Whatever generational category you fall under, whether it be Generation Z or the Millennial, the bottom line is that the majority of us have never known life without the internet. Everyone has heard their parents make the notorious "back in my day" statement and as annoying as it may seem there is some truth to it.

The internet has allowed us to constantly stay in contact with each other but it has also allowed us to become stuck in the digital world, a world that our parents will never truly be able to understand.

My parents would always say, “back in my day we would walk over to our friend’s house knock on their door and see what they were doing” but nowadays we don’t see this happening anymore. As children, we don’t even have to leave our rooms to be in constant contact with each other, allowing us to make concrete plans in a way that our parents never could when they were children.

Yet this use of technology eliminates the serendipity that helped shape our parents' childhood. We never just go and do anything anymore.

There is always methodical planning beforehand eliminating the aimless wandering that would often lead to new and unforeseeable experiences.

My favorite experiences while abroad were those that stemmed from either getting lost or missing a plan my friends and I had previously made. While in Italy my friends and I had planned a day trip to Venice but naturally we woke up at 7:30 a.m. and the bus was scheduled to leave at 7 a.m.

Instead of going to Venice for the day we booked a wine tour in Tuscany and a Vespa tour in Florence. Despite the fact that to this day I don’t have my driver’s license and none of my friends knew how to drive a Vespa, it was one of the most memorable experiences I encountered while traveling.

While I am not advocating for not making plans, I am simply stating that one should always include time to wander. There are just some places and experiences that cannot be found on yelp or trip advisor.

This is where serendipity comes into play. While all of this technology we have created has its benefits, it also has its limits. Technology cannot substitute for face to face communication.

It cannot substitute for going outside and experiencing a new place in person.

I can recall countless times when I have walked into a restaurant, looked over at the table next to me and seen everyone on their phones sitting in complete silence. We are all so stuck in these digital fantasy profiles we have created for ourselves through Instagram, snapchat or twitter that we miss out on getting to know the real person that is sitting right next to us.

So next time you are out to dinner with friends, on a trip or just hanging output your phones down and talk.

Next time you are traveling just walk around the city without your JPS, allow yourself to get lost, I promise you’ll experience more that way than you ever would through reading about places on trip advisor.