Breaking the tech habit when you travel isn’t easy, and perhaps leaving the phone at home is a little drastic. But cutting back on tech engagement when you travel is not a bad idea. Here are a few reasons to do so, along with tools to help you succeed:
Reasons to break the tech habit when you travel
1. Getting away from your routine and into a new environment can give you a fresh perspective on your life, but staying tethered to your phone is like keeping one foot at home. You’re not going to get that long view of your life that travel can afford if you’re checking in multiple times a day. 2. Any change of routine is great for stimulating creativity, but staying connected prevents your brain from reaping the stimulating benefits of new experiences. “Constant distraction and multitasking keeps us on the surface level of thought,” says Carolyn Gregoire, who co-authored, with psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman, Wired to Create: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind. “We’re not able to make those creative connections and mine the ideas that come from really getting into our landscape.” 3. If you’re traveling with loved ones, connecting over the experience should bring you together, but this can’t happen if everyone is peering at their phone. Burrowing into virtual fun is particularly tempting during long car trips (provided, of course, you’re not driving), but letting your mind wander as scenery spools past, having random conversations and, of course, arguing about music (and singing along), should be as much a part of road tripping as the destination.
Tips for cutting the tech cord
1. Plan ahead for minimal contact from your job. Put an auto-responder on your email and let colleagues know that you will respond only to the most dire situations. Anticipate problems and outline to your supervisor or colleagues how those should be handled. 2. If you’re traveling internationally and can do without an international phone plan, save the money and take yourself out for a nice meal instead. You can still connect to Wifi when it’s available, but you won’t be able to check in every idle moment.
3. Turn off all chimes, buzzes, bells, and visual notifications. Cutting the tech cord will be far less difficult if it doesn’t require the willpower of ignoring notifications.
4. Before taking a photo, ask yourself if your photo will do the scene justice or if you’re better off giving yourself over to the full sensory experience of whatever you’re seeing. Fight the urge to let your phone screen come between you and every experience.
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