This is what happens when you’re rushing to catch your flight: you end up leaving behind something as valuable as your laptop.

1151733_isolated_laptopAccording to a study commissioned by Dell last year, over 12,000 people misplace their laptops at US airport, per week. That adds up to approximately 624,000 incidents a year!

The trend’s hotspot? LAX, featuring 1,200 absent-minded laptop owners a week. The laptops are usually lost at security checkpoints, with people trying to go through them as hastily as possible. Here’s sound advice from an airport manager, who’s probably witnessed laptop-loss numerous times:

Besides geek-squad mantras to encrypt and back up data, the tips also include some very down-to-earth wisdom: Only take a laptop if it’s really necessary to your trip and give yourself lots of time “to avoid mistakes made more likely by having to hurry. Airports are a physical and mental obstacle course.”

Amen to that.

Have you left your laptop behind? Why, where, and how?

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