Bahamas ’11; Unplugged A month or so ago, we took a vacation to the Bahamas. It came a time when I really needed it, so I was excited. We headed to the Cove at Atlantis; what I considered to be the perfect place for a quick family getaway. If you know me, you know I like to be connected via technology. So, packed with me or on my person was my iPhone, blackberry, iPad, Kindle and laptop. Some of you, I’m sure at this point, are already saying this is too much stuff, but you should know I was in the middle of some important stuff at work so I was just trying to be prepared, hence the laptop. I had no intention of sitting on my laptop during a week-long, family vacation. I had intended on using my other devices though. When we checked in to the hotel, we immediately headed to the pool and beach area, just to walk around and get some fresh air. As we walked around the pool, all I could see were parents reading some electronic device while their kids (and iPhone-less nannies) played around them. Honestly, 80% of them or more were reading some sort of digital device, be it a phone or iPad. It hit me at that point; they were indeed connected, but they were completely disconnected from their kids. A family vacation, I thought, should mean 100% connection with my family (okay 97%). I didn’t want to be that dad who was always looking at his iPhone instead of engaging with his kids on vacation. When we got to the room, I put all my devices in the safe and planned not to look at a single one (short of two quick daily glances for emergency emails from work on my blackberry) for the entire trip. For me, that meant no photo sharing of pictures on Facebook, no witty comments on twitter, no blogging, no Foursquare check-ins, no reading my digital edition of USA TODAY, no nothing. It also meant no music and that I was going to have to carry a digital camera; you know, the old-fashioned kind where you have to take out the mini-SD card and download the pictures to a computer (gasp). As I put everything into the safe, I knew it was going to be hard, but at the same time, I was embarrassed that the process was taking such a conscious effort. I thought to myself, “why is it such a big deal to disconnect from the world for six days?” On the morning of the first day, we lathered up the kids in sunscreen, put on some shorts and t-shirts over our bathing suits and headed down to breakfast. Along the way, the kids had so much fun stopping to look at the beautiful assortment of fish and sea creatures the Atlantis offers at every turn. The Cove, specifically, has a phenomenal collection of African cichlids; beautiful tropical fish from Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika. I used to breed this variety of tropical fish when I was young (as a business – more on that some other time) and I was fascinated by the color, quantity and size of the fish. This kids and I couldn’t stop looking at them in the open ponds. I took many pictures of the kids looking and pointing at the fish. The kids were all smiles and I loved their fascination with the fish. Under normal conditions, this would have meant me taking pictures with my iPhone and immediately posting a few on Facebook for friends and family to enjoy. Given my “unplugged” experiment, I took out my digital camera and snapped away. Friends and family would have to wait for Facebook pictures. At breakfast, the “connected” were reading a variety of devices. Given the time of day and the abundance of flowing coffee, I assumed all were reading their favorite periodicals, though some even had iPads on the table to allow their toddlers a chance to catch up with cartoons. I however, was “news free” and frankly, happy to be (though I did feel a little twinge for at least a bit of ephemeral political information). The family and I enjoyed a nice breakfast, each enjoying something different from the amazing buffet offered at the Cove, ranging from pancakes to Eggs Benedict to Cheerios to crepes. The selection of food available, I thought, was amazing and worthy of a picture. Hey, I’m in the travel / technology business, so sharing any type of travel info is basically what I do for a living; I don’t go anywhere without gathering travel information on rooms, views, restaurants and more. But this time I simply didn’t take a picture. It seemed silly; taking a quick picture with a phone is one thing – you can do that in five seconds. Taking a camera out of case to take a picture seemed like a bit more effort than I wanted to make. After breakfast we headed to the pool and all the “connected” parents were already deep into their devices. Some laid on their backs with arms stretched straight up, holding Kindles. Most others were sitting up, baseball caps or hat visors pulled down while they read their phones or iPads. I walked, as my camera (hung around my neck by its cord) bounced in front of me with each step. We situated ourselves and I immediately took some pictures of the kids. They looked so cute in their suits and hats. Snap, snap, “cheese”, snap some more. Within a few minutes, I had a nice collection of candid and posed pictures. The camera then went back into the case. By now, in addition to Facebook posts, I would have normally texted a few pictures to my parents and sister so they could appreciate the moment, but they’d have to wait. (Little did I know however, they’d still be waiting.) We swam and eventually came time to lounge