Hello.  My name is Amy Liz and I needed a vacation.

And, we’re not talking just a “Hey, let’s go to Ocean City for the weekend.”

We’re talking a vacation that uses my passport.

So, D and I went to Costa Rica for a week. We spent weeks planning on where to go in the country, how to get there, and where to stay.  We learned a lot about each other in our first vacation together.

Other than a week together in tropical paradise, what was the best part? Not being able to use our phones.

I know, I know.. this is coming as a shock to many of you. If you know me well, you probably always see me with my iPhone, always on Twitter or Facebook.  Here’s how the conversation went down:

D: I really don’t think we should bring our phones on vacation

A: <<silence & crickets>> Really? Are you kidding?

D: Yeah. Super spendy to use it.

A: Well, maybe I’ll call just to see (Side note: I knew he was right.. I just wanted to make one last-ditch effort).

After about 20 min. on the phone with AT&T, there was no way to bring our phones cheaply to Costa Rica. I whined about it a little as we left for the airport, and really missed it on the plane and once we got in country and were looking for the incredibly small airport we needed to get to.

But, after about a day, I totally forgot that I had an iPhone. We found other ways of getting to places and actually asked for directions – in Spanish. As a result of not being tethered to that darn device, I was able to speak more fluently, think a bit more clearly, and have great conversation with my traveling partner. Most importantly, I unplugged and relaxed. There is nothing more precious than that.

So I’m back in the States and, yes, I probably missed out on a lot of tweets and things that I should have known via social media. But I wouldn’t give it up for anything in the world.

Pictures coming soon! PURA VIDA!

Photo Credit: Gabriel Rocha, Flickr Creative Commons