I lost my AirPod case in Dublin last month. Or so I thought.

Usually, when you lose a piece of tech, it simply vanishes: a static casualty of a busy day. But thanks to the “Find My” network, this wasn’t an ending; it was the opening chapter of a bizarre travelogue. A few days after a notification popped up. The case was active. It had been located in an apartment block in North Dublin.

40 Seville Pl , Dublin , Ireland

A few days later, the dot moved. It didn’t just move across town; it moved across the continent. My AirPods popped up in Spain specifically, a small town near Toledo, just south of Madrid. This wasn’t a romantic weekend getaway. Toledo is a logistics hub, filled with warehouses and distribution centers.

Calle Real 7 , Toledo, Spain

Then things escalated.

Costa Rica appeared on the map. At this point, it was no longer lost. It was traveling. While I was working, sleeping, a small white plastic object was quietly crossing the atlantic. It had traveled over 8,500 kilometers.

Via 104, San Jose , Costa Rica

The Journey in Maps #

The Mechanics of Movement: The Grey Market #

Watching this journey unfold forced me to ask: How does this happen?

My AirPod case wasn’t taking a scenic route; it was moving through an invisible, highly efficient underground supply chain. The “Find My” network inadvertently created a map of the global grey market, turning a piece of stolen (or found) plastic into a tracker for the flow of illicit goods.

The specific route residential Dublin to a Spanish warehouse, then straight to Central America suggests this wasn’t just “lost luggage.” I was watching the global secondary electronics market in action.

Apple accessories are high-value, portable currency. My case was likely aggregated in Europe, consolidated in a logistics hub near Madrid, and exported to a region where import tariffs make official tech expensive. The “Find My” network didn’t just track my device; it inadvertently mapped an efficient, invisible underground supply chain moving illicit goods across the globe.

Tropical Retirement #

There is something both unsettling and oddly poetic about this. We design tracking systems to recover things, but often, they just serve as proof of how far our possessions can go without us.

My AirPod case has now seen more of the Atlantic than I have this year. While I look out at a grey Dublin sky, my case is enjoying the Costa Rican warmth.

I choose not to imagine it in a dusty resale shop, but rather living the Pura Vida lifestyle resting on a sunny table near a beach in Puerto Limón.