If I wanted freedom to make the most of life in Hanoi, the phone would give them comfort. I managed phone-less back in Ireland until about the age of 19. Messages were efficient, and I’d kick myself for accidentally going into a second message and eating away at my credit. Still now, living minutes apart, we check in on each other several times a day by text, with, I estimate, a hundred thousand messages having been exchanged between us. When I open the phone to a message about a jacket in lost and found, I see that Gemma is typing.

Source: The Irish Times January 07, 2026 12:24 UTC