As many of you know low season is upon us and my $700 128 GB Nexus 6p smart phone recently got stolen by an “Evil Houdini. As one friend said after hearing my story, that guy is too good at his job. Thankfully I had 5 great people come to the rescue. Fou of them were willing to mule phones and the 5th was my wonderful Mom who wanted to make me feel better after being stung and put $300 in my Canadian bank account towards a new phone.

This is how my days went:

• Monday Sept. 19th – Sadly, my phone was stolen. I used music and my friend Aimee’s good attitude after just seeing her lose hers in Mexico, to keep me happy.
• Tuesday Sept. 20th – Had my phone still been with me I would have been editing the work pictures that were on it.
• Wednesday Sept. 21st – Would have used my phone to take Independence Day parade pics. Instead I stayed home and shopped online for a new one. I did get amazing video of the Electric Sky the night before and a few pics of the after parade party.
• Thursday Sept. 22nd – I totally would have started this write up it on my phone if I had one. Flip side I would not have had the idea to go 9 days phone-less if I still had one.
• Friday Sept. 23rd – 10:00 pm; I miss my brain training games. I am officially on team Belize for Elevate.
• Saturday Sept. 24th – Out for a walk and I would have made a note of something had the phone option been available.
• Sunday Sept. 25th – Muscle memory kicked in. The first thing I usually do after putting my things down when I walk in the house is take my phone out of my bag. Impulse kicked in but there was no phone to take out.
• Monday Sept 26th – Miraculously I did not think about my phone.
• Tuesday Sept 27th – Big excitement! My phone was delivered by my friend Kendall along with some treats I had ordered from Yandy. Love that online clothing store – they made it super easy for me to ship a fun Halloween costume and a tutu to two different mules.

Of course, I missed tinder a few times but that is what windows store desktop apps are for 😉 Overall after 9 days while I did miss my phone many times, I can honestly say it was refreshing to have a break. Many of us are way too addicted to our devices and do not give ourselves enough free time away from them.

Love my Google Huawei Nexus 6P with Spigen case and Nearpow glass screen.

Can You Pass This Simple Test?

If you know you are one of the technology addicts like I am, I challenge you to see if you can power down your smart phone for 24 to 48 hours. If I had to find a silver lining, my experience serves as a good reminder to take a break more often and reach for my phone a little less.

Stolen Phone Advice

While the following Act Fast on a Stolen Cell Phone was written more so for losing a Smartphone in Belize, there are some great tips that apply anywhere. There are also some really good links to beef up your phone security and how to track it down from your laptop.

How to not run out of data by DigiCell – I pay $39.99 BZ a month for 2 gigs.

My new DigiCell sim card with same number cost $11.25 with tax at Belize Telemedia LTD.

Featured image (at the top) is a Google Huawei Nexus 6P above courtesy of pcmobitech

A Lesson Learned

Do better next time. There are 3 things I learned in Renee Wentz’s self defense class that could have helped me prevent this. I highly recommend her course if you are in Belize Email me at tacogirlbelize[at]gmail.com and I can get you get contact. Cost: Girls age 7-14 yrs $15.00; 15+ yrs $30.00 and worth every penny (fee must be paid in advance).

• Have my bag fully closed even though it was blocked by my arm.
• Wear it to the inside of traffic while walking down the road.
• Wear it across my shoulder in case he had tried to grab the whole thing.

Had he been seconds slower I would have loved to shove or elbow the thief hard and knock him off his bike.

Basic Self Defense

Here is a bit more on what I learned in self defense with teacher Renee Wentz, an 11 year black belt in Taekwondo. She gave us a safe place to practice and taught us some solid moves and tips to protect against stranger danger of all kinds. We learned everything from how to defend ourselves against someone coming at you from behind, to a person attacking you with a machete or a gun and everything in between.

Carry yourself in a fearless aware manner; head up looking around; strong body. Remember to trust instinct if you think something is not right and act accordingly.

5 Fingers of Self Defense Martial Arts Camp

• Think, observe, be safe – Becoming too routine creates un-mindfulness and provides opportunity for thieves.
• Yell – Make noise to create awareness.
• Run – Get to a safe place.
• Fight – If you have to, fight back hard.
• Tell – Always report your incident to the police.

Big turn out for a self defense class with Renee Wentz from Belize City.