Royalton, VT (AP) — A Vermont teen’s message in a bottle that traveled over 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) to the Azores, a small Portuguese archipelago, has received a response back.
Sean Smith, now 16, sent out a message in a bottle in 2018 on Thanksgiving day with his family in Rhode Island, the Valley News reported.
Smith left an email address on a note in case the bottle was ever found.
Three years later, the message was found by Boston-born Portuguese teen Christian Santos. Santos said he often picks up trash floating in the water out of respect for the environment. He fished out the Powerade bottle and followed the instructions to message the email address, the newspaper said.
Forgetting that he even sent out the bottle as a child, Smith also forgot the email password. Smith discovered that Santos found his bottle through a post on Facebook made by Christian’s mom, Molly Santos.
The teens met over Zoom for the first time on Thursday, the newspaper said.
Smith said they both plan to stay connected.
