I wake to the chiming of my phone every morning. Immediately following, my phone catches me up on the happenings of the social media world. Email and texts also garner my attention, and before I know it I've already spent an hour longer in bed than intended.

I tend to underestimate the impact my phone has on my day.

Without tracking my friends' phones, how would I know when and where to meet up with them? Without snapchat, how would I capture the funniest and most notable intervals of my life? Without my phone as an alarm, how would I know when to wake up? Without my digital schedule, how would I know when my classes are? Without navigation, how would I know where to go?

Although these might seem to be silly concerns, they're suddenly all too real when you consider existing without a phone to act as a guide. For some, having their phone die is the equivalent to losing a limb - it's a part of them they cannot spare.

I like to think I'm not too dependent on my phone. Compared to some of my friends, I definitely spend significantly less time staring at my phone's screen.

Yet, I love the feeling when it's not constantly at my side. Since getting to college, I've started leaving it in the room when I've gone on small excursions. Without the constant pull of social media and the outside world, I'm much more perceptive of what is occurring around me.

When I signed up for a fall break trip, the prospect of going the entire trip without my phone greatly appealed to me.

No Twitter. No Instagram. No Facebook. No Hotmail. No IM. No Omegle. No Myspace.

As far as I'm aware, I won't have access to carrier pigeon either.

I couldn't be more thrilled with the prospect!

No matter how hard I try to live in the moment, I find myself reaching for my phone, almost as if on a reflex. I find myself watching concerts through a phone or experiencing vacations through a camera.

Without my phone for a week, I physically won't be able to live through my screen.

I won't be able to reflexively reach for my phone.

I'm eager to finally experience a trip, and the beauty of Costa Rica, without doing any of it for others on the internet. Nothing will matter but me and those around me - no one from the outside world matters in that moment.

I'm guilty of living a technology-dependent life, and have found this to be a hard habit to break.

Yet, as I anticipate spending a week sans phone, I'm eager to fully enjoy the experience.

No experience can be lived digitally, for life isn't pixel perfect. Instead, we live in the real world, a far greater option.