How I got on the flight to Las Vegas without my passport

I used to carry my passport with me at all times while traveling, but then a friend from the Danish consulate in Dubai told me, it was a really bad idea, as a Danish passport is worth a lot on the black market and thus very popular objects for pickpockets.

When I came to LA I therefore took out my passport from my handbag and didn’t give it a thought until an hour ago, in the security line at LAX (I’m on my way to Las Vegas), when an officer asked to see my id.

That very moment, I realized that I have absolutely no idea, where my passport is, but I figured it would be the wrong answer, so instead, I handed him my Danish driver’s license as the most natural thing in the world (“hey, you said id, not passport”). He just raised his brows and said “I need to see your passport”. I mumbled that I think I left it in my checked in luggage, and he asks me to step aside.

At that point, I’m pretty sure that I’ll be denied boarding, but instead, he takes a closer look at my Danish driver’s license and asks me to show him my credit cards too. Then he tells me to follow him through security (we skip the line) and two other officers go through all my stuff, which is screened for different chemical substances. It didn’t take more than 10 minutes, and then I’m free to go. Yay! Proceed to gate. YAY! Thank you LAX! Now I can’t wait to get to Vegas and go through my checked baggage. Hopefully, my passport is there..

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