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While most travel is still limited, this small problem identified by Tobias Baer’s article may still be an issue for many suit-wearing globe trotters. Fortunately, he provides a simple solution.

Sometimes good risk management comes down to doing very practical, even banal things. It would be both ironic and tragic if you are, say, one of the world’s preeminent risk management professionals, constantly circling the world hunting down complex financial and operational risks, but your activities suddenly get derailed because you are run over by a bus or are grounded because your passport is stolen. The latter is exactly what happened to a colleague of mine when the bag containing his passport was stolen at, of all places, Geneva airport. Yes, airside!

This obviously should not happen – storage of valuables is exactly what cargo pockets are for. The complication for many professionals is that they are condemned to wear what must be the worst and most ridiculous piece of clothing on earth: the business suit!

Now, if ever a consultancy had been engaged to guide business people on the choice of apparel, one would assume that of the many options considered, they would cross the suit off the list first. It is unreasonably expensive compared to most other options; most suits require constant care because of their incessant tendency to wrinkle (which also means that they cannot be stuffed in a duffle bag like your trusted gym suit); and it even cannot be washed. Even if you ran from gate J18 to gate D60 in Miami airport in 10 minutes flat and therefore drenched it in more sweat than what your gym clothes have soaked up in their entire life.

Suit jackets, of course, deserve particular blame – they are not only way too hot for many climates but because of their delicacy often need to be carefully carried slung over an arm when not worn. Which is the reason why passports put away in the pocket of a suit jacket have a tendency to slip out and go missing at some point (especially when running between airport gates – although another colleague of mine lost his passport already way before even reaching Warsaw airport).

Read the full article, How Do You Safely Carry A Passport in a Suit? (A rant and a solution), on LinkedIn.