Friday Question #183
Do you ever completely “unplug” when you go on vacation? Why or why not?
When I was packing for my trip to NYC I realized I bring a lot of electronics and chargers with me.
Phones/WiFi:
Computers/Tablets:
Camera/Music/Watch:
(not pictured – blue tooth headset that I have not set up with my new phone yet)
So many people talk about their relaxing vacations where they completely unplug (no phone, internet, etc.) and I was thinking how that only happens when I am forced to unplug because of connectivity (when I am in Guttenberg, IA there is hardly any cell service).
I really like it when it happens! I love being away from electronics all day, and not even having a watch on to know what time it is… but if I am vacationing in a metropolitan city, I am going to at least have my netbook with me to check email!
(What I am bad at is staying caught up with Google Reader – I can really only read as many blogs as I do because of my long commute. No commute = no blog reading time. I will catch up with your blog though!)
So… I think I have a minor issue with being disconnected. Does anyone else?
Themocracy
When I go to the homeland, there is hardly any cell service too. I always feel like I am missing out.
When we do our beach vacations we tend to unplug. We still watch tv or dvds and take photos but we more or less ignore our phones (text occasionally). It might be different now that we have smart phones and can play games and whatnot on them but I already told Joey to plan to not be using our phone while we are in Hawaii except for the occasional text or to let our families know we are safe.
That’s a lot if stuff! I bring a phone and a tablet, but I don’t check stuff more than maybe a couple of times a day. The tablet is more for reading than anything else. I always need to know what time it is though!
Wow! That is a lot of stuff to bring! But of course, a lot of it is for your job, right?
I am not on a work trip, but I do bring my work phone. I only brought my work tablet to show my friend. Otherwise I would not have brought it!
Most vacations I don’t need to unplug, but I do somewhat. I still bring two phones, and often times a laptop. I would love to get to the point where I could only bring something like an ipad, but a) I don’t have one yet, and b) I often have a little bit of work to do and need a full laptop. I don’t check email as frequently, but I like to make sure I’ve cleared out my blog reading!
I can live without my phone, tv, internet on vacations..
If we go on one of our small town overnight vacations, I try to unplug. I would like to leave my smartphone behind, but it so useful for finding restaurants, directions, and such that I bring it. Definitely need a camera, though!
If that stuff is not all for work, couldn’t you trim down by having some things do double duty (e.g. tablet instead of tablet + computer, one phone, etc.)
Oh yeah – the smart phone must come, for the maps alone!
I brought the tablet to show a friend. I am not actually using it for anything useful. Ever (it’s for work). I always travel with my work phone though.
I hardly ever remember to bring my phone anywhere so I think I have the exact opposite problem!
I try to completely unplug once a month because I can get way too caught up in the online world that I need to center myself and forcibly step away.
The only time I’ve unplugged on vacation was when I was on my cruise but anytime we got cell reception, I turned it back on, lol. I think completely unplugging while on vacation is a good idea! A *true* getaway!
I hate the mere thought of being unplugged but once it happens I usually benefit from it.
I rarely completely unplug on vacation, but I definitely make a conscious effort to be on line less. Probably the last time that I totally disconnected from computer and cell phone was last January when we spent 3 days in Yosemite. While there was wifi in the lodges, it was great to not have a computer or to use the cell phone for anything except to check the weather.
One more thought on disconnecting – I do try to make Friday evenings a no (or less) electronics night which I really love!
When I *attempted* to go to Hawaii with Habitat for Humanity, we were told to bring minimal electronics due to the risk of damage…and the fact you’d barely have time to check anything anyway. Plus, 6 hour time difference and all.
I won’t lie–it made me more than a little panicky. That’s so messed up! I am trying to work on not “checking in” as much but it is sooooo habitual.
And this morning I was reading blogs and listening to music and this entry reminded me that I like to just listen to music and relax on the train. So I put my phone away until I got to work. Thanks. 🙂
I NEVER do, but when we went to Appalachicola, FL last year, it turns out we got no service at all. We were completely disconnected from the world. The only call i received was from my mom, and it cost a million dollars because of roaming, because she thought we were near Tuscaloosa when the tornado hit! Go somewhere in the middle of nowhere – it forces you to shut down!
I give myself permission to disconnect and most of my close friends/family know that about me. I might or might not check email/FB (on my phone) but that’s about it. (There is a nice Google Reader app for smartphones that helps w/blog reading if I am killing time/bored). I will not be calling, texting, etc unless it is very important.
When we went to Argentina we were pretty much forced to unplug…would check our personal emails once a day at the hotels and occasionally send a trip update to let our families know we were alive. Lack of technology was actually very nice at times b/c it really allowed us to focus on being in the present and WITH each other instead of the distractions.
I definitely have trouble disconnecting partly because of my job as an apartment manager. I can’t turn my phone off for days at a time in case a tenant needs something. I will be glad when this gig is done and I can ignore electronics when I want to!
Any time I’m out of my regular routine I inadvertently disconnect. Meaning, even if I’m at my mom’s I don’t spend much time on the computer and mostly use my phone to play games and not check email as often. It’s nice but, I agree, you feel rushed to catch up when you get back on!
I never really go on vacation, so that kind of gets in the way of unplugging on vacation. BUT, I do go away for long weekends and such, and I bring my phone, sometimes my laptop, but rarely use either. I just like to have them with me just in case.
First off, that is awesome that you have all of those devices and gadgets.
Secondly, I’m just as guilty at bringing a lot of electronics with me when I travel. My phone is almost always with me 24/7. But, I do find times to unplug when I travel to some places like the Grand Canyon or hiking in Arches National near Moab. Although that doesn’t include a camera, which I will take with me even when the cell phone gets left behind.
I have a hard time unplugging. Even when I am trying to go to sleep I find myself constantly checking my phone. I think I have a small addiction (seriously). I am so used to being on a computer all day for work/school that once I am disconnected from that I have to check my phone every 2 minutes to make sure I’m not missing anything important (i.e. emails, messages from friends). Sad life. I need to disconnect. Sometimes I wish I didn’t have a smart phone so that everything wasn’t always right there in my purse.
I have been leaving my iPhone in my purse a lot and don’t seem to check it, unless I am in transit.
I know what you mean about being at a computer all day! It feels weird to go home at night and unplug!!!
When I was on my honeymoon, my husband made me leave my phone at home. I wasn’t even allowed to bring it to the airport! I needed a calm vacation and it definitely helped with some of the stress from traveling.
Once every few months I leave my phone at home for the day and it feels SO WEIRD without it! I keep going to check it until I realize it isn’t there. I’ll rush home to see what I missed only to see there is maybe 1 missed call from my mom and 2 text messages. NBD…
I am extremely unplugged-challenged. When I don’t know what emails I’ve received after about two hours, I start going into withdrawal. If I leave the house without my Blackberry, I feel like a piece of me is missing.
Actually, I much prefer being able to check my email when I am on vacation for the practical reason that it allows me to keep things from exploding if I can clean it out at least once a day. There’s nothing worse than coming back from a vacation to an inbox of a thousand emails, literally. I always say that there is no true vacation, it’s just a matter of redistributing your work to the weeks before and after your vacation. Same thing goes with emails. =)
Woa girl, that’s a lot of stuff 🙂 I’m pretty good about paring down when I travel – I’ll even go sans garmin since the iphone pretty much covers all my bases. The only time I’ll bring my laptop is if it’s for work travel, truth be told, aside from weekend trips I haven’t been away much this year…but I think a week long with o connection would be good for my soul…must look into that!!
i only unplug when forced to by lack of service 🙂 however, i have NO PROBLEMS ignoring work emails / not being on twitter & facebook, etc. however, disconnect me entirely from my personal email? THE HORROR! 🙂
We both always have our phones and a laptop if we are traveling domestically, but if we’re leaving the states, the phones are turned off and put away. Nothing I can do on that phone is worth paying the international service charges!
YIKES, that’s a LOT OF ELECTRONICS. Unplug girl, you’ll feel withdrawal pains at first, but I bet you’ll have way more fun once you do!
I have issues with disconnecting entirely, too. The cruise last year was the closest we came simply due to lack of access. But we tried when in port.
What’s with the three phones?
I have a personal phone, a wifi device for my netbook and a work phone.
I think a cruise would be good for me! 🙂
I’ve answered it on my blog: http://benjabent.blogspot.com/2012/02/friday-question.html
This was a fun meme! Love all the replies!
I also bring lots of electronics with me but when I’m on vacation or “home” I don’t spend near as much time with electronics because I’m busy doing other stuff. I will usually wait to “plug in” late at night when everyone is asleep since I am usually up later than others. I know I’ll be completely unplugged on my vacation that is coming up though which will be weird but yet really nice. 🙂
On a typical vacation trip, I bring my computer, phone, 2 cameras and now maybe my Nook. I definitely don’t disconnect the whole time but try to (minus the cameras, I need those!)…haha. However, I will say that I have at least a week long, if not a month long time this summer when I will have those cameras but not any of the other things. It should be interesting!
I totally hear ya! When I begin packing for a trip, I start to freak out about all the chargers and cords and cable etc. And then I have to decide if I need my ipad and laptop — as I use them for different things. I always feel better when I bring less, but I just never know what not to bring. What usually happens is too that I am so busy vacationing that I rarely use my garmin or my computer and wonder why I even brought it. But you just never know. ha ha! I think unplugging is a great freeing feeling — but I still have access to blogs on my phone so I never feel completely disconnected.