Nothing puts a damper on a vacation like realizing that your wallet or purse is missing.

Lost or stolen money and credit cards is bad enough. Without identification, though, you have to wonder what adventures await you at the airport as you try to catch your flight home.

Actually, it might not be as bad as you fear.

If you have lost your identification, you will be required to provide the document-checking officer with something to help in confirming your ID.

A letter with the address on it would work, or a copy of a police report if the wallet was stolen, says Lara Uselding, a Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman.

“Anything this person might have to help identify themselves would be very helpful,” she said.

Additionally, according to the TSA Web site, a passenger “may be subjected to additional screening protocols, including enhanced physical screening, enhanced carry-on and/or checked baggage screening, interviews with behavior-detection or law-enforcement officers and other measures.”

“Passengers whose identity cannot be verified by TSA may not be allowed to go through the checkpoint or onto an airplane,” Uselding pointed out.

Another course of action is to check with your airline.

One way to avoid potential hassles is to carry backup identification — that letter she mentioned, your passport, a Xerox of your driver’s license or government-issued ID. (For international travel, make copies of your passport.) Then keep this backup material — along with a list of emergency numbers, such as whom to call to report lost or stolen credit cards — in a separate location in your luggage.

The TSA list of accepted backup identification is at www .tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/ acceptable_documents.shtm.