Last week, the kids and I escaped to California's Sierra for two nights. We stayed with friends at their cabin on Silver Lake, a quiet spot tucked behind Kirkwood Ski Resort. Here, we made homemade fishing poles from sticks, paddled a canoe to an island, and feasted on fresh rainbow trout. We also did a whole lot of nothing.The trip was peaceful because we were amidst nature and even more so because we were without Internet or phone service. In fact, the cabin didn't even have electricity. After three technology-free days, I realized that a vacation is much more relaxing when you're not receiving calls from your boss or reading news stories online.
For many of us, it's unrealistic to give up the Internet and the phone while we're traveling. Some of us have to check in with the office on the road (I certainly do) while others want to get online to send emails to friends, browse The New York Times, or look up restaurants in their destination. But on this last trip, I learned that it's important to set boundaries while traveling—because you're really not getting away from it all until you turn off the TV, the laptop, the cell phone, the pager, and the Blackberry.
Here are some tips for turning off technology on your next vacation. If you plan ahead and if you're disciplined, it's actually possible.
1) Talk to your boss and coworkers. Set strict boundaries around when the office can contact you. Maybe you request that they call between 3 and 4 p.m. every day or only if it's an emergency or not at all. And who says you have to tell them that your hotel actually has Wi-Fi?
2) Print out trip details ahead. Research your destination before your departure so you don't spend your vacation looking for things to do online. Also, print out your airline information, Map Quest directions, hotel reservation.
3) Ban the TV. Some hotels might remove the TV from the room for you, or you could cover it with a blanket. Out of sight, out of mind.
4) Pack lots of books and a deck of cards. What will you do with your free time if you're not browsing the Internet? Dig into a good book, play a game of Gin rummy. And there's nothing wrong with staring into outer space.
What do you do to unplug on vacation?
3 comments:
great advice!
Hi Amy, Marianne from www.mariannecushing.com.
Every summer we travel with a family who is determined to ban the TV, but my TV-addicted family fights it every step. We also get twitchy if there is not internet access... for me I like to unwind by posting pics and daily journals onto my blog before the others wake up. But, it's also important for me to get unplugged. Here are some of my favorite ways to get away from it all:
1) Plan a daily outing with the family, usually involving physical exercise, such as kayaking, hiking, biking, long walks - gets us away from technology and we feel less guilty when we are indulging on local fare for dinner.
2) Have a happy hour every night before dinner - it gives everyone an opportunity to say what they did that day, or what their favorite part of the day was, and what they want to do the next day. Also, it can be a good time to rest and read a little before mealtime.
3) If you are at a rental home, cook with each other. You can't surf the internet while you are grilling or making salad, etc.
Hi,
Nice tips for turning off technology on next vacation. Great advice..
Thanks for sharing ..
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