Long days of the sunshine, cool water, pool time and plenty of food often surround fun travel and vacations and by the time night time at the beach wraps around, as parents, adults, we often find ourselves wiped out.
During the average day at the beach, most of us walk at least a mile, tote baggage(literally), chairs, and sand buckets, food prep or figuring out where to get food, all the while struggling with the challenge to detach from the world, and leaving our smartphones packed away.
I find it is hard to stay detached from the world because what if.. someone needs me (really?), texts me the most important information of my life or if I need my phone for an emergency? I guess there is no detaching from the smartphone, not even willpower, but is there a way that the smartphone might help me with some fun for night time at the beach? Are there 7 Uses Of Your Smartphone At The Beach that would make it ok to go ahead and pull it out, and not seem like you are caving into technology rather than committing to your vacation?
7 Uses Of Your Smartphone At The Beach
Phones & You
I know many people say that if you are on vacation act like it, but one of the most used pieces of technology actually has benefits beyond work and it should be used guilt-free! Once settled on the beach, I begin watching the waves crashing in, and the kids are running up and down the beach, and then begin creating massive sand structures, we are well settled for the day.
The urge is tugging at me to pull out my smartphone but not to work, here are 7 Uses Of Your Smartphone At The Beach each that offer practicality and functionality to everything you are already doing, yet they ease the rush, timing and thought process because the 7 uses of your smartphone at the beach creates mental organization long before you begin to travel on your vacation.
My List of 7 Uses Of The Smartphone At The Beach
The people next to me are randomly discussing the place they went last night, while they are not talking to me, they are talking so loud I think the whole beach can hear them, so with their tips spewing like water out of a water fountain, I grab my smartphone and get to Yelp and Urbanspoon to see what all the chatter is about(there are others, though much less reliable). I actually found out that the foods they were describing and their experiences were fairly typical of those that dine there and I love what I am hearing so I do the next best thing…
I have a go-to App that reserves tables that not everyone seems to know about and I go ahead and grab a table at a restaurant that usually does not take reservations. These tables are already purchased by this company, so it’s a go for us, and it’s a no line situation for my hungry kids. (OpenTable)
When we arrive there at night, we will be seated while others will be waiting! I call this a rockstar move!
I listened carefully and as soon as she spewed the name of the place, I Googled it, called and found out they only did first come, first serve and that would never work. The app works like a hidden treasure because those seats are golden and not everyone takes advantage of this app.
After getting this all settled, the kids were beckoning me to come and hang out with them in the wet sand to BUILD a sandcastle, and of course, I was not going to miss this fun in the sun, so I took off, but kept my smartphone around my neck. The purpose of the smartphone with me was twofold: Instagram photos and photos.
I love my smartphone camera and I don’t think I would trade it in for anything, and of course, you know I am Instagram Addicted, so I am proud of all their time on the beach, and I want to share it!
While we are hanging by the surf, toting buckets of water to the soon-to-be Sand Creation, someone is talking about a mini-golf place, and yet another person (Complete Stranger from what I could tell) had a totally different opinion and chimed in. My resolution to this…. TripAdvisor!
I actually found out that they were both right on their opinion of this particular place because it seemed pretty split on TripAdvisor, so we steered clear and this time we chose here for Mini Golf. Since I had planned an outing for dinner already and now wanted to get from the Dinner place to the Mini Golf, I decided to use my Google Directions to get the most accurate timing and road closures.
Did you ever notice that when YOU are on vacation the most roads seem to be closed? I mean the roads that are the main throughways? We experienced that In Myrtle Beach last year and sat in traffic for over 1 hour to go about 2 miles, it is very frustrating and I did not think to use my Google App then, but I NOW know!
Once we got back home from our outings, it was kind of late, but there was a lot of activity on the beach, and Curious IS as Curious DOES, so we took off back to the beach. No, no one was night swimming, but EVERYONE, in fact, had their smartphones out and guess what they were doing?
That’s right, we headed out and shell hunted, and I had to run back for a bucket for each kid, but what fun they had with everyone else on the beach. Finally, we headed back to the room, and of course, unfamiliar with the room we were in, as we are always, somewhere new, I used my smartphone to Light the way with my cool Flashlight App. I turned on the smartphone, turned on my App and guess what, I found the switch to light up the room so we could enter with ease.
There are so many uses for your smartphone while you are at the beach, that it seems you will not be keeping it separated from you, rather as a part of you. Adventure. Eat. DIY. Repeat. to me includes keeping my Apps set for travel, letting me be organized ahead of time, and not ending up in bad restaurants or in large waits, because that is not fun when I am traveling. Organization, the ease of getting into places, traveling to where the fun is based on what I learn during my day at the beach in addition to what I already know, keeps the fun moving and the smiles gleaming.
I love having my phone with me, and if there is ever an emergency or the need for light, it is at my fingertips. I do highly suggest a waterproof bag of some sort, as I do not take mine anywhere without being the water pouch, because while the Sun, Sand and Water is great for me, it is not for my smartphone. Lavishly live travel out loud, foot loose, and fancy free with these 7 reasons to use your smartphone at the beach.