LEAVE IT: WORK EMAIL AND MESSAGING SERVICES
OK, I get that not everyone can totally check out of work when traveling. If you
have to stay in touch, set parameters. Pick two times a day (once early in the day
and once in the evening) to check your email, and let your colleagues know
before you go that those are the only times you will be available. That way, you
can enjoy most of the day without feeling the need to reply to emails in real
time, as though you weren’t actually on vacation. If you do have the luxury of
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your phone, and don’t look back. Yes, the day you come home will likely be
spent sorting through a pile of messages, but isn’t that better than missing time
building memories with family and friends, getting to know a new culture, or
simply relaxing?
LEAVE IT: TWITTER & FACEBOOK
No. Just delete them before you even hop in
your car or head to the airport. You don’t
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your mind while you’re supposed to be
enjoying the moment. I can’t tell you how
many times I innocently opened Facebook
while traveling to see what was happening
at home, and proceeded to get lost in the
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for broadening your mind or just simply
relaxing. You won’t achieve either on
Twitter (at least in any sort of productive
way). There’s plenty of time to get into a
political argument with Aunt Karen when you’re
back home.
BRING IT: INSTAGRAM
I love looking at photos of my friends’ and family’s vacations. I’ve been inspired
to book a trip for myself simply by perusing posts on Instagram. And I love
looking back at the photos I’ve posted while traveling. Sure, you can just scroll
endlessly through the images in your photo app, but the ones I typically post on
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sunset. Instagram is also still a relatively safe space from the political rants and
time-wasting videos that will melt your brain on other social media platforms.