Going Dark, Radio Silence, Unplug, Disconnect

While exploring a new area, I like to pick up the local free reads at the grocery store or a restaurant.  I find out a lot about the area and discover hidden gems.  On a recent vacation, I picked up a free Emerald Coast Guide.  While reading through the pages, I discovered some local treasures along with some friendly advice in the form of satirical writing:

Spend time with the one you're with & enjoy where you are.

'Traditional-family' vacations are dinners out, walking on boardwalks hand-in hand, fishing and sailing expeditions and beach excursions . . . [mixed] with instances of walking with arms folded in stubborn disagreement . . .

A new edition to the 'modern-family' vacation is a hand-held device stuck to the ear or held out in front with fingers rapidly punching away.  No longer are eyes wondering at the surroundings or ears listening to family conversations.  Even though friends and work are physically still back at home, they 'virtually' are also walking along the boardwalk, lying on the beach, in our cars, at the restaurants and in our expensive accommodations.

When a vacation has ended, there is no catching up with friends upon your return, answering questions of your vacation experiences to your co-workers or having a better understanding of your own family.  It would be as if you never left home.

Worst of all, should there be future trips to the area by the family children, they won't have the slightest memory of how to get from point A to point B.  (20)

As luck would have it, my phone battery lost all ability to maintain a charge on our arrival in Florida.  I didn't fret and certainly did not attempt to find a replacement.  Instead, I savored the uninterrupted time with my family.  The days seemed so much longer, I read an entire novel, played a week-long game of Monopoly with my family, and returned home feeling more refreshed than I have felt in a long time (even without the use of my CPAP machine).  I know I may be considered old school, but I think there may be something to the ways of old.

Courtney Winkler