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Unplugging Vacations: Shutting It Off So You Can Shut Down

credit: Photo Steve, 101 via Flickr

With Fall in full swing, many are already dreaming of the next vacation. Instead of planning where to go or what to do, the real question might be what to turn off and what can you leave at home. The Virtuous Traveler Leslie Garrett explores the most recent trend of unplugging vacations.

I’m finishing this article in order to submit it before I leave for a holiday. There’s only sporadic cell phone coverage and Internet access where I’m going, making it quite likely that I would be unable to finish my story and submit it while away.

And that, from what you’ll understand as you continue to read, is a good thing. There’s been much chatter lately about unplugging – the practice of putting aside our laptops, cell phones, iPods and other electronics and, well, doing something else. Preferably somewhere else.

But while we might be talking a lot about it, not many of us are actually doing it.

A recent survey by Osterman Research and commissioned by Neverfail revealed that about 79 percent of respondents took work-related mobile devices with them on vacation. More than a third hid from family and friends to check e-mail on vacation. And almost half traveled up to 10 miles while on vacation just to check their messages.

Even Amelia Klein, associate director of Reboot, an organization dedicated to rethinking our reliance on technology, admits that there’s a certain…anxiety associated with detaching from our mobile devices. But all the more reason, says she, to do exactly that.

Travel Security Tips: Don't Let Outsiders Take Control Of Your Computer“It makes people recognize the extent technology is impacting their lives,” she explains. “We can only realize that when we take it away.”

Reboot has garnered headlines for its National Day of Unplugging, which takes place annually in March. It encourages people to turn off all electronics for one day to re-immerse themselves in the real world.

David Strayer, figured why wait for March. Strayer, a neuroscientist and psychology professor at University of Utah, took the unplugging day and made it seven. The by-now famous study – it was featured in The New York Times and various other media – revealed the impact that an unplugged week in nature has on the brain. He says that a digital detox not only improves your general mental health, it can improve depression and ADHD.
With increasing evidence that unplugging is good for us, where – and how – does one start?

And with travel no longer offering a built-in disconnect – wi-fi is now of course available even in the air – perhaps it’s time to reclaim the vacation as a true escape.

Gil Gordon is a management consultant specializing in telework and employee retention. He’s also author of Turn It Off: How to Unplug from the Anytime-Anywhere Office Without Disconnecting Your Career. Gordon believes that to truly unplug – and feel relaxed about it – you need to lay the groundwork in advance.

For example, that mountain of e-mails you anticipate upon your return? Look at the reason why you receive so many. “It’s no different than snail mail,” he says. “If there’s a lot you don’t want, you can stop it.”

He suggests people take time to unsubscribe rather than just hitting the delete button. Then, he says, take a look at the non-junk e-mails. Are they symptoms of underlying problems? Are you being tapped when someone else could handle the problem?

And finally, he says, create boundaries. If you send the signal that you’re always available, there’s less incentive for others to become problem solvers. “Accessibility to technology masks the underlying issue,” says Gordon. Back-up planning and cross-training can prepare people to take over while you’re away.

Beware, he says, of letting your ego rule. “We’ve bred that kind of “indispensable” mentality…”He points out though, that if you’re truly indispensable, that’s all the more reason to allow you to unplug and recharge. “It’s like a rubber band,” he explains. “You keep pulling and eventually lose resilience and break.”

If you’re still not convinced, perhaps Strayer’s notion of “third-day syndrome” will. That’s the point in a vacation when time seems to be slowing down and brain function feels almost restored. Ideas start to flow and rather than mental fatigue, you feel inspired and rejuvenated.

It’s a wonderful, exciting thing. And, though I’ll be unreachable and unable to describe it personally, I’m very much looking forward to it in roughly three days time.

By Leslie Garrett for PeterGreenberg.com.  

Leslie Garrett, the Virtuous Traveler, is an award-winning journalist and the author of The Virtuous Consumer: Your Essential Shopping Guide for a Better, Kinder, Healthier World with a foreword by Peter Greenberg.Visit her on the web at: www.virtuousconsumer.com.

Feature image credit: Photo Steve, 101 via Flickr

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