Lost & Found Found Bag in Redondela: Valuables, Shoes, and Clothes

[Elizabeth Cheung]

i found this bag this morning around 7 am leaving Rendondela. It has valuables as well as shoes and a change of clothes. I waited 10 minutes for whoever owned it to return. it was on a stone bench just as you left town. because the town was crawling with revellers returning from Vigo i did not want to leave it. If you own this bag or know who does, please contact me at (personal email address removed. Please use the forum's private messaging to contact.) i carried it to ponteverda today. it’s hanging off the back of my pack for all to see. i will carry it to santiago and turn it in there but please claim it if yours. it has “expensive stuff “ in It plus its kind of heavy lol.

 

[Molly Cassidy]

I would suggest that you take it to the nearest police station. It is very likely that whoever lost it will have reported it.

 

[Elizabeth Cheung]

I would suggest that you take it to the nearest police station. It is very likely that whoever lost it will have reported it.

FYI I did approach a police officer about this who was keeping an eye on things. We both agree it was “Pilgrim stuff” and it was ok for me to try and locate the owner.

 

[Molly Cassidy]

FYI I did approach a police officer about this who was keeping an eye on things. We both agree it was “Pilgrim stuff” and it was ok for me to try and locate the owner.

That might be the opinion of one police officer, but it doesn't sound like a sensible strategy to me. If I lost my bag, I would contact the police. I would expect any person who found it to hand it in.

 

[Elizabeth Cheung]

That might be the opinion of one police officer, but it doesn't sound like a sensible strategy to me. If I lost my bag, I would contact the police. I would expect any person who found it to hand it in.

You know what astounds me? Today EVERYONE I approached on the route about this was grateful
I had it, took a photo of it to share, made a sign to attach to this bag hanging off my pack asking “Is this yours” and just generally tried to help. However here and on groups I shared this with I get shit like this. It's safe. It will be safe. If it means that much to you I walk it back feel free to
Send money for my cab.

 

[Anniesantiago]

I would suggest that you take it to the nearest police station. It is very likely that whoever lost it will have reported it.

Someone reported their bag was taken from a stone bench - it's on the Camino de Santiago All Routes Facebook page.

 

[Elizabeth Cheung]

Someone reported their bag was taken from a stone bench - it's on the Camino de Santiago All Routes Facebook page.

Im not on that group
But if you are please send them my email. I am in ponverada right now and will return it!

 

[Molly Cassidy]

You know what astounds me? Today EVERYONE I approached on the route about this was grateful
I had it, took a photo of it to share, made a sign to attach to this bag hanging off my pack asking “Is this yours” and just generally tried to help. However here and on groups I shared this with I get shit like this. It's safe. It will be safe. If it means that much to you I walk it back feel free to
Send money for my cab.

So people who don't own this bag are grateful to you for not handing it in? How odd.

 

[Anniesantiago]

Im not on that group
But if you are please send them my email. I am in ponverada right now and will return it!

I'm searching for the post but can't find it. But I posted they could see your post here. I'll search a couple of other groups I'm in. Sound like it could be the person's bag as the details are the same.

 

[Elizabeth Cheung]

I'm searching for the post but can't find it. But I posted they could see your post here. I'll search a couple of other groups I'm in. Sound like it could be the person's bag as the details are the same.

Thank you! I just got accepted on that group
And also looked. I posted on camigas and the camino Portuguese group

 

[trecile]

Someone reported their bag was taken from a stone bench - it's on the Camino de Santiago All Routes Facebook page.

Do you have a link to that group?

 

[C clearly]

However here and on groups I shared this with I get shit like this. It's safe. It will be safe.

I don't think anyone is implying that it isn't safe. The suggestion that you turn it in to the police is a valid one, and not intended to suggest ingratitude for your efforts.

Perhaps a combination of posting here and spreading the word, and leaving the bag at a police station might be a good solution.

 

[Elizabeth Cheung]

I don't think anyone is implying that it isn't safe. The suggestion that you turn it in to the police is a valid one, and not intended to suggest ingratitude for your efforts.

Perhaps a combination of posting here and spreading the word, and leaving the bag at a police station might be a good solution.

Hey Man I'm doing all those things and trying to be a good Pilgrim. Some support would be nice. Getting tired of a lot of the overall judgment and meanness of late on all these forums

 

[Molly Cassidy]

Hey Man I'm doing all those things and trying to be a good Pilgrim. Some support would be nice. Getting tired of a lot of the overall judgment and meanness of late on all these forums

There's nothing mean about suggesting you hand lost property to the police. Nobody has suggested you mean any harm by your actions, just that it might be easier for the owner to be reunited with their belongings if you handed it in.

 

[Anniesantiago]

Do you have a link to that group?

Here is the link. They just approved my post. Hopefully she'll see it.
I think Johnnywalker is a mod there along with others.

Camino de Santiago All Routes

 

[Rebekah Scott]

You are doing everything the right way, Elizabeth. I think people are just trying to be helpful, maybe.

 

[henrythedog]

Hey Man I'm doing all those things and trying to be a good Pilgrim. Some support would be nice. Getting tired of a lot of the overall judgment and meanness of late on all these forums

Well I and, I’m sure all the others, think you’re being very public-spirited. Hopefully you’ll tell us about a successful conclusion.

 

[jerbear]

I would return it to said bench...

 

[Elizabeth Cheung]

I would return it to said bench...

did you even read why i didn’t just leave it there after waiting 15 minutes for the owner to return?

 

[J Willhaus]

Thank you for trying to return it its rightful owner.

 

[Icacos]

Hey Man I'm doing all those things and trying to be a good Pilgrim. Some support would be nice.

You have my support. All round, including all the time you’re putting into this.

 

[VNwalking]

Everyone has views, but you're the one who's there on the ground. You went to the police, who told you to do what you're doing. And you're putting the word out everywhere you can think to. I'd have done the same thing.

Hopefully the pilgrim grapevine yields fruit soon so you can stop lugging the extra stuff around. Someone's going to be mighty relieved when they're reunited with their lost stuff.
Buen camino, peregrina!

 

[Carl Remarx]

Im not on that group
But if you are please send them my email. I am in ponverada right now and will return it!

It’s sounds like you’re doing exactly what I would in that situation- making a broad-based and sincere attempt to return someone’s valuables. I applaud your willingness to take on this task. The policía have only so much time and energy, and it sounds as though the items were on their way to SdC. Well done.

 

[amrmeaner]

Lost stuff

These are few things you can do to help you stop losing gear and also have it returned to you if you do leave it behind.

1. Try to putting things together when you stop for a rest.

2. Try to put thing on the side you are leaving from. For example if you are on a bus or train put you poles, bags on the aisle side.

3. When ever you leave a place also have a mum’s look around to make sure you have not left anything.

4. Label everything with your name and email address

 

[makingtrax]

Hey Man I'm doing all those things and trying to be a good Pilgrim. Some support would be nice. Getting tired of a lot of the overall judgment and meanness of late on all these forums

Your doing good there. Many would have walked pass and possibly it could have been stolen then you would have been criticized for not taking it! Keep your chin up and continue your caring good deeds

 

[Ajg]

Good on you Elizabeth. You’ve done the right thing and the owner will be grateful. Ignore the negative know-all opinionated individuals who tend towards a can’t help-themselves approach to want to rain on every well meant effort made. Buen Camino.

 

[trecile]

You’ve done the right thing and the owner will be grateful. Ignore the negative know-all opinionated individuals who tend towards a can’t help-themselves approach to want to rain on every well meant effort made.

I haven't seen any of that here. It was suggested that it may be best to turn it into the police rather than carrying it.
It was definitely a good idea to post here and on Facebook that it has been found, but she could have left it at the police station in Pontevedra and let everyone know that's where it would be.

After all, most pilgrims don't participate on this forum, or on the Facebook groups. The natural thing for most people to do when they lose valuables is to go to the police.

By the way, suggesting a different way of doing something is not being mean.

 

[ratherbefollowingflechas]

I am sorry for all the negative comments that you received in your efforts to to the right thing. Seems to be a lot of "spouters" on here lately. Depending upon the situation, like a hat or article of clothing that has maybe fallen off a pack, it seems like the best option is to move the item forward as the pilgrim themselves are moving forward. In your situation with more valuable items, a solution that happened to us is that my husband left a phone on a bench outside of a shop. The owner of said shop picked up the phone but left a post it note in its place that said "I found a phone here. I will be in said shop at 9am". Total peace of mind. If the police won't take responsibility for the item and you can't leave it with them (as you obviously tried), then moving it ahead seems like a very reasonable solution. As mentioned above, not everyone is connected to the world while on Camino. The only thing we would have done (now) is tape a note to the place that it was found and provide contact/location information.
Considering the police couldn't be bothered, you did the right thing! After all, a pilgrim wants to walk, and knowing their lost item is en route with them, is not the worst news.
Buen Camino!!!
P.S. I don't like the connotation that the item was taken from the bench. Apparently, the owner left it behind and has not accepted responsibility for that. The OP waited/wasted 15 minutes waiting for them to realize it was gone. Bad pilgrim!

 

[David Tallan]

I would suggest that you take it to the nearest police station. It is very likely that whoever lost it will have reported it.

Five years ago on the Camino Portugues, I left my phone behind on a stone table by the side of the Camino. I didn't notice until I reached for it a short time later to take a photo and it wasn't there. When I got to the albergue (Casa da Fernanda) I asked the hospitalero to call the police and see if it had been turned in. They said it was a waste of time. No one would turn something like that to the police. Instead, first we tried phoning it (no answer) and then they took me back there where we looked again and enquired of all of the neighbors.

Eventually, I remember ed to try the "find my phone" website (on someone else's phone) and located the phone. It turned out that it was at the home of a farmer they knew who had picked it up when driving by on his tractor. He hadn't answered it because he had been out in his field or waiting for his kids to come home and figure out what to do when it rang. He brought the phone to the albergue.

Nobody seemed to think the police was where you brought or looked for lost items.

 

[Molly Cassidy]

Five years ago on the Camino Portugues, I left my phone behind on a stone table by the side of the Camino. I didn't notice until I reached for it a short time later to take a photo and it wasn't there. When I got to the albergue (Casa da Fernanda) I asked the hospitalero to call the police and see if it had been turned in. They said it was a waste of time. No one would turn something like that to the police. Instead, first we tried phoning it (no answer) and then they took me back there where we looked again and enquired of all of the neighbors.

Eventually, I remember ed to try the "find my phone" website (on someone else's phone) and located the phone. It turned out that it was at the home of a farmer they knew who had picked it up when driving by on his tractor. He hadn't answered it because he had been out in his field or waiting for his kids to come home and figure out what to do when it rang. He brought the phone to the albergue.

Nobody seemed to think the police was where you brought or looked for lost items.

That wasn't my experience in Spain. I left my bag on a supermarket trolley. By the time I returned to the supermarket 40 minutes later, it was in the police station. Whoever had handed it in obviously told them where they found it and the police phoned the supermarket.

 

[David Tallan]

That wasn't my experience in Spain. I left my bag on a supermarket trolley. By the time I returned to the supermarket 40 minutes later, it was in the police station. Whoever had handed it in obviously told them where they found it and the police phoned the supermarket.

Maybe it is a difference Spain vs Portugal. Maybe it depends upon the precinct.

 

[SabsP]

FWIW I would have done the same as the OP. Take it with me and ask around. I certainly would not walk back to find the local policestation and loose time . Especially not with the high temperatures pilgrims are experiencing in lots of Spanish and Portugues regions.

 

[Tincatinker]

I love the idea that there is some kind of "correct" resolution to an issue like this. Leave it; move it; pass the responsibility to someone else (policeman, shopkeeper, God). The OP chose a perfectly reasonable resolution. Meanwhile the universe will continue to unfold as it does. Either the OP and the original owner of those bits and pieces will be united in some happy moment. Or they won't. In my world anything valuable would have been "converted" by now. Anything useful would have been re-deployed. The rest would have been binned. I'm reminded, again, that Camino is a different world

 

[Anamiri]

Im curious to know, has the owner of the bag been reunited with it yet?

 

[Tincatinker]

I think I’d be more worried about the owner than the bag. No “lost” posts. No reports to the GC or other authorities that we are aware of. The OP hasn’t been back since Sunday, understandably perhaps.

 

[dougfitz]

Im curious to know, has the owner of the bag been reunited with it yet?

I let my imagination run wild over this. Reading that the town where the bag was found was full of revellers, I have this image of some party-goer looking frantically for the sensible shoes and other clothing they had stashed into their 'next day' pack, and having to find their way home on the buses and trains in their high heels and party frock.

Perhaps if I had seen the contents, as the OP has, I would have made the same assessment that it belonged to a pilgrim, and that it was better to move it forward to where it and its owner would have a better chance of being re-united.

 

[Telelama]

Hey Man I'm doing all those things and trying to be a good Pilgrim. Some support would be nice. Getting tired of a lot of the overall judgment and meanness of late on all these forum

I think you're doing great! Thank you for your hard efforts, you exemplify the modern pilgrim. We appreciate you and what you're attempting to accomplish.

 

[WildBanshee]

That might be the opinion of one police officer, but it doesn't sound like a sensible strategy to me. If I lost my bag, I would contact the police. I would expect any person who found it to hand it in.

I found a British passport in Boston, USA and it was quicker for me to call the British consulate and give them my number so the guy could call me. He did and I met him next day with passport. With the Police, it he would not have had it in time for his flight. I agree though, it is a difficult choice to make.

 

[Molly Cassidy]

I found a British passport in Boston, USA and it was quicker for me to call the British consulate and give them my number so the guy could call me. He did and I met him next day with passport. With the Police, it he would not have had it in time for his flight. I agree though, it is a difficult choice to make.

Yes, that makes sense, to contact the place you think the person who lost it will go to. That was really my point.

 

[RibbonRomanceAuthor]

Had that been my bag, I would be grateful to know where it had been all the time it was lost, which was with only one person. Thank you for your efforts.

 

[DeeH]

Lost stuff

These are few things you can do to help you stop losing gear and also have it returned to you if you do leave it behind.

1. Try to putting things together when you stop for a rest.

2. Try to put thing on the side you are leaving from. For example if you are on a bus or train put you poles, bags on the aisle side.

3. When ever you leave a place also have a mum’s look around to make sure you have not left anything.

4. Label everything with your name and email address

And phone number too

 

[Dick & Kitty]

i found this bag this morning around 7 am leaving Rendondela. It has valuables as well as shoes and a change of clothes. I waited 10 minutes for whoever owned it to return. it was on a stone bench just as you left town. because the town was crawling with revellers returning from Vigo i did not want to leave it. If you own this bag or know who does, please contact me at (personal email address removed. Please use the forum's private messaging to contact.) i carried it to ponteverda today. it’s hanging off the back of my pack for all to see. i will carry it to santiago and turn it in there but please claim it if yours. it has “expensive stuff “ in It plus its kind of heavy lol.

View attachment 157835

As a person who briefly lost my bag on the Camino Portugese and was happily reunited with it by caring pilgrims like you, thank you for being the kind of person who cares enough to interrupt your own camino to help someone else.

 

[David61]

I think I’d be more worried about the owner than the bag. No “lost” posts. No reports to the GC or other authorities that we are aware of. The OP hasn’t been back since Sunday, understandably perhaps.

Indeed, particularly as the OP writes " it has “expensive stuff “ in It "

 

[SilentNight]

Hey Man I'm doing all those things and trying to be a good Pilgrim. Some support would be nice. Getting tired of a lot of the overall judgment and meanness of late on all these forums

We all make different choices, and I commend you for trying to do the right thing from your perspective. What’s disappointing is that a few made snarky comments, and are insensate that they’re being snide.

 

[Ricardo Moretti]

i found this bag this morning around 7 am leaving Rendondela. It has valuables as well as shoes and a change of clothes. I waited 10 minutes for whoever owned it to return. it was on a stone bench just as you left town. because the town was crawling with revellers returning from Vigo i did not want to leave it. If you own this bag or know who does, please contact me at (personal email address removed. Please use the forum's private messaging to contact.) i carried it to ponteverda today. it’s hanging off the back of my pack for all to see. i will carry it to santiago and turn it in there but please claim it if yours. it has “expensive stuff “ in It plus its kind of heavy lol.

View attachment 157835

BRING IT TO A POLICE STATION!

 

[peregrina2000]

We had left the thread open waiting to hear if the OP had successfully located the owner of the bag.

But there is no point in debating the coulda-shoulda-woulda scenarios, since we all know what the OP actually did when she happened upon the bag, spoke with the police, and then tried to publicize the information.

Many thanks to @Elizabeth Cheung for her intensive effort to find the owner. Hoping to hear on another thread that the owner has been located, but I’m closing this thread to avoid more pointless debate.