New Dutch phone

 I had had issues with my phone before, I only had it for about a year but it started to struggle to charge a while ago. I sorted that with a new cable. But just before I would travel abroad it gave me problems again. I cleaned out the charging port as well as I could, and set off. It still struggled!

I had a few issues with a malfunctioning phone. The first was: I had my train ticket on my phone. I had managed to get my hands on paper Eurostar tickets, but not the ticket from London to Bangor. 

The second issue was: I was going to see Koen, but we hadn’t agreed a time yet. But I hoped I could perhaps sort that from my mother’s iPad. 

The third issue was: the journey back. It’s a long ride! And it really helps if you can do a variety of things in the train. Read the newspaper, read a book, update one’s blog, send messages to one’s loved ones, do a puzzle… if the only things I can do are reading and doing the puzzles in the newspaper that gets really dull after a while. 

The first thing was the most urgent. But I had enough charge to send the PDF of my train ticket to my brother in law, who then printed it out. Stress over! But the other issues still stood, so I decided I might want to get me a new phone. And I had spotted a shop right behind Hilversum’s railway station. 

On Boxing Day I walked to the station. I had no particular train in mind; between Hilversum and Amersfoort they go so often, you can just get to the station at any time, and it will be fine, and I popped into the shop. And got me a similar phone to the old one. I a few minutes I was outside again! 

At my mum’s I tried to get my latest iCloud backup onto it. That was a bit frustrating but it worked in the end. It also involved me running through her house, looking for the router. My mum couldn’t quite remember where it was! Then it insisted on doing a long software update. That was done just before bedtime. And then it needed to install all apps. That took until the morning of my departure. All done! 

I didn’t really intend to get my next phone in the Netherlands, but it’s done now. I hope I’m now sorted for at least another year! And I hope this one has a longer battery life. But it’s quite nice this phone will be a bit of a memento of a family visit! And some weary people whose first customer I was, that drizzly Boxing Day, two hours after they opened the shop…

The old phone; my WhatsApp has already moved over