But for one Edinburgh man, the sudden realisation that his passport was missing has ruined years of planning for a new life on the other side of the globe.

Andrew Cosgrove’s bags were packed, his lease terminated and his phone contract paid off when he headed out to join friends for a send off ahead of his move to Melbourne.

However, to his horror, Andrew discovered his passport missing after returning home on Sunday morning and has launched an urgent appeal to find it.

Andrew Cosgrove, left, lost the document on a farewell night out in the Capital before move to Oz. Picture: Contributed

The 27-year-old joiner had secured work in Melbourne and had put money down on an apartment, but it quickly became apparent that his dream of moving down under was fading.

Andrew tweeted a message urging people to be on the lookout for the missing document and the appeal was picked up by hundreds of users.

However, it was to no avail and Andrew now faces a nervous wait for a new passport before he can start planning for the move again.

He joked: “I’ve been building up to this for a year, my mates have all been calling me ‘Andy Ozgrove’.

Andrew cosgrove (white t-shirt) has worked for months to save for his big move to Australia. Pic: supplied

“I had a job secured in Melbourne, an apartment, everything was paid for, I’m not really sure what the situation is now.

“I was meant to fly out on Thursday, so I’ve lost quite a bit on the flights and after I cancelled my lease with the landlord, he found new tenants, so I’m not sure what is going to happen.”

Andy said he had explored the idea of getting an emergency passport, but working visa conditions prevented him from doing so.

The group were at the Shanghai nightclub before returning to a house party near Andy’s home in Saughton Mains in the early hours of Sunday morning. He believes the passport has gone missing between his flat and Stenhouse Drive, where they left a taxi.

And he admitted his social media appeal became so widely shared that people started recognising him in the street.

He said: “I’ve taken a bit of stick for it, but people I don’t even know are asking if I’m the one they heard about on Twitter.

“I was in Nando’s the other night and someone came to ask me if I had found my passport yet. Someone must have picked it up, handed it in somewhere, I’d like to know.”

He added: “It’s funny in a way, I thought it could only happen to me, but I really would like it back.”

Scottish man, 27, loses passport on leaving night out before big move to Australia