If you travel, you’ve probably had that panicky feeling that you left your glasses, cell phone, wallet, or laptop somewhere. Maybe at the boarding gate or snack bar, or on a shuttle bus or airplane. So what should you do if you do leave something behind? Here’s how to improve your odds of finding lost items at the airport, courtesy of the travel experts at MSNBC:  

• Mark your stuff. Many items never get back to their owners because there’s no way to tell whose it is. So, write your name in your favorite raincoat, etch your name on your iPod, tape your business card to your laptop, and carry the serial number in your wallet.  
• Don’t freak out. Statistics show that most items are turned in by good Samaritans. In fact, an astonishing 95 percent of lost laptops are eventually returned to their owners.
• Remember that lost-and-found offices are not open 24/7, and people who find stuff are usually in a hurry to catch their own flight. So, they’ll probably give it to the first official-looking person they see at a car rental counter, an information booth, or a store or restaurant. So, it may take a while for your property to reach lost-and-found.
• If you lost your cell phone, call the number. Most lost-and-found desks leave phones on, so the owner can reach them and arrange to have the phone returned.
• Check the local rules. In some airports, anything found inside the terminal goes to the airport’s lost-and-found. In other airports, found items are held by the airline that rented the terminal.
• File a lost property report, fast. Most airports and airlines have phone numbers and other “how to” information posted on their Web sites to help get you started.