Monday, March 23, 2015

Not Having A Phone on Vacation is the Best Thing Ever

So this past spring break, I actually went on vacation. I was fortunate enough to head down the the Caribbean with two of my friends, where, as you know, cell phones don't get service unless you pay through the nose for international data. Now, to me, paying for that for a week is stupid, so obviously I just put my phone in airplane mode and let it chill (with the occasional iMessage text to let people know that I was alive aka my parents/girlfriend, since iMessage works via wifi and not data). Other than that, my phone was just sitting in my hotel room for the week totally inactive. Now, at first it's a little weird to not have something in your pocket after you've become so used to it being there, but after the first mild panic attack, it's actually kind of liberating. You can go and do whatever you want to do, nobody's surfing the internet to kill time or texting, and you're really just free from any external burdens or annoyances. Honestly it was the most relaxed I've been in a while, and that's apart from sitting on the beach doing nothing.

I wonder if it would be different if I were to try to do this for a week at home, once the responsibilities of school was over. I have a feeling that having the ability to use a phone and choose not to is much harder to do than simply dealing with not being able to use it, but I still may give it a shot. Just hope nobody tries to get in touch with me...

Sorry ( /you're welcome? )   for the short post, still getting back into the swing of schoolwork.

1 comment:

  1. I think the biggest difference is you're already "killing time," and I think it's telling that you use that exact phrase. For many people (I don't know about you specifically), a Caribbean vacation like that would be an excuse to do nothing for a week and just enjoy the nice weather, beaches, etc. You're paying a great deal of money to enjoy it so why would you "kill" that time doing something else? I know I have no desire at all to do anything on my phone when already partaking in a specific, goal-oriented activity (having fun/being happy is a goal!). It's times when I wish I could fast-forward the day, such as when waiting in line or taking public transit, that I'm most likely to use my phone.

    ReplyDelete