I was proud of myself for not bringing my computer with me on my last vacation. In France, I think I maybe pulled it out once and usually just skimmed my work emails on my phone.
I know, I’m thinking to myself that I should not even look at work emails anyway, but this was still a step in the right direction. Although I may “think” that I shouldn’t look but it really does bring me peace knowing things are going ahead just fine without me. There were two things I responded to but it was more of an acknowledgement.
Having a bigger team right now and knowing that they are taking care of things definitely brings me more peace. I think as we continue to trust each other more on the guidance they need will lead me to feel less of a need to control knowing what’s happening.
But saving the space of a computer and charging cord and switching it out to an iPad and mini-keyboard was simply lovely. My backpack was a joy to carry without that weight.
I was trying to see if I felt any different by doing that and I’m not sure I did. I think the mindset shift of a computer doesn’t do much but it’s more about being connected.
Is vacation about a digital detox? I feel like I was still on social media quite a bit. But I love posting stories and creating my vacation highlights in IG. Labeling all my adventures and sharing with my friends brings me joy. I had two people already reach out to me about London restaurants for their upcoming trips and it’s so nice to share my experiences and know they value my opinion and are going to my recommendations!
My aunt literally told me she’s doing all of my restaurants because she knows nothing. LOL – So that does always make me happy.
So I wasn’t on a detox. I did just go to my Screen Time and try to see if it was lower but I’m looking on a Sunday which is when the week resets so I just missed it! Oh well. It does say I’m 58% less than last week…. But I think that was the week I was home – haha.
Over the last few years, I’ve also deliberately not auto-posted to social media, rather taking videos and images in a way that I know I will be posting about it later, it’s just not in the moment. It’s 24-48 hours later when I want to thoughtfully post and enjoy.
There is definitely an aspect that I miss the present moment when using my phone but I can’t deny that I get so much retention of what I did and what I enjoyed when I can see it on my phone in an image or live video. I love enjoying my memories that way.
I want to say vacation and detoxing is more about creative outlets for me. I wanted some type of computer or iPad to blog which I did so well at! Usually I’m blogging two months later and I was done with all except one by the last day of the trip and that makes me happy. I do randomly go back and read those and it’s makes me remember the little moments better.
Taking 20-30 minutes to sit down and write, even if it’s nothing earth-shattering, makes me happy that I’m not playing phone games, scrolling Reddit, or browsing social media.
I still want to think about my travel style and what I want to accomplish during my vacations. Some days I want to wander and walk around, and sit in a pub, and people-watch, read, or write. Other days I’d like to learn something new about the place I’m visiting. And matching that up to other people’s styles continues to be an adventure. And my style has changed over the years too.
It’s nice to take a moment and think about what I did differently and what I enjoyed.
My one issue with the iPad was that I couldn’t upload all the photos I wanted to my blog, which was unfortunate. I had multiple errors and had to jump through hoops to figure out how to resolve it. It’s a bummer but also does force me to either pick my one or two favorite photos, or write shorter posts!
I will pull out my word of the year and say that I’m happy how I cultivated my writing on this trip. I used my time intentionally and enjoyed it and will continue to take some time to reflect and think how I want to spend my time.
Including this pic since I need one for my featured posts, but I took this on the first day where I went exploring and found a pub and did my first writing.
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