Paperwork on flash drive. Good idea?

I plan on traveling to France for two weeks in the middle of October. I have scanned my passports, driver’s license, airline tickets and other papers and put them on a flash drive. I find that I need a 512mb drive to hold it all.

These flash drives (or jump drives) are about the size of my little finger and mainly plastic. It should be very easy to carry copies of all of my paperwork, in case I lose anything.

The only downside that I can see is if if I were to lose my flash drive or if someone were to steal it, which probably won’t happen, as it will be in my concealed wallet around my waist. I could also have my wife carry one for backup.

Does anybody see a downside to this? If I need replacement passports, the U.S. Consulate should be able to plug the drive into their computer and produce the paperwork in a few minutes. At the airport, the airline can print out copies of my tickets and just verify them on their computer screen.

Otherwise, I usually carry in my briefcase a large envelope with copies of everything.

DEAN AB-HUGH
Southport, NC