Ex-GF and I went to Rome back in February. On the second flight to JFK from MN her passport fell out of her bag and on to the plane. She didn't notice it was missing until we were getting ready to board the flight to Rome 5 hours later. Naturally, she lost it. We told the Delta people that we needed our bags removed because we couldn't take the flight. We then walked down to the baggage claim area and had to wait almost 3 hours for the bags. All this time she is freaking out. I went and sat down to charge my phone and use my laptop to look for solutions. About 30-45 minutes after the ordeal started she got a call from the Delta counter at Dulles. They had found her passport on the plane when it was being cleaned. (Should have been found by the cleaning crew at JFK but I digress) During this whole ordeal I am just remaining calm and figuring out how we are going to get home and focusing on that while waiting for the bags. After we get the bags we go up to the Delta counter and talk to them about the passport being at Dulles. They said they can't send it back on a plane because of liability. Understandable, if a little frustrating. So then the issue is how do we get her home without the proper documentation, or anything else TSA can use for identification. She is still incredibly stressed out. I asked if they could just re-book us on the same nightly flight from JFK to Rome the next day? Tickets being purchased through Expedia generally makes this difficult. Supervisor happened to be there and chimed in, and with a few clicks on the keyboard she re-booked us for the next evening. Now to get the passport. She is still freaking out. She is exhausted from a day of traveling and stress. I simply suggested we drive down, it was only about 5 hours away and I was still on MT time so being 11pm in NY felt like 9pm to me. Plus, I slept on the planes because I sleep easily. Buzz over to the rental counter and get a car, drive the 5 hours to Dulles and get the passport, stay at the Hyatt right there, get free late check out because it was almost 5am. Zonk out for a solid 6 hours then drive the 5 hours back to JFK and off to Rome we went. The problem wasn't my focus. Just the solutions. As we got more and more information the solutions became much easier to come by. Had I listened to her in her panic, which was completely understandable, I would have missed out. All in all, absolutely worth the cost of the rental, the long driving, and not losing my shit. Because in the end we had an amazing time in Rome and Venice and I will forever have those memories. Men and women are different in how we approach most things. Situations with lots of stress are one of them. We are hardwired to be this way. Don't hate us for it, appreciate it. Because in the end, it makes you happy.