Traveling is the perfect opportunity to make once in a lifetime memories, but if you’re staring at your cell phone for the entire trip, you might miss some of the best that your destination has to offer. Taking a break from your phone, tablet, and computer while you’re traveling ensures that you won’t be distracted by work or other responsibilities at home. By staying off your phone, you’ll be able to fully immerse yourself in your travels. Here’s why unplugging is so important while you’re traveling.
You’ll be able to fully relax.
When you’re constantly fielding text messages, emails, social media posts, and other online distractions, you can feel like you’re on your guard all the time. While that might be fine during your normal routine, when you’re on vacation, you want to really relax and let your guard down. If you make an effort to unplug, you’ll be able to truly destress on vacation, and come back feeling completely refreshed. This is particularly important to keep in mind if you have a stressful job – you shouldn’t have to stay connected to work when you’re on vacation.
You’ll be able to connect with locals and other travelers.
If you have your head down in your phone, you might miss the potential for connection with the people who are around you. One of the most amazing things about traveling is the opportunity to get to know the locals in your destination. You might also have the chance to connect with other travelers who are visiting the area and make new friends. Put your phone down and talk to the people around you – chances are, you won’t regret the connections you make.
You’ll be able to live in the moment.
Social media has made it very difficult for us to stay in the present. Instead, we end up focusing on what’s happening in everyone else’s world and comparing our own experiences to theirs. Even if you’re having amazing experiences, going on social media can make you feel inferior or sad. The last thing you want when you’re exploring a beautiful new city or country is to be comparing your experience to other people. You can post your stunning beach pics later – for now, just focus on being truly in the moment and making these incredible memories. The Instagram likes can wait.
How to Unplug
If you’re struggling to stay off of your cell phone or computer on vacation, there are a few tricks you can use to make it easier. The most drastic option is to just leave your cell phone at home while you’re out and about during the day. However, if that’s too difficult, you can put your phone on airplane mode or even take your SIM card out when you want to avoid getting sucked into social media, emails, or texts. This way, you’ll still be able to access your camera to take photos, but you won’t get distracted. You may also want to consider leaving your computer at home while you travel, because it will lessen your chances of getting sucked into work or other distractions. Be sure to let colleagues know you’ll be unreachable, so they’ll be less likely to try to distract you. If you need to be connected for work, there are plenty of helpful shortcuts you can use. For example, you can set up your email so it sends an automatic response letting people know you are away. If you need to continue posting on social media, use an app like Planoly that will post automatically.
