I was flirting with someone who stole my phone and locked me out of Google. It destroyed my digital life and years of work.

• A thief stole Gary Nunn's phone in São Paulo and was able to lock him out of Google.
• Nunn tried for weeks to regain access to the account but has so far failed.
• He's now resigned to having lost 15 years of contacts, data, and emails.

I was days away from sending my agent the 35,000-word proposal for my second book when I decided to treat myself with a three-week adventure in Brazil.

There, locals repeated three words ad infinitum: mind your phone.