This week, I went to the PGA Merchandising show in Florida. I had a great time, talked to some very interesting people, and learned a lot. The first day was Demo Day—basically the vendors are out on a driving range, and people can actually go and try out various products, like golf clubs. We were at a golf course outside of Orlando, and the weather could not have been more perfect. It was around 65 degrees and sunny, with a nice breeze. We walked around for several hours, looking at stuff, playing some games, and watching some pretty impressive golfers. We were having so much fun that we completely missed the dark, angry clouds that were boiling up behind us.

All of a sudden the wind started blowing, the sun was covered, and it got really cold. A few minutes later the skies opened and a deluge of water poured down. We raced for the only large covered area, along with about 400 other people. Luckily, we were able to scooch just inside and not get soaked. Others were not so lucky. In fact a number of people took up shelter under this truck. Not comfortable at all!

The thing is, I usually have an umbrella with me. I have several travel umbrellas that I’ve picked up over the years just because, well, stuff like this happens! This time, though, I had taken my normal umbrella out of my bag because I was going to replace it with my new, adorable, polka-dot umbrella my step-sister got me for Christmas. Unfortunately, in the chaos of leaving, I totally forgot. Argh.

The moral of the story: find a tiny travel umbrella and keep it in your purse! If I had remembered it, the afternoon would have been much less stressful.  Also my hair would have stayed looking nice—unfortunately that 30 seconds in the rain was all it took to completely negate my time with the curling iron. Boo.

Readers, do you travel with an umbrella? Why or why not?