I flew into Pensacola late Monday night. Yesterday I spent all day in an office (where people who do not work for that company can’t bring in their laptops–but that’s a story for another day). Let’s just say it was a loooong day, starting with a breakfast meeting at 730 am and ending with a post-dinner debrief at 9pm. By the time I finally got to my room, I was spent. Exhausted. Totally talked out. And as I walked down the hallway to my room, I realized my mind was blank and I had completely forgotten my hotel room number. I had no idea which room it was. 728? 716? 710? I knew the floor, which side of the hallway, and the approximate location, so I literally started trying my key in doors. I tried to do it discreetly so I wouldn’t freak anyone out. Luckily no one was in the hallway to see me do this! (That would have been fun–reported to the management as a thief instead of just as a stupid person.) I gave myself three tries before I would head down to the lobby and ask someone. I got it on the third try.

In the past I have stepped out of the elevator and turned the wrong way, gotten confused about which wing I was staying in, tried the wrong key for my room, left my key in my room, and lost my car in a parking lot. But I have NEVER forgotten my room number. They say that keeping your key with the hotel envelope that has your room number on it is a bad idea, in case it gets stolen. I get that. But what is another solution? Should I start taking pictures of my door like I do with my parking spaces? Maybe that’s the safest way to remind myself. However I deal with it in the future, I really really hope this doesn’t happen again. Talk about feeling like an idiot!!