Lost luggage makes possessions visible as the practical supports of a planned version of yourself.

A packed bag is a plan for a person. The clothes for the interview, the shoes for the long walk, the small things meant to make the evenings comfortable: each is a support for a version of you that was going to exist next week. Losing it exposes how much of that version rested on objects. Unsettling to notice, and not entirely bad to know.

If it happens, work out which two or three things actually mattered and replace only those. Most of the rest was ballast for a plan that can still go ahead. Next time you pack, notice what you are packing for.