about a month later. It had tags on it from the Philippians and Japan. I didn’t leave the country on that trip! When they did send me overseas it was always to Europe or the middle east. How my luggage ended up in Japan I have no idea.
I had a co-worker years ago who was the un-luckiest traveler in the world. If something could go wrong it happened to him! When ever he returned from a trip everyone in the office was waiting to hear the harrowing tale.
Once he was sent to Soul, South Korea to install a catscan. He arrived on a Friday. He had a $25,000.00 cashiers check. He was supposed to open a bank account. He was to use the monies for his living expenses, hotel etc. He was to hire a rigging/equipment moving company to move all the crates from customs to the hospital. Hire interpreters, laborer’s or anyone else he needed.
What no one at our company knew… the Friday he arrived was a Korean national holiday. The Banks were closed, everything was closed! The only credit card he had wasn’t accepted in Korea. There was nowhere to exchange money with the little cash he had. He did exchange his cash on the street, of course he got ripped off.
He spent 3 nights on a park bench. The last day, Sunday he no longer had money for food. The entire time he had a useless $25,000 cashiers check in his brief case. Too Funny! He was lucky he wasn’t robbed!