While I was in Reston, Virginia, someone in Brooklyn, New York, got their hands on my debit card info and decided to make free with my funds. Thankfully, my card company caught on pretty quickly, and I was contacted to verify my transactions within 24 hours of the card being used. Shoutout to SEFCU for taking care of me and my money--they sent me the paperwork I needed to report the transactions, and helped me close down my card right away, and I'm very grateful for their quick work and helpful service team.

However, this happened on a Tuesday, and I was in Virginia. I wasn't going to be back in New York until Saturday, and I didn't have time to take out any money, which left me with about 20 bucks for the next four days. I was staying with my boyfriend, helping him get settled in his new apartment, so I had housing and food and all that good stuff, but my plans for the next three days were ruined.

I had been going to check out the amazing variety of shopping options in the Northern Virginia (NOVA) area, perhaps whiling away my time at a movie or a bookstore while my boyfriend was off at work all day. With no debit card, and no one to keep me company, I basically resigned myself to enjoying Netflix and maybe baking some brownies for the next three days.

That's when Pokémon Go saved me. I had been playing on and off for the past few days, while my boyfriend and I were frantically running errands, shopping for apartment basics like food, furniture and lighting. Once I dropped him off at work that Wednesday, however, I found myself with a car, a smartphone and about nine hours of free time. That's when it occurred to me that NOVA is full of PokéStops and Gyms, and I decided to see what the local PokéScene was like.

I am here to tell you: the NOVA PokéScene is awesome. I ended up at the U.S. Geological Survey the first day, and it was amazing. I'm a bit of a geology nerd, so checking out all the local rock samples while spinning PokéStops and catching my first Scyther was the perfect way to spend two hours. Yes, I actually did walk around--basically in a circle--for about two hours, doing nothing but playing an app and listening to music. It was fun, it was exercise and best of all, it was free.

The next day, I went to Brown’s Chapel Park in Reston, just a few minutes from my boyfriend's apartment. It was lovely, full of small children at the town day camp and Magikarp. Again, I wandered for about two hours, enjoying the fresh air, the sunshine and free entertainment. It was here I first battled at a Gym, despite my being level 15 at the time; it was this Gym where I won my first victory.

The third day I needed to entertain myself, I headed for Reston Town Center, home to many high-end shops and eateries as well as plenty of PokéStops and Gyms. I filled my bag to bursting with PokéBalls as I wandered the streets, eating a Starbucks breakfast sandwich bought with borrowed money while I caught Rattatas for free.

In my lack of funds, I found freedom. I had to find something to do other than mindlessly shop for things I didn't need or pay someone else to occupy my mind. Playing a free smartphone app gave me an outlet in a time of stress and isolation, and it took me places I wouldn't have gone without the incentive of those PokéStops and far-off Slowpokes. I wandered down town trails, which are everywhere in NOVA; I sought out the town park and the Geological Survey.

Those three days could have been lonely affairs spent indoors with my laptop, spent mindlessly watching television and worrying about the forms I had to fill out to deal with my debit card hack. Instead, I spent hours each day walking outside, exploring the area and meeting new people. My FitBit told me I hit 10,000 steps for each of those three days. I leveled up in the game and hatched plenty of eggs. Even if it was meaningless, it felt productive and fun.

So make fun of Pokémon Go if you want to. Call it "a seriously deranged concept" and tell me that it "can be harmful to [my] health." And yes, the update was frustrating as heck and I'd love for the game to be fixed and improved. But when I was far from home and dealing with a very stressful situation, it gave me a reason to get out the door and keep moving. So thanks, Pokémon Go. You're a real pal.