Fearfully Unplugged

To most of us, our cell phones have become an extra limb. A necessity in maintaining organization in our otherwise hectic lives.

They serve as our alarm clock in the morning, as our agenda and schedule throughout the day, and as our source of entertainment during breaks and at night. They are our camera and our photo album, our music player, our Googler, and our connection to those around us. 

As you may have read in my previous posts, I recently traveled to the Amazon in Peru. Naturally, a lot of planning went into the contents of my phone. 

I transferred my photos and videos from my phone to make room for more, making sure of course to leave a few photos of family, friends, and of course my cat Simi, for when I inevitably became homesick. I transferred my upbeat music for flights, and my reiki music for helping me sleep.  

I assured my worried mother that I would utilize BBM and Skype as often as possible to check in and would post an interesting photo to Facebook each day to show what I was up to. 

All this preparation put into my phone and what did I do? I left it charging at my friends before heading to the airport!!!! 

I'll admit, in that moment, I wasn't very far from having an anxiety attack. 

Stop. Breathe. Everything is fine, I told myself. 

I called my mother using my best friends phone and let her know what had happened so that she wasn't left with her imagination thinking I wasn't checking in because I had been captured by pirates or headhunters, or as many a concerned family and friend had voiced, eaten by a giant anaconda. 

Then, I reminded myself; it's just a phone. 

The whole point of a trip is to unplug and this was my chance to do just that. I had my watch (which is waterproof, has the date, and has an alarm clock, albeit a short and quiet one.) I had a camera, a notebook (which I wrote this post in while sitting in the Iquitos airport on my way home), and I had a laminated photo of my family. All was fine and as you can see, I survived. Fewf! 

Yes, I remained unplugged .. with the exception of letting everyone know I was safe every few days but I mean come on, just because I'm off having an adventure doesn't mean my mother should have to wait around worried sick for two weeks. A mother's imagination for worst case scenarios is no laughing matter. 

Now don't get me wrong, even as I write this blog with pen and paper I itch for a word processor (though in all fairness the real itch is due to ants and mosquitoes...guh), and long for a keyboard capable of noting my thoughts as quickly as I think them, capable of documenting the words before the train of thought gets lost and derailed but hey, I'm making due and then some. 

Thanks to being unplugged, I made new friends during flights rather than drowning approchability out with Shakira, Great Big Sea, Guns and Roses, or Journey. Thanks to being unplugged, I was looking at three toed sloths instead of catching up on messages. I was interacting in real time instead of minding the virtual world and asking questions of real people rather than Google, and you know what, it really wasn't that bad... it was pretty liberating. 

I made an awesome new friend whom I was able to connect with on both an intellectual and nerd/geek level (shout out Christian! *Troy and Abed double clap!*) and I was able to exchange screen time for hammock time. 

Where I could have been messaging people back home, I was able to get to know the guides and guests visiting the Amazonia Expeditions lodge and Research Center thus creating more stories to tell said friends when I got back. 

(Side note: Amazonia Expeditions is now high on my word of mouth promotions list. If you are planning a trip to Peru, I highly recommend them.) 

Anyway, what's the moral of my story? What does it all boil down to? If you're like me, putting down and leaving behind your cell phone can be very scary (even though you put on a brave face about it). I mean, really scary, but it has its rewards.  

Often, I have seen online challenges asking me to put down my phone for a day or a week, and thought to myself: ...I could do it... but I won't. Well, now I've done two weeks and I think people could benefit from a small break from their hand held devices. 

Do you think you could do it? Have you unplugged before? How reliant are you on your digital friend? 

Please let me know in the comments below. If you do not have a Gmail account, email me at thebrastreetrambler@gmail.com and I will post under your chosen username. 

Cheers! 
The Bra Street Rambler 
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P.S. During all the hustle and bustle of getting ready for my trip, the page views exceeded 1000 views! Thank you so much to everyone, you have all brought a huge smile to this Ramblers face. To celebrate, The Bra Street Rambler now has it's own logo/display picture! A massive shout out and thank you goes out to Erin Keegan for designing and creating that for me. You can view more of her awesome work at http://society6.com/ekeegan --Happy Viewing!