Man goes ahead with trip to Japan after girlfriend forgot her passport, sparking debate he 'abandoned' her

Travel mishaps can test any relationship. It can turn a blissful event into total chaos. And for one couple, a forgotten passport led to a heated debate about responsibility and fairness. A 25-year-old man, u/Aitahgftravel, shared his story on Reddit about continuing his trip to Japan without his girlfriend after she forgot her passport, getting tons of responses online. The man and his 23-year-old girlfriend had been planning their winter vacation for weeks. The day before their departure, he told her to double-check everything. “I reminded her the day before we left to remember to pack her passport, and she said she would,” he wrote.

The couple from the US had to take a domestic flight first, which went smoothly since it only required state IDs, but trouble arose when they tried to check in for their international flight at the layover airport. “She said she realized midway during the first flight that she forgot to pack it,” he explained. With no way for her to retrieve her passport from home, the couple was stuck. While she became visibly upset, he decided to continue with their plans. “I checked in anyway and told her that I’d still go without her,” he wrote. His reasoning? He didn’t think it was fair for him to miss out on the trip because of her oversight.

When she accused him of “abandoning her over a simple mistake,” he stood firm, saying, “I wasn’t going to miss out on a trip just because she planned poorly.” To help her manage the situation, he suggested she stay with a mutual friend who lived in the layover city. “I told her she could ask him if she could stay with him and explore for a week, and then I’d catch her when flying back, and we’d go home,” he added. Though she agreed to the plan, she was still upset, especially since the trip included celebrating New Year’s Eve together. After arriving in Japan, the boyfriend FaceTimed her to check in, only for their mutual friend to join the call and criticize him.

“He said he was shocked I’d abandon her like that and that he was disappointed in me,” the man wrote. His girlfriend agreed with the friend’s sentiments, making him question whether his decision was justified. “Am I really a bad boyfriend for still going on this trip? Like, if I chose not to go anyway, it wouldn’t even be benefiting her at all—it would only be hurting me,” he concluded. People on Reddit were divided in their responses. u/Squeezinthejuice69 said, "Who leaves the house on an international trip and doesn't check to see if they got your passport on the way out. Phone, keys, wallet, passport, let's go."

u/Professional_Pop8867 commented, "I mean if I was her I would be annoyed you went, but also like… I'd be annoyed at myself. If I were her and really thought about it, I wouldn’t want my partner to miss an international trip because of my mistake." u/bluegemstar supported the girlfriend, saying, "Unpopular opinion, but the whole point I travel now is to share it with my best friend and life partner, who happen to be the same person. She would be devastated and really hard on herself for this. No way in hell I'm leaving her. We laugh about it eventually, and I take her home so we can plan our next adventure."