It happened in slow motion. I was on a paddleboard in the ocean off the coast of Panama. I was surrounded by crystal clear blue water and the laughter of my friends. One minute I was asking my friend to take a photo of me and the next – plop – my phone slipped out of his hand into the ocean.
Just like that. Gone.
As soon as I saw it hit the water. I dove down to grab it but it slipped through my fingers and sunk to the bottom. When I came back to the surface, my first instinct was to panic. Having no phone in a foreign country would be scary. But I took a breath and instead of panicking, I thought of how to solve my problem. I asked the boat captain for goggles, while another person on the trip dove to try and find my phone. After 10 minutes and countless dives, he found my phone! I was excited to finally have my phone in my hand, but was quickly worried if it would work again. My phone was 15 feet underwater for 10 minutes. I rinsed the salt water out of the speaker and ports. Then let it sit in the sun for the rest of the day. To my surprise, my phone still works.
So if you are heading on a study abroad and may be doing water activities, I suggest you get a Waterproof Phone Pouch. But most importantly if something unexpected happens, do not panic. Take a deep breath and come up with a solution. Sometimes these unexpected events make the best memories that years later you can laugh about.
