Lost & found!

A lost & found story:

(Dedicated to ET & Norbert jun. !)

Some of you wondered what happened to me.

I did not get lost in Uruguay. In fact I found a beautiful country with it’s climate, friendly people, music, new friends, old friends, and horses…

I could have gotten lost there, but maybe the time was not yet ripe for me to stay away for a longer period of time.

I returned to Austria in the end of March after having traveled 5 months with my backpack & guitar.

I lost my phone in a strange way in a small “shanty town” lost in the dunes of the endless beaches along Uruguay’s northern Atlantic coast to explore playing in some bars. There is hardly any electricity. No lights on their pathways, some places lit with lanterns or candles. Suddenly my phone was GONE…

To be confronted with the loss of my communication line, all contact’s phone numbers and e-mail addresses was the first “shock” I had to absorb. I felt relieved that I had a handwritten address book with me, so I could get in touch with my daughter who blocked my phone and activated the search app… (we all have become too dependent on these small electronic devices!)

A few days later the dear folks of La Brujula guesthouse offered me the use of a phone.

20 days later, while I was staying in Montevideo with my new found “familia uruguaya” Javier & Silvana & sons, I suddenly got a message on my borrowed phone: “lost phone located”! I was far away from the area it indicated and had already overcome the loss, being thankful that all documents were “safe” in a “cloud”, my daughter Jessica had secured all photos of my exciting voyage and besides how could the “finder” use my phone when it was blocked with a code?

The next day I travelled to the country’s interior to stay on a horse ranch with Pablo, Sole & Ale. I experienced the Uruguayan way of training and caring for horses. They made me feel home. Pablo helped me to get in touch with one of my dearest long lost friends in Montevideo short before my return to the Capital.

So 1 month after the loss of my phone, I sat on the night bus to Montevideo, a message on the phone: hello? We found the phone of tom. Would you like to buy it from us? Etc.… I confirmed that I was indeed the owner of the found phone and that I would get in touch with them.

The next morning, I met my dear friend Bernardo again, having lost touch 33 years ago. He received me in his office where I told him the story of my lost phone and the folks who contacted me. He took my case and called these people. 2 days later, the day before my departure from Uruguay I picked up my phone from the postal service, packed in an original I-phone box, coming from a complete opposite part of the country from where I had originally lost the machine.

Lost & found!

My meeting with lost friends, my renewed love for the country of

Uruguay was more important to me than the loss of a phone!

I could not have felt more welcome and at ease!

My friends, I found you! I will return!