Phoneless in Hawaii

While we were in Hawaii on vacation, my iPhone went for a swim. You see, I had it in a pool bag on a lounge chair. A gust of wind came along and—poof. The phone, along with two lounge chairs landed in the nearby pool. Sadly, it never recovered from its adventure. But not for lack of trying. We left it out in the sun to dry, put it in rice. Nothing helped.

Thankfully, this happened while I was on vacation and not trying to live my day-to-day life. Sure, I couldn’t take any photos or check in as much on social media. But I learned a few things by being disconnected.

There are other ways to communicate.

I know I lost some texts and missed some phone calls while I was phoneless. People who needed me couldn’t reach me quickly. But they either found another way to get in touch with me (email that I could return later, sending me a message on Facebook that I’d see when I logged in, snail mail—kidding!), or they adapted and moved on. I posted on Facebook about what happened, so people knew why I wasn’t responding to calls or texts. But generally, people found a way around connecting with me on my phone.

There are things you can’t do anything about.

It’s true. Stuff happens. And sometimes there’s no way to fix it. I learned that when you can’t fix a situation, it is best to just roll with it and enjoy it. Because I was without my phone, I was much more present on vacation. I checked in when I could, but mostly I just enjoyed the vacation and the time with family. It was actually refreshing.

It’s not the end of the world.

Not all of my data was backed up to the cloud, so I lost some photos and lost some notes I had in SnipIt. But because I didn’t have my phone, I read for pleasure (The Martian, The Giver and a crime book by Ann Rule). Most of all, I missed having access to TripIt, a great app that I use to help me stay organized while I’m away from home. But my husband suggested that I just log onto the website (why didn’t I think of that?) and there it all was! Presto!

But now I know, it can be done. I can live without a phone and the whole world won’t come crashing in. And I know that I can monitor my phone time better in the future. I don’t need to constantly check it for emails and texts. Things can wait. Problems will get resolved. And I’m not as important as I think I am.

xoxo - Lee

About Lee

I am a 44-year old married mom of 4. I love my family. If you’re a mom, then you know kids and a spouse keep you busy. It’s easy to forget yourself in the process of taking care of your family. My mission is to help other moms take care of themselves so they can be more available to their loved ones and lead more fulfilling lives.