American tourist lost his wallet on London vacation — a letter from a stranger one month later changed everything

The man thought that the incident was 'unfortunate' but had moved on from it. But then, he checked his mail.

PUBLISHED 6 HOURS AGO

(L) A person walking away after dropping their wallet. (R) A man walking towards his mailbox to check his mail. Representative Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Andrey Popov; SrdjanPav

Quite a few people consider their belongings as good as gone once they lose them, especially if they are in another country. An American man also thought that his wallet was gone after he lost it during a vacation in London. But to his surprise, he received a mail from an unknown person a month after his vacation. The person had somehow managed to find his address and send his wallet all the way back to his home in the US, per a post by the man, u/badvices7.

A lost wallet lying on the ground. Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Westend61

"Was visiting London from the US last month and lost my wallet somewhere — I blame it on the small pockets in my shorts, lol," the tourist wrote. It wasn't a big hassle for the man because of things like Apple Wallet, but it was still inconvenient. "Lo and behold, I see a package in my apartment’s package room — someone found my wallet and shipped it back! It’s been quite a year, so this was really such a thoughtful gesture and seriously made my month." The man hadn't been able to find a name or address, so he couldn't thank the person for their kind gesture. "I would love to give my thanks and pay for the shipping. If anyone has any ideas (or if this is you!), please let me know! Can’t wait to visit your city again and this time not lose my wallet."

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In the letter with the wallet, the person mentioned that they had found the man's wallet with his credit cards and his ID near Buckingham Palace on Monday, 13th May. "There was no cash in the cardholder," they clarified. "I tried to look up your details and to contact the next of kin, but couldn't get through to a number at the address on the ID." The person also rang American Express in the US to inform them that the man had lost the wallet and the cards had been blocked. "I have asked American Express to notify you of your loss and that I will return this to your address in Illinois." The person hoped that the message would help assuage some of the tourist's fears and also help him travel peacefully.

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"Apologies for neither posting this earlier nor putting your cards back in the order I found them," the letter concluded. People shared their thoughts on the incident in the comments section of the thread. u/Sam_2210 wrote, "If the sender wanted to be found/contacted, they would’ve added their details. I would suggest just pay the kindness forward or donate shipping costs to a good cause." u/LengthinessOk8602 commented, "I once found a wallet in the street not so long ago. I looked through it and found a driver’s license, which gave me an address. I promptly returned it to its owner. I didn’t meet the guy as his sister was home, I hope that guy's day got better from there in."

u/robgod50 remarked, "It's so nice to see people are good-natured enough to go to this much trouble. I think most people are good-natured and would not take advantage of a found wallet... But I think very few would go to these lengths to trace the owner and return it." Another user shared, "Nice of them. I once found a wallet with all cards, ID, and other typical wallet content. To locate them, I called the bank, asked them to contact their customer. With my permission to give them my phone number. The guy called me and I met him to hand him his wallet back. He was so happy he had brought me a bottle of wine as a thank you."