The internet is full of travel tips, tricks, and hacks that promise to make trips stress-free, and Globe Aware volunteers often find these especially helpful. Here are some tips to help you when you’re locating lost devices abroad.
The easy travel hacks that can help reunite you with your lost phone and camera
By Marti Stelling
Oct 29, 2025
MSN
The internet is home to no shortage of tips, tricks and hacks which promise to make your travels stress-free.
On the social media site Reddit, there is an entire discussion page for people to share these tips and ask for advice.
One user shared a post offering their advice for locating lost devices while abroad on the subreddit r/Travel Hacks.
The user wrote: 'I've lost my iPhone before, but fortunately, I had a travel buddy. From that experience, I now change my home screen.'
The user recommends using Google Translate to write a simple message in the language of the country you are visiting, such as 'If found, please return to [hotel name]'.
Then, screenshot both the translation and the English text and set this as your lock screen while travelling.
Easy travel hacks that can help reunite you with your lost phone and camera.
This means that if somebody picks up your phone, they will see this message.
Alternatively, the user recommends writing a handwritten message with this information and putting it inside your phone case.
'It takes some fine-tuning to get the words to fit and make sure you do a test,' the user wrote.
Some studies suggest that around one in five travellers have had a phone stolen or lost on holiday.
It comes as earlier this year, consumer group Which? found that less than half of those who had lost a phone on a flight said it had been successfully returned.
One Reddit user commented on the thread: 'I typed my email address over my background photo - it resulted in my phone being returned to me, just had to use my friend’s phone to check my email.'
Another wrote: 'I'd also add something like "Will provide $100 reward for return of this lost phone."
'The amount should be higher than what someone would get selling a used phone.'
Offering advice for Samsung users, one commenter highlighted that you can add a customisable message at the bottom of the lock screen with contact details for reuniting a lost phone.
'I do something similar on all of my camera memory cards,' added another traveller.
'A small image is loaded onto all my formatted cards that says, “If found, please email (email address here) or call me at (phone number here)".'
Elsewhere on Reddit, a user shared their advice for people travelling with cameras.
They wrote: 'I work someplace that gets a lot of lost and found items. I try and look through the cameras to see if I can find any identifying items.
'If you just take a quick picture of an email address you can be reached at, it would be much easier to return your camera to you if you lose it.'
