Leave your Smartphone at home…
Say what?
Impossible you might think… we’re living in an era where a phone isn’t just a phone. It’s a GPS, a camera, it holds passwords, has a boarding pass, an alarm clock… it EVEN allows us to send drunk texts to people we’re probably never going to see again (awkward apology to follow the next morning).
And of course, having your smartphone with you while on the road has that undeniable plus of instant gratification. “Look what I’m doing right now!” (while bungee jumping off the highest bridge in Africa) or “Take a bite of this, nom nom nom” (while eating bunny-chow with the locals in Durban).
All plusses.
But what about when you’re sitting at the top of a mountain, watching the sun go down while sipping on some local brew… and it’s just that moment you want.
That’s really why you came on your trip, isn’t it?
To get away from the 24/7 connectivity…and just be in the moment.
Yes!
Yes!
Yes!
Here are our Top 4 Reasons to Leave Your Smartphone at home on your next Trip:
1.Fewer distractions. Read: Be more involved in your own life
No Smartphone means less falling over your own feet while checking Twitter notifications of your friends in a small town in Norway where it is currently -35 degrees Celsius.
Instead, you can look out onto the horizon, “trip free”, and appreciate the sights, sounds and smells of wherever you are (and the fact that it is 25 degrees ABOVE 0)
2. You WILL enjoy the peace and quiet…
… of not hearing someone else’s Whatsapp/Skype convo. Not to sound like a meany, but we don’t want to hear how Granny is making her favourite blueberry & choc chip biscuits back home. It’s annoying.
We’d rather hear the sound of our own contemplation as we drive through the Drakensberg Mountains. Honestly.
Wait, where are the Drakensberg Mountains? Find out how to get to them here
3. Connections with real people.
Yes, the human ones. Having a real conversation with someone you’ve just met (shock horror!).
Imagine the feeling of looking into someone’s eyes, listening (really listening, cos they are right there and you can’t pretend to listen while searching for Jamie Oliver’s lamb shank recipes on Google at the same time, as you might do when texting someone back home)… Hey, it may even be daunting. Challenge yourself 🙂 Don’t miss out on the real.
4. Keep some stuff for yourself.
Imagine you’re in a country you’ve never been to before (OMG, this place is AWESOME!) and you have the day off from your host’s itinerary.
There’s a quaint little street filled with knickknack shops, awesome places to grab a coffee, maybe even a vinyl store or an antiquated cinema house – and you just revel in the sights, sounds, smells, textures… You totally lose yourself in the couple of hours you’re there. Hours pass quickly. And it’s just you and your experience… and you creating the memory for yourself.
#beingmysteriousiscool #youarecool #keepsomestuffforyourself
Some final tips and tricks to surviving without your Smartphone while on an awesome trip:
- Miss someone back home? Write them a letter
- Lost? Buy a map
- Need to be up super early to catch a train? Have an all-nighter
- Have to remember important passwords/phone numbers? Learn them by heart!
- Want to take a photo? Stare at the scene in absolute wonder (for at least 30 seconds), until the image is etched into your mind… forever
- Have an urgent need to find out what that special someone is doing 15,000km away from where you are now? Breath. It doesn’t really matter after all.
There you have it.
And by “it”, we mean “life”… and it sure is good to have it in it’s purest, most unadulterated form.
Here’s to Smartphone free travel! (We dare you!)