Towing a trailer any number of miles to pick up a car should be an easy task. You just hitch up a trailer to a truck and drive. People do this every day without fail. Yet, I somehow managed to screw up a straightforward road trip to pickup a car and turn it into an unmitigated disaster. In the span of just twelve hours, I lost the key to a $111,000 truck, then I rented another truck only to get it stuck while trying to save the first truck. Here’s what happened.
What you’re reading is part two of my three-part series on how many times I failed while trying to perform the simple act of driving 773 miles from Illinois to Maryland to pick up my 1997 Honda Life from the Port of Baltimore. In part one, I explained that I actually managed to drive 697 miles of my trip entirely without drama. The 2025 Ford F-350 Super Duty Platinum Plus Power Stroke dually that Ford loaned me was a fantastic truck. Its 48-gallon tank and 17.2 mpg highway fuel economy with an empty trailer meant that I could have even driven all of the way there without stopping for fuel even once.
Unfortunately, this smooth ride was unraveled almost instantly after I stopped to eat dinner in Hagerstown, a place only an hour away from Baltimore. I left the truck’s key fob on the cowling ahead of the windshield, then forgot it was there. I didn’t realize my mistake until about a mile after I pulled onto I-70 East and then heard the thump of a fob bouncing off the truck and disappearing into the dark of night. The truck never warned me about the missing fob until I came to a stop and put the transmission in park on the right shoulder of I-70. Then, the truck shut down and effectively bricked itself with its windows and sunroof open.
This is one of the major downsides of vehicles that use smart fobs rather than physical keys. They will continue driving for a time after the fob is lost. If you then do the wrong thing, such as put the vehicle in park, you’ll find yourself stranded.
The Recap
What then proceeded was a night of misery. I was so stuck on the side of I-70 that I ended up walking a mile down a highway median at night, nearly getting clobbered by hundreds of speeding and distracted motorists. I was initially saved by Maryland state troopers, only to be told to use an Uber to go back to the truck to retrieve my valuables. That Uber driver abandoned me at the truck. Desperate, I called Ford Roadside Assistance, which was powerless to help me. They couldn’t even get me a tow truck because the Super Duty was too big for the tow trucks operating that night. Then, it started raining, so I had to fashion a makeshift sunroof out of a blanket and floor mats. Then, I had to walk down the median one more time, and that time it was extra terrible because it was raining.
Finally, another Maryland state trooper picked me up, and we went on a short ride-along before he finally dropped me off at my hotel. I got into my room just after 2 a.m., or a little over four hours since the disaster began. It was hard to believe that only four hours had passed. It felt like I was fighting all night. If you want to read the full story, click here to read part one.
At least for right at that moment, I was safe in a dry hotel room with a cozy bed. But there was a storm ahead, as this photo suggests:
(Full Disclosure: Ford loaned me a 2025 F-350 Super Duty Platinum Plus for a little over a week to haul home my new-to-me 1997 Honda Life. Ford took such great care of me during this whole ordeal, and I cannot find the proper words to thank those lovely people enough.)
Fob Dilemma
Truth be told, I didn’t do much sleeping at all. That night, Ford Roadside Assistance told me that I was more or less screwed. The only solution I was given was to have the truck towed to Hagerstown Ford to have the dealership pair a new fob to the truck. My only comfort was knowing that the truck was covered for Ford Roadside Assistance, so the tow to the dealer would be free. I couldn’t imagine the cost of hooking and hauling a one-ton dually pickup truck.
Still, I started researching how much replacing a fob would cost at a dealership, and my heart sank. Dealer pricing is all over the place, but it seems to be common for dealers to charge around $1,000 to fix the situation I was stuck in. Somehow, I did manage to calm myself down enough to get about four hours of sleep. Thankfully, I had a pleasant dream and not a continuing nightmare.
I woke up at 6 a.m. in a cold sweat and probably in a bit of a panic attack. Nothing had meaningfully changed since 10 p.m. the night before, and I was still a wreck. I got dressed, sat on the bed, and waited for 7 a.m., the time when the Hagerstown Ford service department opened. Right before I placed the call, I got a call from Diane, my emergency contact at Ford. I called her the night before, but, understandably, she was probably sleeping at the time I called her.
Diane was very understanding and outstandingly comforting. I probably sounded like I was in full flight mode when I was on the phone, so she helped me keep a level head.
Diane placed some calls to the dealership that morning. We had hoped that maybe the dealership would be able to make a single new fob based only on the VIN and a blessing from the mothership, which Diane was able to give. This was a best-case scenario. If the dealer was able to help, I’d just get an Uber to the dealer, buy the fob, and then Uber to the truck. I’d lose maybe a few hundred bucks and have a bruised ego, but I’d be back on the road and might even arrive at the port at the time I originally planned to.
Unfortunately, I could tell there was bad news coming when I answered one of Diane’s next calls. Due to how the truck’s security system works, all keys would have to be present to make a new one. The dealer could then just clone the existing key. The second key was with Motor City Solutions in Detroit. So, as far as the dealership was concerned, this was an “all keys lost” situation.
Of course, this creates a bit of a paradox. If I had the second key, I wouldn’t have been stuck. I would have been able to continue my trip as normal and then deal with the missing first key later.
Either way, Hagerstown Ford takes an aggressive approach to a no-key situation. I was told that they would have to cut and program two brand-new fobs. The original second fob would be deleted from the truck during this process, too. It was, for all intents and purposes, a nuclear option. Unfortunately, this would mean that I would have to pay dealership prices for two new fobs, dealership labor to have them cut, and dealership labor to have them programmed. That $1,000 bill was back to being a reality again. However, as Diane noted, at least I’d be back on the road again that day.
Diane also gave me two other options. She could have the second fob overnighted to my hotel, which would get me back on the road sometime on the day after. She also offered to send out a driver with the second fob. This was estimated to take about seven hours. I didn’t want to burden someone with driving to Maryland just to hand me a key.
Waiting for the key to be overnighted also didn’t seem appealing to me. It was Friday, and the port isn’t open on the weekend. So, I’d get the key on Saturday, and then have to wait until Monday to pick up the car. That’s extra days I’d have to pay for a hotel and the U-Haul trailer rental. Plus, I wouldn’t be able to work on Monday, either.
I chose my least-favorite option and called in the tow to have the truck brought to the dealer.
Hatching A Plan
That’s when our secret designer, the Bishop, chimed in with an idea I hadn’t considered. Alright, so the second option involves a guy driving from Detroit to Maryland, right? Well, what if I spent those seven hours renting a U-Haul, picking up my Honda Life, and then dropping the trailer off at the hotel? Once I had the key, I just had to hitch up and go. I’d be leaving for home late, but still not too far off schedule.
I thought this was genius, so I canceled the tow, asked Diane to have the key driven down from Detroit, and got an Uber. I estimated that a round trip from the U-Haul store to Baltimore and back with a U-Haul would have been about 170 miles. U-Haul charges $1.09 a mile to use its pickup trucks. So, that would have been about $185.30. Toss in $20 for renting the truck and that’s about $205.30. I figured I’d rent a car hauler just to make things easy, which would have brought me to $260.30 plus tax and fuel. Not bad! That’s a price I’m willing to pay for messing up.
Unfortunately, this plan came off the rails almost immediately. First, I could not find any U-Haul “BP” pickup trucks available in the area. The next smallest truck I was able to rent that had a tow hitch was the U-Haul “TM” 10-foot cube van. Ugh, I wasn’t happy about this. Mileage on the TM trucks is $1.59 a mile and they tend to get much worse fuel economy. But fine, whatever, that was going to mean paying like $300 total, plus another $55 for the car trailer.
Oh, right, except for the fact that the U-Haul shops in the area also didn’t have car haulers available for the time I needed it. That’s when I had what I thought was a stroke of genius. Look, I already have a U-Haul car hauler on the back of the F-350. What if I detached that trailer, figured out a way to move it about 30 feet back, and then just hitched it up to the 10-foot truck? Shoot, I’d even save $55!
I figured that couldn’t have been too hard, so I got the 10-foot truck and got on the move.
If At First You Don’t Succeed, Fail Again
Once I arrived at where the F-350 was stuck, I turned on the U-Haul’s hazard lights and began inspecting the situation. The first bit of good news was that my makeshift sunroof had worked. It rained the night before, but the rain was light enough that the water didn’t get through the pathetic barrier, and the interior was safe.
Back to my trailer problem, I figured I had about two choices. I could detach the U-Haul trailer from the Ford and then use Mercedes power to move the trailer back. Unfortunately, I found that Mercedes power was good for about three inches at a time. It would have taken forever for me alone to create a gap large enough for the U-Haul truck to fit into.
I looked at the truck, and then back at the trailer. I looked at the truck again, and then at the trailer again. It was then that I realized that I could replace Mercedes power with horsepower. U-Haul car haulers have safety chains on their rear ends. This chain was just long enough to reach a recovery hook or similar. The U-Haul had nothing up front to grab onto, but there were hard points in the rear, including the tow hitch.
Excellent! The only problem now was that the U-Haul faced the wrong direction. I figured I’d wait for a break in traffic, pull a quick U-turn, and then do the business. Unfortunately, I underestimated just how busy I-70 was going to be on a Friday morning. The break in traffic never came, even after 30 minutes of waiting. Alright, I had a plan B.
The paved shoulder terminated in a grassy area. Much of this was a ditch, but I found an area where the grass became perfectly flat. I walked on this grass, and it seemed pretty hard-packed enough for my maneuver. I figured I would stick the nose of the truck into the grass, leaving the rear wheels on the pavement where they would have the most traction. Then, I’d just inch the truck back and forth until I was facing the correct direction.
This plan was thwarted by the fact that the U-Haul had objectively terrible mirrors. I could barely see what was behind me, let alone be able to monitor a roaring highway behind me.
Fine, I reversed my plan, deciding to put the rear wheels into the grass, leaving the front tires on pavement and me with all of the visibility to monitor traffic. I mean, look, the traffic was crazy for the Google Maps car:
The next mistake in my train of thought came from executing this. Remember when I said that the U-Haul had terrible mirrors? Well, I used the mirrors to help me steer the truck into the correct patch of grass. Unfortunately, I aimed poorly and put the rear wheels down a tiny slope into the grass. I missed the mark by about 10 feet.
Thankfully, I didn’t completely screw up. My logic of keeping the front wheels out of the grass worked. The truck had more than enough traction to pull itself out. Perfect. I waited for the right lane to clear out, then went for it. As I was pulling out, my eyes spotted a Chevy Tahoe that had wandered from the left lane, across the right lane, and into the rumble strip on the shoulder. I couldn’t see the driver, but if I had to wager a guess, they were distracted. I waited for a second before reacting. Then, when I feared they were going to hit me, I put the truck into reverse, drove it fully into the grass, then stomped on the brake. The Tahoe narrowly avoided wiping out the F-350.
The frustrating thing for me was that I had almost completed my maneuver. All four tires were back on pavement!
Now, I was in trouble. I had a feeling that the U-Haul having its huge V8 engine over its front tires was going to be bad for traction, and I was right. The front end sank down past the top layer of grass and found some mud. The rear wheels had traction, but they couldn’t dig me out of the hole.
I proceeded to spend maybe 30 minutes driving the truck back and forth, trying to rock my way out like I would while off-roading. I tried to help myself by throwing boards and sticks down in front of the tires. All I achieved was throwing the U-Haul sideways. I even dumped my clothes and toiletries out of my gym bag and tried to use it for traction. None of it helped dig the front end out of the muck.
Eventually, I came to the realization that there was no way I was getting out of this myself. I then glanced at the F-350, which had to be no more than 100 feet away. In the span of about 10 hours, I managed to get two trucks stuck in about the same place, and I was no closer to getting to the port. Heck, I basically just pre-paid $300 to get the U-Haul stuck in mud. I screamed and cried for I don’t remember how long. “How could I be this much of an idiot?” I thought. I then thought that I didn’t deserve anything good that had happened to me in life up to that point. I mean, just look at what I did.
Eventually, I got out of the U-Haul and made a sad march to the F-350. I weighed calling in roadside assistance from my insurance versus calling U-Haul’s roadside assistance. Either way, I had to own up to some outrageously stupid behavior.
Just as I was about to pick up the phone and call my insurance, I heard the sound of a large diesel engine idling nearby. My jaw dropped as a glistening AAA truck had magically appeared behind the F-350. He saw me doubly stranded and offered to winch me out. Hot darn, maybe this day isn’t a total fail, after all!
The AAA guy assessed the situation and then told me he’d do it for $350. Ouch. The last time I had a vehicle winched out of a situation like this, it cost me only $108. But, there was a pretty big difference between now and when I got winches out of a hole in Florida. When I got stuck in Florida, I had the luxury of calling a tow truck and then waiting three hours for it to show up.
This guy was right here, right now, with a winch ready to go. He had me hooked, figuratively. Had I sent him away, who knows how long it would have taken for help to show up again.
So, I held my nose and agreed to the winching. The AAA guy perfectly illustrated just how barely stuck the U-Haul was. It took him all of two minutes to free the truck. There was no drama, no damage, and no struggle.
The AAA guy, who was built like The Rock, then helped me out by using his huge muscles to manhandle the U-Haul trailer 30 feet in maybe just 10 seconds. It was shocking how easy he made moving it.
I correctly guessed that about 30 feet was needed. I swooped in with the U-Haul behind the still-stranded F-350, hitched up, and hit the road. After tax, I paid $371 to free the U-Haul truck I stupidly got stuck with. But hey, at least I was finally headed to Baltimore.
Earlier in the day, I had checked the forecast. It was hot and sunny, but the forecast called for heavy rain in the evening. I considered driving the U-Haul to Walmart and buying a tarp to cover the F-350 with. However, it was estimated that the key would be in Hagerstown by 3 p.m., or long before the rain would get there. So, I marched on to Baltimore.
Picking up the car went swimmingly well. I got my port escort, drove in, got my paperwork stamped, loaded up, and rolled out. Obtaining the car was thus far the easiest thing I had done in the past 12 hours. I desperately needed a win, too, so it felt really good.
I love driving around the Port of Baltimore. You get to see some awesome ships and some really cool cars. If the win didn’t have me feeling good enough, seeing all of these sweet cars and trucks really brought up my spirits. Sadly, I didn’t really have enough time to take it all in.
In theory, all I had to do now was drive back to the hotel, drop the trailer, return the U-Haul, get the F-350 key, and then get back on the road. I spent a ton of money to get here, but things were finally ‘coming up Milhouse!’ Or, that’s what I thought.
As I left Baltimore, I noticed dark clouds in the distant sky. I flipped open my weather app again and noticed that most of Maryland was either under some kind of Tornado Watch or Severe Thunderstorm Warning.
Centering my app on Hagerstown resulted in my reborn enthusiasm sinking back into dread and despair. However, there was still a chance to beat it. In fact, Ford’s guy was scheduled to be there before I got back, so everything might go well. Besides, the storm was still far enough away from Hagerstown that I thought I had time to pick up a tarp, anyway.
For now, I was looking down an hour’s drive and now what felt like a potential race against the clock. That will be a story for part three.
I feel like these stories should have a lesson of some kind to teach. There are a lot of criticisms I levied against myself here. I went forward with a plan after multiple elements failed to come together. I then tried to rescue the plan with a dangerous maneuver. Sure, the maneuver almost worked, but as the Tahoe driver illustrated, I could have also gotten harmed, or worse. You can’t enjoy a cool car if you’re not alive to drive it. I then failed to plan ahead, expecting that everything else would work out despite at least 12 hours of evidence showing that some sort of bad luck was following me. Finally, I tried to do all of this on four hours of sleep, with a totally and completely fried brain, and in an absolutely broken emotional state.
If there’s any takeaway here, it’s that you shouldn’t do anything that I did here. I’m lucky to be alive and have lost only time and money. It might also help to bring a friend or spouse along because two brains and sets of muscles are better than one in a situation like this. At the very least, I’m being a little nicer to myself now. There’s no help in destroying myself over dumb mistakes.
I’m kind of glad my phone is a key. But there are a ton of downsides to that. Like losing/breaking it is a big freaking deal. At least the NFC still works when the phone is off.
This is patented Autopian/Jalop…
1. I did something stupid.
2. I didn’t die, somehow.
3. Here’s a cool story – enjoy!
Very relatable for us everyday auto-geek Jills and Joes. Glad you’re safe and it’s grist for the journalistic mill.
(Also – I lose my fob less than keys, because it never leaves my pocket.)
I just hope hte Honda proves to be worth all of the effort to import and retrieve it.
You give me hope. I always hesitate to try something on my cars/motorbikes/kids that I’ve never done before because there’s a chance it will turn out embarrassing. Then Autopian reassures me that, yeah, totally, it can turn out disastrously and publicly wrong and likely will. But I won’t be the only one. So next time I’m just gonna do it.
Embarrassment is a part of life. The other day I decided to go kayaking, so I loaded up and went to the lake. I was ready to get on the water when I realized I left the paddle at home. Everyone at the boat launch got to watch me put everything back and leave, no doubt thinking I was a moron. They weren’t wrong, but nobody got hurt and I’ll not forget again. Take the risks. You might look foolish, but nobody looking hasn’t done something that didn’t work out at some point in their life.
One thing I tend to remind myself of in situations like that- most people are so busy worrying what others think about them to even think anything about anyone else- so I doubt anyone thought you were a moron (unless you were shouting about forgetting your paddle, I suppose). They probably either didn’t notice, or figured you get a call from a friend or spouse and had to leave.
Terrible ordeal. Terrible. I cant help but think though…..something was trying to keep you from collecting the Honda.
My wife and I both worked in TV news back in the 90s and there were things so preposterous that happened and we just had a go to line… “You can’t make this shit up.”
Glad you survived.
Whoof. That’s a doozy. I have no criticisms that you haven’t already levied against yourself, only sympathies.
Having been stranded on the side of the road myself due to an unfortunate series of events, I feel for you and I’m glad this is all in the rear view now.
Ouch. That’s awful 🙁
Pro tip: if somebody offers to overnight something to you, always say yes.
Having overnighted an Audi radiator to a hotel in middle-of-nowhere West Texas on Christmas Eve, I can concur…
That sounds like a story!
Painful read.
Probably a dumb question, but wouldn’t a one-way trailer rental be both cheaper and easier?
A one way U-Haul car trailer rental is usually ~$700 – $1000 whenever I look it up.
Had the trip gone to plan, I would have paid just $110 for the trailer. I ended up paying $165. Even accounting for lower mpg (the truck did about 1 mpg worse with the empty trailer), hauling the trailer both ways is cheaper.
Yup…hate key-fobs, but despite my new 2022 Sentra having one, I have decided to act like it has a key slot. I make a deliberate habit of always putting the key into the little cubby on the drivers door every time I get in. I pretend it’s like the ignition cylinders of old. Also means it’s hard for me to forget because as I go to open the door, I see it every time…
Huh. Yet ANOTHER reminder to get that replacement second fob made.
Seriously, really need to take care of that.
Dude/dudette, now you got me invested in your story. Do it today! I don’t want your next comment on part 3 to be a similar tale of woe.
I just sent an email to the guy I bought the van from, who had the fob cloned for a spare when we purchased it (used). They used a 3rd party guy (not a Chrysler dealer) so I asked for that guys info.
So it is in motion!
I have no idea how expensive/effective it is, but there’s a vendor at the “local” Costco, with a tent in the parking lot, who offers to duplicate your key/fob.
Finally, it’s someone other than me who is caught in a cascade of missing keys. I’m not alone. One time I lost the keys to my race car during a race. Eventually discovered it was in my pocket. Sigh.
Man, the anxiety of leaving a 6 figure truck on the side of the interstate with the windows down and unlocked…the thing would have been stripped for parts in my city.
So that’s at least 2 Autopian staff that have gotten a U-haul very stuck in the grass… Are there more?
Hey, that was my line… And me riding the first UHaul out of the mud.
I just drove that between my home in NW PA to Ocean City, Maryland (yay, family vacation !) and the worst bit of it was 70 in Maryland by the Hagerstown exits. Terrible drivers that can not maintain speed or have any semblance of lane discipline
Rolling my eyes about that. They’re bad, but I-81 South of Harrisburg is usually worse.
“[H]ow many times I failed while trying to perform the simple act of driving 773 miles from Illinois to Maryland to pick up my 1997 Honda Life”
(Puts on sunglasses) One could say that’s…life.
The very fact that we’re reading part two of a three-parter is in and of itself reassuring in that it tells us you survived to write the articles. That’s what matters after all, that you’re alive and well (at least relatively speaking, hopefully you won’t have too many nightmares) so it’s all good and we all get to read the articles and learn something about…life.
We are lucky to look back and see overriding stupidity. The worse the dilemna the better the story gets with age. I bought a VW cabriolet on eBay almost 20 years ago. Sight unseen but trusted the seller. Flew from Milwaukee, got to the seller late in the day. The car had shit tires. Drivers seat was out of whack. But true to the advertising no rust. 48,000 miles on an 86 Wolfsburg Started driving back, got lost but made it out towards Connecticut. A tire blew. Wrenched the old donut in a parking lot of a cheap hotel. Spent the night there. Next day on the road. Somewhere in CT smoke/steam is coming out of the engine bay. No I am not a mechanic. The gearhead gene went to my oldest and my youngest brother’s. The oldest, aeronautical engineer, lived in Somers CT. He was home. I limped there. We fixed it enough to get me on the road and I had the best weekend ever with my brother
I drove that thing straight through to home. Indiana and Illinois had downpours. Yes it needed a new convertible top. But here the tale gets weird. I’m through Chicago going back to Glendale WI and I seems the engine is ‘rough’. Whatever, on I go all the way to my driveway. As I turn in the car wheezes coughs and dies. I glide to the end of the drive and park it. WTF. Later, like a week, it is at the mechanic shop. Seems like there was water in the engine via mixed with petrol there was a small hole in the filler tube and the spray from the tires during the rain infiltrated the gas tank. Some of the gods were on my side, some were not. I got the best weekend with my late brother and as idiotic as I was the car is still with me. Not that I’m a believer, but I’m sure he is laughing his butt off at me wherever he is.
Honestly I love this story. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks, It goes on: finally restored it and was going to give it my daughter at 16. (OMG 16 years ago). On the way to the chiropractor we got t-boned by a fuckhead without a license without insurance and it was not his car. So over many years it has been getting redone. Someday I will drive this thing again and even though my brother (Fred) is laughing his butt off I will be smiling. I appreciate the read.
I read your first paragraph and knew this story would go better with a cup of coffee. I’m sorry for your troubles but what an article! I am entertained. I agree with your conclusion, always have a partner along. Even if they can’t do anything, an emotional support human is nice to have. Also, I still can’t get over that Uber driver leaving you on the road. A pox on him.
God this sounds awful and we are only at part 2. I guess it is a good idea to have a buddy even if just to talk while waiting. I do wonder why Ford made the decision to brick their vehicles without closing windows and sunroofs?
This is a good point. My wife leaves me in her 2020 Jeep Grand Cherokee all the time without the key fob (I’m driving and she has the fob in her purse/pocket). The Jeep lets me continue driving with only an occasional polite reminder that the “Key Fob has left the vehicle”, at least until I park and shut it off.
I feel like this story indicates an opportunity to have some sort of “I screwed up, I need help, anyone live near XXX spot?” message that could be sent out to Autopian members as an unofficial AAAish network. I.e., “my car is upside down in the ditch, anyone nearby who has a winch (and likes foolish adventures) to roll it back onto the road?”
Hell yes! Send up the BaT signal! We could call it, let’s see… Autopian Auto Assistance. What a fantastic idea for this already great community of car and truck people to become even greater!
Anyone receiving such assistance should guilt-tripped into buying (but not required to buy) an Autopian membership as thanks.
I’ve got a 3/4 ton truck and tow straps if anyone is in Minnesota Lakes country.
11/10 would help any Autopian out of a jam. Even the ones I regularly argue with in the comments.
Especially the ones you regularly argue with? So you have a captive audience to argue with as you unjam them? lol
Having experienced many cursed road trips over the years all I can say is at least you survived. PS I will have to politely decline any road-trip invitations from you going forward.
Yep, we’ve all been there… having to eat that metaphorical shit sandwich.
My worst is dead electronic fuel pump, 6 hours from home, on a busy street with my pants down around my ankles, getting lost in the desert missing my turn off and almost running out of gas and getting to the next state before hotel and returning the next day. I will take that experience over this one any day.
Um… how did the fuel pump failing cause your pants to be around your ankles?
On second thought, I don’t wanna know.
We lived in Denver. We were in Dallas on business with our van and cargo trailer. I’d parked the trailer in a separate slot at the hotel so we could use the van for a meeting. The van was stolen that night leaving us in Dallas with no way to tow the trailer. U-Haul doesn’t rent the pickups one way. Had to rent a 15′ box truck as that was all that was available. Cost a fortune in fuel on top of the rental. Our insurance carrier reimbursed $35/day.
Mercedes, your #1 takeaway should be to KEEP THE FOB ON YOUR PERSON 100% OF THE TIME!
Oooh, and here is the perfect solution for you! A small wallet that clips to your bra!
Good advice prior to the trip. My bet she already figured this out sometime around the median walk.
My wife has a phone case that doubles as a wallet and has a strap so she can hang it around her neck. She puts the strap through the key ring on the fob. It’s an interesting fashion choice, but she doesn’t lose things.
Mercedes, you may have done a public service – I just programmed my car’s app key into my phone – hopefully this backup system will never be used. And yes it required both keys in the car to program the app-key. Getting a new phone was a huge pain in the ass because of how much stuff now relies on my phone. The new phone isn’t much better than the old one (the camera is much better, but that is about it). No new phone for me until this one dies.
Just wait until you are out of the country and you break your phone only to realize that even the cellphone company requires 2 factor authentication through…your phone.
And you have one of those esims so you can’t just swap in a new phone.
Of course!