The cost of mistakes

I suppose when traveling there are known mistakes and unknown mistakes, and we go to Europe with the information we have, not the information we want. I of course have made mistakes that I didn't ever notice so far on this trip, but I've also made a few that I know of, and they're interesting to me in part because the cost has been quantifiable, and because of the distinct decisions that led to them.

On the big scheme of things, they're tiny. I left my European electrical adapter plugged into a socket at a campsite in Olafsvik, Iceland. Replacement cost at a mall was $12, a lot more than Amazon, plus any opportunity cost for the time spent hunting for adapters. I'm counting opportunity cost a zero, though, since going to that mall involved some fun exploration and resulted in us finding some Icelandic microbrews we would not have otherwise.

Two days ago I left behind the Ubu bike water bottl from Lake Placid Brewery at a cable car in Switzeland. By the time we got back down, it was gone, and searching the lost and found, recycling bins, and garbage bins all suggest that someone else took it. I hope they enjoy it. Sorry for losing the bottle, Daria, and I'll buy you a new one when we go back to the brewery. Replacement cost was $8.75 at a bike store in Offenberg, which did not sell the bike maps we were looking for, but we would have checked anyway. So opportunity cost was low.

Finally, just a few minutes ago we hit an Aldi for groceries. I paid with a 50 note for 8.83 of groceries to break the bill, even though I had small change. They don't give you plastic bags at most grocery stores, but I had decided not to bring in my spare bag, that I could just balance the small amount of groceries out the door. Finally, after receiving my change, I hurried to gather my groceries to make room for the person behind me. It wasn't until I had packed the groceries onto the bike that I realized I had dropped one of the two 20 euro notes I'd gotten as change. Of course it was long gone by the time I looked for it. This is not the main reason I don't use cash in the US, but the complete lack of ownership information is, for me at least, a bug, not a feature. Being out $25 just like that is pretty irritating, especially given the (perhaps irrational) extents I would go to in order to save that much money.

I keep trying to just breathe deeply and not let silly mistakes spoil my mood, but they certainly are irritating.

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