Welcome to a Little Break

Guys, I'm taking a break from social media. Starting around Wednesday, I'll be off all my social media sites for a week or two.

I won't be off forever. I need to let my friends and family know I'm alive somehow. Plus I have a lot of poetry and art projects I want to share (*cough* self promote *cough*).

Painting is a great way to express myself and then share it on Deviant Art of Instagram

I just need a break.

For the past several years, I've had almost non-stop Internet access. My phone is a mini computer which I take everywhere. The few times I've gone without the Internet are rare, the last time being an adventure I had in Washington State where I had zero cell service for 90% of my trip.

It was also wonderful.

I loved being able to just stare out the window of the car, not worrying about what was going on in the world beyond the wilderness. I could just experience what was going on around me and be present. Though it was a little scary being miles from the nearest cell tower just in case anything bad happened, the experience of sleeping in a tent next to a river was worth it.

I'm also not here to bash social media. It's helped me keep in touch with people I might not otherwise still speak to.

Heck, I've posted at least 5 times today on Instagram already.

This adorable face had to be shared. It just had to be.

But that doesn't mean that there are a lot of drawbacks to constantly being connected to people. Between chasing likes, fake news, and a weird voyeuristic feeling when looking at other people's lives without really taking part, it can be tough to handle emotionally and mentally.

So for the next two-ish weeks, there won't be any new blog posts from me (either this blog or my food blog), no updates to my webcomic, and no Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. I will still be answering emails (I can't give up the Internet entirely - not in this high speed world).

If you are thinking about taking a break from social media, I say give it a go. You don't have to go cold turkey. Try deleting your apps for a weekend or a week and see how you feel. Social media is still a great way to connect people and share the best your life has to offer. If you find that leaving social media has a good impact on your life, then see if you can deactivate your accounts.

Have a great couple of weeks guys.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Welcome To Family On The Go

Guess what everyone! I've hit my two year anniversary since starting this blog. What does that have to do with this post and why was it that I didn't update last week? Well, it has to do with all the changes I've recently been going through.

Between the end of March and the beginning of May, every single person in my immediate family moved. I'm not kidding. We all went from being in one central geographic location, to stretched all along the north east. I was the last to officially move (see any blog post in March, April or May to hear my whining thoughts on that). It's been tough being far away from my original support system and its even harder trying to build a new one.

With my current job, I have a grand total of 15 personal days (not including sick leave). This is a luxgery for someone's first job right out of college (personally I thank the fact that I work for a French company for this much time). However, I was used to the college schedule of having a month off between first and second semester and then three months off in the summer for vacation. It's true that I used a lot of that "free time" to work jobs and internships, but I was always able to travel if I wanted to. Now I have to squish all of that time into 15 days.

It makes you look at your priorities a little more closely.

Do I take that adventure in Hawaii or visit my mom in Michigan? Should I go visit my cousins in North Carolina or my family in California? When was the last time I saw my family in Arizona? Should I really take that long weekend in October or save up for the holidays?

For my summer vacation time this year, I decided to visit one of my favorite childhood places with my mom's family. This required a two hour plane ride and then a nine hour car ride. It was worth it. Though it was strange to have TV for the first time, we still didn't have Internet.

It was calm and it was relaxing, but because I spent so much time in Northern Michigan, I wasn't able to see all of the people I wanted to in the Detroit area. I also felt a bit rushed at times to get everything done.

Today I'm heading out to visit my family in Pennsylvania. I'm a lot closer (geographically) to them now, so it's not as big of a trip. I'm excited to catch up in person as Facebook only tells you so much.

It seems like I'm doing a lot more traveling since moving to New Jersey and all of it to see family. This isn't a bad thing. I love visiting my family. I have their backs (even when I don't agree with them) and hopefully most of them have mine (when we're not driving each other crazy).

It's a tough balance and I'm still not sure how to do it aall. It requires a hard look at what you value doing, who you value seeing, timing and how much everything will cost (hey I'm still just starting out and have to budget everything).

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post or it really pissed you off, please like, share and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. If ever you guys have questions or have a topic you'd like me to write about, let me know.