Oceanview from Vijitt Resort, Phuket - Photo credit: Debbie Friez
Around this time last year, I asked, “Do you need to unplug from social media?” in a BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas post. At the time, I admitted I couldn’t completely do it, but I had tried to limit my time online. Realizing I might need a break from the noise, I decided to try harder, this year. I was NOT taking my BlackBerry with me on vacation to Singapore and Phuket, Thailand.
Reality Check
Be honest. Can you live without a mobile phone? The real answer should be a resounding “Yes,” but it’s not easy! My husband and I are used to being able to contact each other whenever we want, so the idea of “no phones” did not seem plausible. Our trip started with a work conference for my husband, so he would need his work BlackBerry. I decided to take his personal BlackBerry, but turn-off any roaming ability for data. This would limit me to when I was in network (U.S. only) and WiFi areas for anything but calling and texting. I don’t have the text posting ability set-up for Facebook and Twitter, so I wouldn’t be tempted to post that way.
Despite our preparations, it was harder than I thought to turn off our electronics! I love posting my observations (that I think are funny or interesting), and suddenly, I couldn’t! I did bring my BlackBerry Playbook this way, if there was WiFi, usually in public areas of the resorts, when I was admiring the beautiful view from the Singapore Flyer, I could only take pictures and record with my Flip camera. When I caught a couple taking “action shots” of each other on the beach, I could only laugh. (I couldn’t even point, because that is very rude in Asian cultures.)
However, the time difference actually made my limited time online easier to handle. Very few friends were online when I was, so I didn’t linger as long as usual. I discovered Peter Shankman was also in Thailand, so I asked him for advice on where to go. It was comforting to know I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t sleep and was posting at what would be the middle of the night back home on the East coast.
That is the question I’ve been asking myself for a few days. In my pursuit of a topic for a post, I realized I’m not alone… Writer’s block has always been something that communications professionals, and others, have struggled to overcome. But now that audiences expect instantaneous access to new content and materials via blogs and other social media, it’s becoming even harder to keep up and remain, well, “fresh.” 
