Three Ways to Unplug on Vacation and Have a Digital Detox

Sure, traveling to an exotic spot and uploading epic videos, photos and motivational captions is a lot of fun, because if it wasn't posted on Instagram, did your trip really happen at all? But utilizing our devices and social media accounts too much on vacation comes at a cost. And that cost, my friends, is missing out on the beauty of the place that's right in front of you. Of course social media photos can (and do) provide a nice way to look back at past trips. For those who have traveled before, however, you will know that nothing ever (not even the top influencer social media posts) will come close to the real thing. That's the incredible part about traveling after all. So, to combat this, all you need to do is figure out some ways to unplug while on vacation and have a digital detox.

I don't mean a complete digital detox. Uploading photos from your trips to social media can (and is) a lot of fun. They may even encourage other people to travel there as well. All I'm saying is to find some ways to unplug on vacation while you're out and about during the day so that you can experience the place you're in with your own eyes instead of your phone screen. That's it. Feel free to set some time aside during the night to attend to your social feeds. But challenge yourself to truly see the place you're in during the day. You may find that you like it better without the Instagram filters in place.

To help you escape your screen while you're living the nomad lifestyle, here are some of the best ways to unplug while on vacation:

Upload Social Posts at Specific Times Each Day

When you're out exploring a new place, you will definitely snap lots of photos and videos each day. To help you unplug while on your vacation, though, you may want to try actually uploading them to your social feed at a specific time during the day. This is because creating captions, editing photos and developing an Instagram story takes time. A lot of time. So much time that you can end up staring at your screen for 20 minutes uploading content while you're sitting in front of a mountain landscape in the Rockies.

So, to avoid staring at a screen while you're out, set aside 20 minutes in the morning or 20 minutes at night to upload all of your epic photos from the day. My personal favorite is at night, as I like to relive the day through all of my photos and videos while I edit them. Plus, it's fun to have a drink while going through the day's photos as well.

Set App Limits

One of the best ways to unplug on vacation is to set app limits for the apps you spend the most time on during your travels (i.e. Instagram, Twitter, etc.). That way, you'll be more cognizant / conservative of the time you spend on them. Try creating an hour limit to start, as this will give you enough time at the beginning of the day to check your social feeds, and enough time at the end of the day to upload all of your photos and videos from the day. If setting app limits to an hour is a breeze, shift it down to thirty minutes. If you think about it, doesn't thirty minutes still sound like a lot of time to spend on your phone when you're in a beautiful place?

Leave Your Phone in the Hotel Room

This should only be tried if you can safely leave your hotel room without carrying your phone. If possible, this is, without a doubt, one of the best ways to unplug on vacation, as you will not be tempted at all to check your Instagram feed, work emails, or text messages while you're out walking city streets, hiking through a rain forest, or simply hanging out on the beach. Sure, you may miss out on some great potential photos ops. But life isn't all about Instagram. And besides, the mental pictures you get will stay with you forever.

Additionally, instead of looking at all of the details of your surroundings through your phone screen when you edit your pictures at night, you'll be able to take them all in during the day while you're actually doing the activity. You'll see a lot more, feel way more connected to the place and culture you're surrounded by, and, I'm almost certain, you'll have a better time. Trust me, those work emails can wait.

So, if you, like me, enjoy snapping photos, uploading pictures to Instagram, and texting your family and friends while on vacation, that's fine. It is part of going on a trip after all. But utilizing our phones and technology on vacation too much does come at a cost, and, by the end of a vacation, can leave us feeling like we haven't gone anywhere at all. So, if you feel like you need to unplug and have a digital detox, try uploading your social media posts at a specific time each day, setting app limits, and even leaving your phone at the hotel sometimes. Your social feeds may not thank you, but your mind and body will.

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