Unplug to really unwind on your summer vacation | Blake Dowling

Summer vacation time is going by fast. Have you hit the beaches, casino, dog show, amusement park or whatever it is that you and your family choose to do on holiday?

The thought of summer brings up the memory of Griswold style childhood trips for us older folks, doesn’t it? Before it’s over I encourage you to squeeze in some more trips and I remind you not just unwind but to unplug.

First up, story time. My grandparents drove us from Alabama to New Mexico one summer in the early 1980s. Freddy Bear and Grandma worked through a carton of Benson & Hedges and a case of Wrigley’s gum. Meanwhile in the back my two cousins Alex and Dale and I guzzled Delaware Punch and Barqs Root beer and played Uno on this epic quest for family fun.

The disaster highlight for sure was at a gas station in Junction, Texas.

The repairman (we had a tire issue) decided to check the oil, and he promptly broke the dipstick in two with the severed half dropping un-miraculously into the oil reservoir (such a tiny opening). In mechanics terms, that’s bad. He assured us the next town had a new one (plus a tool to remove the old one) and that he would be back.

He closed the shop and left to return 5 hours later, while we sat and sat, and even Uno became boring as we stared at the barren Texas landscape.

If only the tools of today were available on that hot 1982 afternoon, tablets, apps, phones, would have helped kill some time although that would not help the repairman. As the sign on a plumber’s truck says here in Tallahassee, “we fix everything but stupid.” The only tech we had was the radio, and it seemed to play “Heat of Moment” by Asia over and over which was huge in '82 but the irony, the heat, the desert, ugh.

Or maybe it was best as it was, technology has a habit of getting in the way of personal relationships and authentic engagement in life. What fun is it having a map app when you can read an actual map and watch people have a complete conniption when they get lost. How did they really expect you to fold those maps back into place anyway?

Before there was Tetris, we had maps, thanks to the sadists at Rand McNally. My mom still uses old school maps. She also gives everyone that asks for an email address my email. If they email her (me) she then wants me to print them out and mail them to her. Thanks mom, I will get right on that, we will call that Blake Mail.

I actually just got an email from her today via the staff of the hotel in England where she is this summer. The general manager emailed me to give me the following message. “Son, I have arrived in the Cotswolds and the accommodations are adequate. Love Mary Gene.” I know the GM of Hotel Indigo Stratford-upon-Avon is thrilled to have mother as a guest for two weeks and will sleep well knowing their 5 star manor is “adequate.”

Technology, travel and the quest for family fun was in full swing this summer for our crew. We took a trip to the Caribbean with the family and on the tech front a restaurant with no waitstaff in the Charlotte Airport en route was super cool. Not just a QR code menu which is becoming more and more popular but an all-online experience. Find the QR code menu, then order, and pay, all on the app. All you see is a chef in the back (maybe he was an artificial intelligence chef) and a person that hands out your grub. It was efficient and impressive.

Airbnb, Venmo, Uber, Waze, how did we survive without them? More importantly, how will we survive with them? Technology has helped dumb down our society and tech is creeping more and more into every facet of our life.

While I had my usual suite of apps and tech at my disposal while traveling, once we were wheels down, I made the call to check out for the first time in about 5 years on this trip. No email, no Zoom, no teams messages, no calls, and no social media. The only apps I used were Camera, Spotify and Text (for office or family emergencies).

Using just those essentials allowed my head to be clear (somewhat clear) for the first time in years. I discovered a new fave song (thank you Ziggy Marley – True to Myself), I actually snorkeled so long a severe storm came in over me and I never noticed. We walked the beach for hours (maybe not hours- many minutes at least), we sat, we chilled, and we sat some more. Read a new fave book, "The Ferryman," by Justin Cronin, we just unplugged and soaked it in.

Maybe you do this all the time? Perhaps you are Mr. or Mrs. Life Balance, well for good for you. For the rest of us, this is your reminder. UNPLUG, unwind, and hit the Holiday Road with your loved ones. Get your Griswold on, turn up the radio, turn off the apps, light up a Benson & Hedges and live it up as summer is almost over.

Blake Dowling is CEO of Aegis Business Technologies and can be reached at dowlingb@aegisbiztech.com

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Unplug, unwind and escape to your summer vacation