Woman spends France vacation in "refugee camp" after losing passport on plane because she "broke the golden rule"

A woman's planned trip was ruined after she lost her passport on a plane, which she says prompted security to put her in a "refugee camp" before sending her back home. The traveler, who posts online under the handle K. Benz (@kbenzzz_) published a brief video chronicling her excitement and eventual disappointment upon discovering that the trip was effectively ruined.

Benz wrote in her video that she believes that the reason her vacation ended up going down the drain was due to the fact that she "broke the golden rule" while traveling. And that rule, according to her, is posting one's trip "in real time."

After showcasing footage of her and another travel companion sitting in the airport before her flight and riding on an airplane to her destination, her clip then cuts to footage of a form she holds in her lip. The documentation indicates that she was in France, and that she was refused entrance into the country: "Refus D'Entree" it reads.

Beneath this nomenclature are a series of lines reserved for Benz to fill out, all of it written in French. Which she says was handed to her after she couldn't locate her passport after landing in the country.

Benz also explained that she thinks her trip was ultimately cursed because she opted to post about it live. "Immediately jinxed it [the trip]. Lost my passprt on the plane, got denied entry, put in a refugee camp for two days and got sent back home," she penned.

Following this, she recorded footage of an armed airport security officer walking in front of her in an airport. Other travelers amble past both Benz and the guard as they traverse the travel hub. Immediately thereafter, Benz films herself looking ahead mournfully with tears in her eyes. She then covers her face with her hand in sadness, grimacing as her clip comes to an end.

Throngs of other commenters on the application mentioned that they, too, didn't believe in posting about vacations in real time, either. "I only tell my closest family when I am going on vacation. I start posting stuff when feet have touched the outside of the airport or when I am back home," one person penned.

Others believe that refraining from posting travel footage in real-time has less to do with superstition and more to do with safety. I.e., folks knowing that you're not home, or if other travelers know that you're away from home they could use that knowledge for nefarious purposes.

"Leaving out the superstitious part nobody should post in real time leave a day or two in between activities and the actual post that's just because of safety reasons."

Furthermore, in the comments section of the post, Benz shared more about the incident.

She was miffed that some of the airport employees had, in her estimation, pretended not to understand English. Also, she said that she knew exactly where her passport was located on the airplane but that flight staff wouldn't allow her back on the aircraft to retrieve it.

"I'm Canadian! They said I had to return the same way I came and the next flight with the airline I flew in with wasn't for 2 days. Everyone at the airport acted like they didn't speak English, so frustrating! I was treated like a criminal for losing a passport. Do not recommend lol," she wrote.

In other replies to different users, Benz broke down more information about how her trip ended before it even began. "My bag broke while I was walking down the aisle getting off the plane. I thought I grabbed everything, but my passport must've still been there or in the broken bag I left there. Everyone was behind me so I was rushing," she said.

A different user asked her what happened, and Benz broke down further details. "Used my passport to board the plane, left my passport on the plane by accident. The airline wouldn't let me back on the plane, they said they couldn't find it. I was telling them exactly where I left it and everyone at the airport acted like they didn't speak English. They detained me for 2 days till my flight back to Canada," she stated.

According to this regulatory analysis from ICAO & IATA, folks who lose their passports mid-travel are designated as inadmissible passengers or "INAD persons." The aircraft and airline travel agencies wrote: "When [INAD] ... passengers fail to provide documents of identification satisfactory to the immigration authorities, they are classified as inadmissible persons and sent back on the carrier which brought them."

If you happen to lose your passport while abroad in another country, you'll need diplomatic intervention in order to procure a new passport prior to boarding your flight. The U.S. Department of State urges foreign travelers to head over to their nearest consulate office to initiate expedition of a new one.