This past weekend my friends and I took a road trip to upstate New York and stayed in a cabin in the Adirondacks. However, the further upstate we got, the less service we received which meant a whole four days without our cell phones.

To be honest, I was looking forward to it. We got to escape from the real world for a little bit to just spend time and relax with each other. There were no distractions from checking social media and no texts to hinder our conversations. As we returned home, I realized how important it is to have time to disconnect from all the technology that surrounds us today. Here are 8 things I learned after spending a weekend without my phone:

We need to take the time to rebuild face-to-face conversations.

There are so many articles today that report how technology is diminishing our social skills. Young kids today are becoming addicted to their phones and iPads from a young age and even many young adults have a lack of communication skills.

By not having my phone for the weekend, I valued the conversations my friends and I were able to have in person. Face-to-face communication enhances relationships and creates clearer messages than those that are through a screen.

Take a deep breath and just enjoy the nature.

Sitting on a paddleboard in the middle of the lake surrounded by mountains and with the sun beating down was probably one of the most relaxing things I’ve done all summer. This picture doesn’t even do the view justice.

Don’t let Snapchat control your life/Snapchat can be overwhelming.

Okay okay, I’ll be the first to admit that I had my brother keep my streaks for me. BUT, it was so nice not having to worry about sending a streak snap every day. So many of us nowadays are controlled by the infamous timer reminding us to keep our streaks that it was nice to disconnect for a few days.

It doesn’t matter what everyone is doing every minute of the day.

No service = no Facebook/Instagram = not caring about what everyone is doing for Summer.

You can have more fun without your phone than with it.

From paddle boarding, to kayaking, to hiking, to even just sitting around and enjoying each other’s company, we had so many things to do other than to be on our phones.

We shouldn’t rely on our phones for entertainment every time we are bored.

Thanks to a project done in my Mass Communication class where we had to log the hours we spent on our phones/iPads/laptops, I’ve been more conscious of how often I am on my phone. With that being said, it’s almost like an instant reflex to just grab our phones every time we are bored. It’s become a habit, and sometimes you don’t realize it until you reach for it and remember that there’s no service.

You don’t realize how useful Google is until you can’t use it.

Google. How wonderful it is to literally look up any answer to whatever question you may have.

Life goes on without internet.

It’s as simple as that. As our little vacation came to an end and we were reconnected with the rest of the world, I realized that I didn’t miss that much from not having my phone. Sure there were photos, and posts that I didn’t see right away but there was nothing that I couldn’t live without.

Shoutout to my friends for an amazing weekend and if you’ve never done it before, take a break and put down your phone for a little bit. You may end up gaining a whole new perspective.