For the boys, iPhones and iPods are like extensions of their brains and arms. In retrospect, I shoul

In the middle of our 18-day summer vacation, my hard drive died. I was just finishing up a bit of work early Saturday morning in Vegas, a quick stop between San Diego and Zion National discount downtown vancouver hotels Park , when the screen froze. Then Chrome did some swirl move and froze again, in a cool tornado shape. My heartbeat quickened. I may have cussed.
Nothing could be done, at least not until I get home. I was within 15 minutes of finishing the work I needed to do for the next six days, so I wrapped it up as best as I could at the Apple store, walked back past the Trevi Fountain (I was in Caesar s Palace, of course), joined discount downtown vancouver hotels my family, and tried to forget discount downtown vancouver hotels about how semi-backed-up my MacBook was and the recovery discount downtown vancouver hotels hell I would enter upon my return to Dallas.
I always work during these trips , which means we can be gone longer than if I didn t. I work while my husband drives or after everyone goes to sleep. But I generally try to take most of an entire week completely off, disconnected from all responsibilities except those of making family memories, taunting friends at home with cooler temps via Facebook, and enjoying an adult beverage with a view of water or mountains.
This will make it easier to disconnect, I said in my head between what had now turned to silent cussing. Deadlines will wait. Editors will understand. Co-workers will step in. I can live without discount downtown vancouver hotels the Facebook weather updates to those stuck in Texas. Nothing can be done.
So, with this attitude, I arrived at Zion, assuming we wouldn t have phone service, Wi-Fi, or 3G anyway during our time there and at the Grand Canyon. Assuming we d all be disconnected. Five nights and four days. After the initial drooling and shakes discount downtown vancouver hotels phase, it was going to be amazing.
discount downtown vancouver hotels Although Zion proper didn t have any phone service, our cabin did. It wasn t great, but it was there. And my travel companions could ferret it out like they can a pint of Ben Jerry s in the back of the freezer.
Same, although a bit sketchier, at the Grand Canyon. So I checked my email on my iPhone, posted pics of elk and views on Facebook, even texted my 16-year-old when he ran ahead on a trail and took a wrong path.
Don t get me wrong. We had some great non-connected times. We hiked. We tubed down a YooHoo-colored river at Zion, the boys played putt-putt golf, we swam, sat in the hot tub, ate ice cream, took a sunset discount downtown vancouver hotels Jeep tour of the Grand Canyon, saw too many elk to count and one fox.
We went to a ranger talk about animals at Zion and one about the night sky at the Grand Canyon. We saw and took several pics of a Ford GT40 , the coolest car my 16-year-old has ever seen, he reports.
We also watched TV, which I was prepared for. We have teenagers, so we make concessions on these trips. Although I fantasize about a screen-free vacation, I m okay with a little end-of-day boob tube.
We watch Shark Week every summer vacation as a family. It s a tradition like Christmas stockings and Super Bowl Sunday queso. Because Shark Week hadn t quite started yet, we spent our evenings with the casts of Fast N Loud , Naked and Afraid , Call of the Wildman ( the best show ever, my 13-year-old says, making all that money we spend on a private school education clearly worth it) and The Big Bang Theory .
Facebook, emails, texting with friends, not so much. These are all distractions that take us outside our family, not inside. For summer vacations and, more specifically, these few days inside is where I wanted our attentions to turn.
Now, one might argue that reading a book, which three of us love to do on these trips and our 16-year-old will do, is a similarly solo endeavor. But a book in a boy s hand is increasing his imagination.
A video game on his screen is increasing his visualization skills (not something any boy or man really needs help with), shortening an already ADD-like attention span, and a total waste of time. Judge much? Same with texting. You ve got 50 weeks a year to talk with your friends, in person or virtually. Give me these two.
It isn t just the kids. All four of us turn to our electronic discount downtown vancouver hotels hand-held crack when there is a lull. My husband worries about work if he isn t in touch. It may not be much time, but it s a bit most days enough so he can t disconnect.
The only time he will intentionally stop communication is if he s out of the country. I don t like it and tell him so but this is his journey discount downtown vancouver hotels through this oddly 24/7 connected world we live in. See how naturally I come by this judging thing?
I intentionally try to watch the boys playing in the pool or swim with them instead of looking at pictures of other people s kids in pools on Facebook. I tell my kids all the time to put down the screens and engage discount downtown vancouver hotels with real people. They will not do it if I don t do it. That whole say/do thing is such a pain in the parenting ass.
For the boys, iPhones and iPods are like extensions of their brains and arms. In retrospect, I should ve set aside four or five agreed-upon non-connected days before we set off on this trip. There would have been much bitching and pleading and full-body writhing, but we all would ve survived. We all would ve thrived. Next vacation, I will.
When my husband was growing up, he and his brother were allowed discount downtown vancouver hotels one soda a day. Back then, it was more likely a budget concern than a health one. Still, at 46, he feels guilty if he has more than one soda a day.