The Land of Lost Luggageby Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger 24 Jul 2006 12:35 PM Have you ever experienced the heart stopping agony of reaching your travel destination without your luggage? Talk about a major migraine. Statistics show that each year one in ten travelers must deal with the torment of never seeing their bags again. Airlines rarely offer satisfactory compensation for the loss, rather most passengers are made to simply deal with the fact that their luggage simply disappeared. Or has it? Did you know that much of the nation's "lost" luggage winds up in America's Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro, Alabama? A place where the locals joke that: "The three things that are important here are family, church, and the nation's lost luggage." Not exactly what I consider a comforting thought considering that this "Center" is actually a store stocked with tens of thousands of items lost or left on airplanes. If the bag's owner is not found the bag is shipped to the center, pried open, cleaned, catalogued and then placed on a shelf for sale. Workers say most items are in great condition and the resale prices are "extremely reasonable." Meanwhile, shoppers are in awe at the sight of what is on sale (and perhaps more shocked by what people are traveling with). Here are just some of the items that are in stock (do any of them sound familiar?): Autographed baseballs A Milwaukee Bucks basketball Clothes Books A Harley Davidson Motorcycle helmet Gold and Diamond Jewelry Golf clubs Watches Surfboards A violin from 1770 Egyptian artifacts Cameras Workers at the Center say 7000 new items are put on the floor every day. And, occasionally shoppers get more than they bargained for. One store manager says she remembers a customer who bought a $60 vase and resold it for $18,000. In another case, the store once stocked a $100 painting that resold for $25,000. And, perhaps the best example of getting a bargain: one lucky shopper bought a used suitcase at the store for $6, got it home, opened it up and there was $1500 hidden in the lining. Talk about one man's loss being another man's treasure! Related Articles: Travel Alert: New Airline Carry-On Restrictions Learn more about Michele Cheplic  Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism. Relevanttravel tags User Comments No comments on this article yet. Be the first to comment! Community Tags airline, bags, luggage, lost bags, unclaiimed baggage Discuss this article
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