When Panic Strikes: How a Lost Phone Led to a Turkish Adventure (and Solution!)

Andrea McEachron
Jul 18
2 min read

Storytime!

While out on an excursion in beautiful Bodrum Hills, Turkey, things almost went south. We were finishing up one stop and getting ready to hit another. This was a great group to be out with; everyone was friendly, welcoming, AND punctual. Our scheduled time to be back on the bus was 3:30. Everyone was back at 3:20ish. Suddenly a sis in the group could not find her phone. The panic instantly began. Sis had two friends with her, and they started calling her phone. 📱 Well, nothing was going through. They remembered her having it at McDonald's (they went in for cold drinks since it's baby HELL HOT 🥵 here) 🤯

So she jumps off the bus and heads to the McDonald's, praying the phone is there. Around five minutes after she’s gone, one of her homegirls gets a call. It was the security from a checkpoint they had to go through to get to a shopping area. They had the phone 📱.

Her homegirl jumped off the bus and headed to the other spot to grab the phone.

So…. I’m like, “How did they call her? ” “Was her phone not locked? ” Well, security knew how to get to her emergency contacts from a locked phone. Security call through WhatsApp. Disaster avoided.

Morals of the story:

1. Set up your emergency contacts in your phones.

2. Use WhatsApp when traveling, especially internationally.

Have you set your emergency contacts yet? Don’t wait for a crisis to wish you had.

Whether you’re jet-setting or just vibing ’locally, make sure your phone is ready in case of an emergency. This 2-minute setup could get help to you (and alert your people) even if your phone’s locked.