Ways to deal with being "unplugged"?

I always go without internet when I travel. Funny how it's such an important part of my life when I'm home--literally, I don't think I could go a day without it at home--and yet I don't miss it at all when I'm traveling, because I'm too busy doing other things. I don't really "prepare" for the absence of it, other than making sure I let people know that I won't be responsive to email for a while and making sure I'm all caught up on it before I leave. I have no desire to bring my laptop with me through airport security
and then spend my entire vacation worrying about whether it's really
safe in my hotel room.

And as for phone, I didn't even have a cell phone until 3 years ago, and even now, I don't use it much when I travel (or at home). It's mostly there for emergencies. I don't call home much when I'm on the road. Everyone knows I'm on vacation, they're not expecting to hear from me. I did use it when I was in New Orleans to send updates on what I was doing to Twitter and Facebook. I'll do that again in future, because it was kind of fun.

When I'm on vacation, that's a time for me to get away from my normal life and everything associated with it. That includes the time-sucker that is technology.

I go without getting on the net when I travel sometimes, but my clients pretty much believe they own me, so it would be REALLY hard to not be available for days at a time.

Hmm...kind of like WORK.

I love to unplug when I'm on vacation, but it's fun to upload and share pictures while I'm "in the field." I think that if I prepared by getting any necessary work done before I left, warning everyone at the office for a month beforehand that I'll be gone during X time and that they will not be able to reach me, and left detailed instructions with whoever was covering for me while I was gone, I'd feel pretty good about staying away from the 'net.

That said, I usually depend on my phone internet connection to get me places when I get lost while driving, so I would have to allow myself at least that.

So you're a texter?

I don't text a lot on my phone, either, if that's what you mean. I have a pay as you go plan, so texting can add up to $$$. I use email communication the most. I did start Twittering during my last trip and that was a good way to update my blog while I was gone, so I'll keep doing that.

For someone who likes to travel as much as you do, I find it surprising that you managed without a cell for so long. Did you start traveling more around that time?

Not really. I'm just not a phone person. Of course, NOW I see that it is convenient to have a cell phone in case I need to call for a cab or something, but before I got one, I didn't feel the need for it. What do you use your cell phone for when you travel?

I typically leave it behind when I go to the parks, but when I get back tot he hotel I can quickly check and see if there were any emergencies. Plus a lot of variety in the "calling a cab" genre, like figuring out where I am if I'm lost, checking on or changing ADRs, etc, etc.