To Vacationer's Everywhere - Put Down Your Phones.

It couldn’t have been more unplanned or come at a worse time.

There I was, so unbelievably excited to finally be there - my very first day in Southeast Asia. And what happens? My phone gets stolen.

My initial reaction?

Panic.

What was I supposed to do? I needed to navigate places, had pictures and blogs that I needed to post to social media, had plane tickets saved that I’d need to use.

I was lost, both literally and figuratively, not to mention a little shaken. Here I was halfway around the world without the safety net of a phone, and I didn’t even know where to start in continuing my trip without one. I had downloaded a ton of maps to my Google Maps account to help me navigate, had apps saved to help me translate currencies, and had even downloaded an app to help me sleep at night if things ever got too crazy in the hostels I was staying at.

And just like that, they were all gone.

In my mind I envisioned a little “poof” emoji following its disappearance.And while it took a day or two to get past the initial shock of it all, those first couple of days were where I started to realize that maybe - just maybe - I’d be able to survive without one.

Now, I won’t lie and say that I didn’t immediately start shopping around for a phone the day it was stolen. In my mind I figured I could buy a cheap iPhone in Hanoi, use it throughout my time in SEA, and then sell it once I got back to the States and use that money towards a new one. Most of the phones sold throughout SEA are used anyway, some likely stolen as mine was…

Not that I’m bitter or anything.

But in thinking about it, the thought of having to buy numerous SIM cards to be able to use cell service in multiple countries, all the contacts I wouldn’t have, and the logistical loopholes I’d have to jump through in purchasing one - it all sounded like more of a headache than what I was interested in.

So before leaving Hanoi, I gave myself a challenge.

Make it three weeks without a phone.

And while it definitely wasn’t easy (do you know how many times I got lost?), I’m so unbelievably thankful for the experience I had of not having a phone. It’s hard to explain, but I learned so much about myself over these past three weeks without one and came to rely more upon my surroundings and those within it than I ever would’ve if I hadn’t lost my phone in the first place.

So in wrapping up this trip, there are a few things I’ve come to realize - revelations, if you will - about those dastardly phones we always seem to have in our hands.

They keep us from living in the moment.

Thank God my phone was the only thing I lost. If I had lost my laptop, camera, or anything else of value, I may have had a nervous breakdown. So while I didn’t have a phone to take pictures with, I did still have my camera.

That being said, it was amazing to me just how many pictures people take with their phones.

Are you really going to re-read each of the informational placards you took pictures of from the Museum of Ancient Asian Civilizations? Or do you really need to get a picture in front of every sculpture and/or temple in Angkor Wat? Or what about each time you did a live video on Facebook - were the ten people that tuned into watch it worth it?

What I realized is that people are so wrapped up in taking pictures - of documenting each and every moment - that they don’t take the time to really invest themselves in those places and things that are right before them. To invest themselves into those situations, choosing maybe to take just one picture instead of millions and letting their memories act the part of the pictures they didn’t take.

The constant need to have to prove we’ve been somewhere - the pictures and videos to back it up - keep us from being able to enjoy those sights in front of our very eyes.

Going without a phone makes you rely on people you wouldn’t have otherwise.

If I had a nickel for every time I stopped to ask for directions, I’d probably be a millionaire. Or if I also had a nickel for every time I got a strange look after asking what the time was or directions to the nearest bus stop - questions you could easily look at your phone for or ask Google instead of another human (God forbid) - I’d also be a millionaire.

But there were also numerous times where stopping to ask a question of where a certain restaurant was turned into a conversation of “where are you from?” “how long are you here for?” or, “what are some good places you’d recommend me visiting before I leave?” Questions I would’ve never asked because I would’ve always had a phone with the capabilities of answering whatever original question it was that I had in the first place.

Having the continual wealth of knowledge that our phones provide is great and all, but it’s cut out the human interactions we used to have to answer those same questions.

You look ridiculous.

Like I said, do you really need to get a picture of you posing in front of each and every sight? Or the continual selfies in front of every mundane location? Maybe I’m weird in that this bothers me so much, but just look at whatever it is you’re seeing, snap a picture, and move on.

And don’t get upset with me when I’m walking in the background of your photo because you decided to hold up the entire line behind you for three minutes because your “smile didn’t look right” in the first twenty photos you took.

They take up a lot of energy.

And no, I’m not talking the actual energy it takes to charge them. But the actual energy it takes to always feel as though you have to be checking your phone. Who’s posted what. What Facebook messages there are to open. The useless notifications you get from apps you’ve never used. It’s all so exhausting to keep up with, until you don’t have anything to keep up with anymore.

Instead of waking up as I usually would each morning, rolling over to grab my phone to check the latest headlines from the New York Times, the newest photos to be posted in the six hours since I last logged on, or the ever growing collection of junk mail in my inbox, I found it refreshing to wake up and start my day off with a chapter out of a book instead. Or a journal entry. Things that actually added value to my life, not the meaningless stuff our phones are always (literally) shoving in our faces.

It was a nice change of pace to hop onto social media only once each day, typically in the evenings after my day had ended to post a new photo or blog post. I took an hour or two to do it, and then I was done until the next day, off to read the next chapter of my book or to have another conversation with a stranger I’ve never met before from a country I’ve never been to.

By choosing to fill all that time I would’ve usually spent on my phone, I chose instead to invest myself in things that I would gain actual meaning from.

Because, maybe it’s just me, but there are some days where my social media feeds tend to bring me more frustration and angst than any sense of meaning.

You’re so much more aware of your surroundings without one.

This was good for me mainly in that I’m terrible with directions so it gave me a bit of forced practice in old school navigation. News flash, for any of you who were wondering - paper maps are still a thing. Since I didn’t have any way of navigating myself around each city I was in, I actually had to pay attention to my surroundings (I know, GASP). Knowing that I turned left at the 7/11 convenience store, that I walked past a certain hotel, that I had definitely passed that teal bike earlier in the day - not having the cell phone that automatically guided me from one point to the next forced me to look at those things in my environment to help me navigate throughout each day’s excursion.

And while yes, I definitely got lost a time or two, I like to consider those episodes of wandering as being happy little detours instead.

It’s made me reconsider the role they play in my life.

I’ve already decided that I won’t be downloading social media apps back onto my phone when I finally get a new one. Sorry Instagram, Facebook, but you’ve got to go. I’m setting boundaries in my life, which means reclaiming time that shouldn’t be for them, but for me. To have a set time each day where it’s okay to scroll through whatever social media feeds I want, but to not have those sessions be multiple times a day as they’ve been in the past. To fill the time I would’ve otherwise been staring down at my screen with something more useful.

For the longest time now, I’ve been wanting to learn Spanish and how to play the guitar. Wouldn’t those be a lot more purposeful than finding out the latest gossip about the Kardashians from some social media outlet?

Idk, maybe I have some unknown friend out there who’s obsessed with the Kardashians who I’m upsetting right now (my sincerest apologies), but my three weeks without a phone proved to me that I’d much rather begin filling my time with things that are worthwhile rather than things I could genuinely go without.It’s about time.

And so while I directed this blog post to vacationers, I really think it’s something everyone can apply to their lives, whether on vacation or not. And while it’s not always easy to reexamine those parts of your life that you know may need some work, but which you’re maybe not willing to pull the curtain back on quite yet, I’d encourage each of you to look at the role which that cell phone in your pocket or purse plays in your daily life. Is it doing what it’s meant to? Or is taking up more time and energy than what it’s really worth?

Your answer may just surprise you.