Writer: Helena Bergström
We were going to take the late-night ferry from Poland to Sweden after our trip to Usedom. We had checked out of the hotel, taken a taxi through two countries, checked in for the ferry and were just about to board... when we discovered that both our mobile phones were missing. One of them was located relatively quickly, but not the other. The gangway was about to be pulled away. What should we do? We decided not to board...
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Tired after many journeys
We are probably tired after all the travelling we did in the autumn. At least, that's what we think. The trip to Usedom in Germany was relatively quiet, but it was still a press trip, and when the last day was over, we perhaps began to relax... a little too much.
We had checked in to Polferries when we were shocked to discover that both Our mobile phones were gone. How was that possible? We started to panic and search around the terminal, and after a while we discovered that my phone was at the check-in desk, but not Peter's... Had he left it at the hotel or in the taxi?
We tried several times to call the taxi company, but we couldn't get through. We realised that it would be very difficult to miss the ferry, but maybe it would be yet more difficult to be without a mobile phone. We let them pull away the gangway and stayed in Poland ...
What do we do now?
Now we were in Poland, in the middle of the night, without Peter's mobile phone and without any plans for accommodation or travel home. We thought we needed to get back to Heringsdorf, where we had last stayed at Steigenberger Grand Hotel & Spa, to look for the phone.
The staff at the ferry terminal helped us book a taxi and we set off back across the border to Germany. We were in a rush and couldn't think straight... so now I've left my black fur hat at the terminal! How was that even possible...?
Back in Germany …
When we arrived at the hotel in Germany and were about to pay the taxi driver, it turned out that he did not accept card payments. ”Only in Poland,” he said, ”but now we are in Germany, so it's not possible.” We had to take an extra trip in the taxi to find the nearest ATM in town. In the end, it all worked out and we were able to pay!
Since we checked out of the hotel late in the evening, luckily our room was booked for another night. They hadn't had time to clean it yet, and we were welcome to return to the room at no extra charge. The staff were also very helpful in every way!
What about the phone? It wasn't in the room, not at reception, and not at the bar... We opened ”Find my iPhone” on Peter's computer and found it... just over a kilometre away. Time to go for a walk!
We walked for over 20 minutes in the pitch-black night and finally found the right ”spot”. We managed to get behind a fence and there it was... the taxi, with Peter's mobile phone in the back seat! We attached a note to the door with the text ”My phone is in your car”, along with our names, telephone numbers and hotel name. Then it was just a matter of going back and trying to get a few hours of sleep...
Should we get hold of the phone?
The next morning, we woke up early, despite having had little sleep, and hurried down to reception to ask them to call the taxi company, while keeping a close eye on the little phone icon in the ”Find my iPhone” app. No answer, no answer, no answer... and then they answered!
Half an hour later, the taxi driver arrived at the hotel and handed over the phone. Wonderful! Now it was time to sort out the rest... how were we going to get home?
Now we needed to arrange: taxi, ferry, hotel, train...
Our fellow travel blogger Eva, from Rucksack.se, We had booked a taxi from Heringsdorf to the ferry in Swinoujscie at 11:30. Perfect, then we could go with her! It was the same driver now, and he checked carefully with us: Do you have everything with you now...? Nothing left in the car?
We also booked another ferry trip, this time with Unity Line, and without a car it cost us no more than about 500 Swedish kronor for both of us to take the ferry, so it was a manageable extra expense. And what happened when we got to the terminal...? Well, there was my black hat, waiting for me!
But now we would arrive in Ystad in the evening instead of in the morning, and we would miss our train... We booked a hotel room for the night at Ystad station, where we have stayed before. Pleasant, convenient and reasonably priced.
What about the train? We were actually able to rebook! We got new train tickets for the next day, without paying anything extra. A little later than planned, but we are now on our way to Stockholm... and both our mobile phone and hat are with us!
How was Usedom? Very nice! But that's another story, which we'll tell you about another day. Have you ever lost something important somewhere while travelling?
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English (UK) 
Svenska
Anna Nilsson Spets says:
Oh my God, what a story... And on top of that, we're so dependent on our mobile phones, unfortunately.
No, I don't think I've ever forgotten anything valuable, just small things like a swimsuit last time.
7 December 2025 - 6:44
Helena says:
Yes, of course we are dependent on our mobile phones...! Everything would have been so complicated if we had lost them!
7 December 2025 - 10:30
Hannas krypin says:
Oh, what a mess. It's fantastic that everyone was so helpful and that you didn't have to pay any extra for the extra night at the hotel before you could look for the phone. Everything seems to have worked out for the best.
7 December 2025 - 6:55
Helena says:
We must say that many people were helpful along the way, especially at the hotel, but also at the ferry terminal, etc. We are very grateful for that!
7 December 2025 - 10:30
Anna i Portugal says:
Wow, what an experience, having to make quick decisions. So glad that everything worked out for the best in the end.
7 December 2025 - 8:21
Helena says:
The quick decisions were actually some of the hardest parts. Should we take the ferry or not...? Phew... 😉
7 December 2025 - 10:33
Anta Snaque says:
Sitting here thinking: It's lucky you're so well-travelled! Despite the mess, you're still taking it easy and everything will work out in the end. Even though I'm usually a fairly calm person, I would have just been rushing around.
I once forgot my handbag with my wallet, bank card, keys and other important items on a bus. I had another bag with me and just thought I wouldn't forget it... There was a ”little” (hm!) panic, but it all worked out in the end. I got hold of the bus driver through the bus company and he came by with the bag before I had to catch the next bus. But even now, 30 years later, I can still feel the anxiety I felt when I realised the bag was left on the bus. Ugh, what a nightmare!
7 December 2025 - 8:28
Helena says:
Thank you for your comment! In a way, we did NOT feel very well-travelled when this happened (i.e., how could we be so clumsy as to forget our mobile phone in a taxi?), but then again, perhaps being well-travelled means that you always think that everything will work out somehow... 😉
It's a shame about the bag you mentioned, but I'm glad it got sorted out before you had to catch the next bus!
7 December 2025 - 10:35
Anette says:
Oh, what a trauma!
It's so stressful and worrying when you lose important things, and your mobile phone is probably the most important thing you have these days.
My husband lost his mobile phone in a restaurant in Melbourne a few years ago, and we found it just like you did, using Find My iPhone.
I'm glad your trip ended well, in the end.
7 December 2025 - 8:55
Helena says:
Yes, it's really annoying when that happens. One way or another, it gets sorted out, but sometimes it can be more expensive, more complicated and take longer... Glad you were able to use Find my iPhone and that it got sorted out!
7 December 2025 - 10:36
Maria says:
Oh... It makes you realise how dependent you are on your phone! We usually watch Race Across the World, and they're not allowed to have phones. It can be really tricky without one. And nowadays, you don't have physical phone books with everyone's numbers in them either...
No, I don't know of any such trauma that we have experienced. It was just funny here in Sweden when the staff at a Bauhaus department store laughed and shook their heads when my husband ran around asking if they had seen our shopping trolley, which he had lost.
Merry Christmas, by the way!
7 December 2025 - 14:26
Helena says:
Yes, we are incredibly dependent on our phones! They contain our bank IDs, text message conversations, contacts, apps, passwords and God knows what else... Losing the shopping cart was a bit funny, though... 😉
8 December 2025 - 18:30
Eval8 says:
What drama! Lucky it worked out in the end. I guess you're home now.
Have a pleasant Sunday evening!
7 December 2025 - 16:58
Helena says:
Yes, it felt a bit dramatic... 😉 When you wrote, we were still on the train travelling through Sweden, but now we're home and everything went well on the last leg of the journey! Have a great week!
8 December 2025 - 18:31
BP says:
OMG!!!
All's well that ends well. Thank goodness, but what an ordeal. You will remember this journey for the rest of your life. Still, you were very lucky in your misfortune and everything ended happily.
I don't know if there are lanyards for mobile phones, but I think there are. I would probably get two of them – one for you and one for Peter...
7 December 2025 - 17:11
Helena says:
We definitely need senile strings!!! And yes, everything turned out fine in the end, but phew, what an ordeal...
8 December 2025 - 18:32
Carin Ager says:
It's great that you're sharing this. It could have been me who lost/forgot/missed it.
Wonderful that it worked out
There is a cord so that your mobile phone doesn't fall in the snow. Check it out, maybe it's something for you.
Have fun!
7 December 2025 - 18:48
Helena says:
Yes, might as well tell you... We don't do everything perfectly when we travel 😉 String may be needed!!
8 December 2025 - 18:33
Solan says:
Cords for mobile phones, what a brilliant idea... or magnets of some kind...
Lucky you seem to be Kalle Blomkvist types and can figure out where, when and how...
Welcome home to Christmas! 🎄
7 December 2025 - 19:11
Helena says:
Yes, we definitely need a solution... Phew! And thank you, we'll try to take it easy for a while... 😉
8 December 2025 - 18:33
bmlarsreseblogg says:
Oh my, what a mess! Your mobile phone has almost become your most valuable possession. At least I feel that a large part of my life is in my mobile phone. Luckily, everything worked out in the end and there are many helpful people along the way. We got into trouble once, but that also worked out well. On our last evening in Reykjavik, we went out to eat. When we walked back to the hotel, after about a kilometre, I realised that my shoulder bag with my mobile phone, passport, money, bank cards and everything else was still at our table. We rushed back to the almost full restaurant. Thankfully, it was still at our table, but we had so many thoughts on the way back...
7 December 2025 - 21:33
Helena says:
Mobile phones have really become important, for better or worse! It's hard to get rid of them! But yes, everyone around was helpful! And phew, I understand that it was tough with the bag in Reykjavik, glad it worked out in the end!
8 December 2025 - 18:35
Hanneles bokparadis says:
A little too exciting for my taste.
7 December 2025 - 22:13
Helena says:
Haha, yes, perhaps a little too exciting for our taste as well...
8 December 2025 - 18:36
Ditte says:
Phew! And making quick decisions is particularly stressful, apart from when the phone was missing.
I have a memory from Beijing, long before we moved there. Back then, mobile phones were hardly a thing, and in China, people paid with cash. They had two currencies, so it was important to bring dollars to exchange on the black market. The year was 1994. We had lunch at a French restaurant, and when we returned to the SAS Radisson hotel where we were staying, all our shopping bags were there, but my handbag was missing. Phew! And calling someone was almost impossible due to language barriers. But the hotel helped us. I had quite a bit of money in my handbag (mostly dollars) and some Chinese currency. We went back to the restaurant, but the handbag was not there.
Late in the evening, the hotel reception called to say that the bag had been handed in at a police station quite a distance away. The hotel booked a taxi and we went there. The police station was also a prison area.
Yes, I got the bag with all its contents back, and because I had a business card from the SAS Radisson Hotel, the restaurant employee and the police were able to call them. It was a completely absurd experience. I also wanted to leave a reward, something that was not customary in China at the time. But there, people were honest. It had a happy ending too. I often thought about this incident during the four years we lived in Beijing between 2007 and 2011.
8 December 2025 - 0:14
Helena says:
Making quick decisions at the ferry was probably the hardest part! It's interesting to hear your story from China! It's great that they were honest and that everything was still in your bag!
8 December 2025 - 18:37
JoY says:
What a thrill, and just when you had one foot on land and the other basically on the gangway, should you go or stay? You are seasoned travellers, but still. Nowadays, you have everything on your mobile phone. Lucky that everything worked out in the end and that you made it back to the marina.
8 December 2025 - 11:30
Helena says:
Yes, that situation, when we didn't know whether we would board or not, was the most difficult... But as long as no one is physically injured, everything will work out in the end!
8 December 2025 - 18:38
Marianne says:
What an adventure, and beautifully told too 🙂
Lucky that everything worked out and both mobile phones and hat came home with us!
8 December 2025 - 14:43
Helena says:
Glad to hear you liked how we told the story! 🙂 And phew, yes, everything worked out in the end!!
8 December 2025 - 18:39
Anita says:
But goodness me! It's like reading an exciting book or watching a film. Both mobile phones gone, fur hat gone, but in the end you were reunited with everything again. The ”Find My iPhone” feature is superb. The hotel room at Station Ystad looked really cosy.
8 December 2025 - 15:19
Helena says:
Yes, it was a bit like a film, haha. Quite difficult at the time, to be honest, but in the end everything worked out! We like Ystad station! 🙂
8 December 2025 - 18:41
Tove says:
I felt ”almost anxious” when I read it – what an event! It ended well 🙂
9 December 2025 - 21:10
Annika på Resfredag says:
Oh dear, we talked about this a lot in Uzbekistan – ”Has anyone forgotten anything!?” It makes for a funny story in hindsight, but yuck, standing there in the middle of the night. You really are SO vulnerable without a phone. How lucky that you found everything in the end. Now you can chill out until Christmas!!
10 December 2025 - 21:05
Lena - gott för själen says:
But that panic! What a pain in the arse! Fortunately, it was resolved fairly quickly.
Realised at the terminal at Arlanda that I had forgotten my hand luggage in the car in the long-term car park. Jumped into a taxi that didn't really know where that particular car park was. Then getting a driver in the car park to drive me to my car (no place you park yourself) was a stress just that. back to the taxi and back to the terminal. Time had passed so we didn't have time to use the lounge that we had luxuriated in.
Another time I forgot my system camera in a restaurant toilet in the USA. With all the holiday pictures in it. Found it out after about 30 minutes. Rushed in and had to wait for that particular toilet to be free. And yes, it was still there. Phew!
Hug Lena
30 January 2026 - 13:07