To disconnect or not to disconnect?

Source: Speak Up

THE NEW YORK TIMES

To disconnect or not to disconnect?

That is the question I struggled with before leaving on a week-long trip to Costa Rica.

      Even though there’s increasing evidence to suggest that digital downtime can provide a healthy break for our brains, the thought of not being in constant communication seemed almost too foreign, too scary to enjoy.

      As the days passed before my departure, I tried to decide whether I should simply leave my phone at home or bring it and hide it in the inside pocket on my suitcase. Typically when I travel my iPhone also functions as my camera and my camera and camcorder. But I worried that it would be hard to resist posting a particularly gorgeous photo to Facebook, Twitter, Tumbir and the likes.

      But in the end I didn’t need to worry about it – the decision was made for me. I wasn’t able to get an internet connection on my phone during the entire time abroad.

SHOCK!

      The first time I attempted to switch out of airplane mode, we were a few hours into a road-trip down the Pan-American highway, travelling south in search of a sunny beach.

      Feeling guilty, I switched on data roaming and tried to update my Facebook status to not our journey and received an error message. My mouth fell open and I put my phone away, disappointed. I tried to get online a few more times to check the latest on twitter, see if I was still beating my opponents on Words with Friends Each time , zilch Nada.

      After another day or two, the sites I usually check on a daily basis seemed like a distant memory I found myself easily resisting the temptation to photograph images of each colorful storefront and rocky expanse of golden beach. Without an online audience to immediately share it with, it seemed more worthwhile to simply admire the scenery with my travelling partner and local friends. On our fast day, after an afternoon of surfing in Montezuma, my friend asked me to take a picture of her drinking fresh coconut water, poured directly from its just-cracked green hull. But I couldn’t. I’d left my phone in our room, forgotten until that moment.

ON MY RETURN…

      On the trip back to New York, I was proud of the fat that I’d been reformed, reconditioned to no longer evaluate my experiences by the number of ‘likes,’ ‘favorites’ and ‘shares’ that each photo, update and tweet earned.

      That is of course, until I landed in Miami for a layover. I immediately took out my phone and began checking in, posting updates and missives to Twitter and sending a couple photos through to Tumbir. But I didn’t forget the liberating feeling of no access, the freedom from digital obligations. It’s a lesson I hope I remember the next time I take a trip, even if it’s just a lazy afternoon at the park in my neighborhood. Readers, how do you handle this? Do you find it hard to unplug when you go away, or is it a welcome break from the daily deluge of information? When taking a vacation, do you give your brain a break from technology as well? Or is digital downtime too difficult to maintain? Unless you’re on vacation, I want to hear from you.