Question: What happens when you take this NYC chick and plop her right in the middle of paradise?Answer: She runs around the beach with her cell phone searching for a hint of WiFi and stressing over her laptop's battery life.
When I nearly lost it in St. Lucia struggling to upload a vlog instead of heading to the beach, I knew it was time to let the electronics go. It's crazy how easily these things can take a hold of you. And it quickly spirals into an addiction; this constant need to be "connected," to have something on hand to occupy the mind at all times, a fear of boredom. I have a hard time disconnecting and just walking away. Lately, my priorities have become so skewed that choosing between a sunset over the Caribbean or checking my Gmail is now a no-brainer. Like Pavlov's bell, Gchat's *ding* causes an instant pleasant feeling.
My struggle to Let Go and Experience doesn't end there. When I'm away, it takes me days to renounce my NYC "Go, go, go!" mentality and accept relaxation as an alternate state of being. Unfortunately, as soon as I land back home, the cell phone's out, the hyperventilation begins and I'm speed-walking back into the life I'd temporarily left behind. You can take the girl out of the city, but the city never truly leaves her. Perhaps someday I'll learn that the rat race is only leading me straight into an early grave.
Do you have a hard time unplugging and relaxing during your vacays?