Staying connected between the sun and the screen
Millennials are the most technologically connected generation to date: we bring our smartphones and iPods with us everywhere we go. Some of us grew up thinking that sitting inside playing the newest video game was an ideal summer day. We were the first generation to have a range of technology-based summer camps as an alternative to the typical outdoor activities camp.
We technically don’t need to go to the beach or the basketball courts to interact with our friends – they’re all online, from our grade school best friend who lives down the street and college friends from around the world, to casual high school acquaintances and even those people we met once at a party and don’t really talk to. We can sit in the air-conditioned comfort of our living room and have all the social interaction we need.
But we haven’t given up the summer days of lounging in the sun and enjoying the great outdoors. We just may have different accessories in our beach bag.
We still enjoy those days tanning at the beach or throwing a football in the park and the nights on the porch with a book and a glass of wine. They’re our chance to step away from our everyday lives and enjoy the moment – our chance to be a little kid again, with no worries, even if it’s only once in a while.
And we need (and deserve) that time to ourselves because more and more jobs these days have expanded beyond the typical “nine to five.” We carry all the technology with us because it keeps us connected, and we need to be connected 24/7 because of those jobs. We are using our phones more than ever before, since they have everything we need to stay connected: phone and GPS capabilities, web browsing, apps, etc.
So it’s getting harder and harder for us to put down the Blackberry and step away from the computer, especially when there’s a life to be lived in both places. But while it may be hard, it’s always worth it in the end.
When we were young, our parents didn’t care if we attended science camp or a basketball camp, as long as we were enjoying summer and making friends. So if we can incorporate this 21st century technology into our outdoor, active lives, does it matter that can bring our Kindles and iPads to the beach or Twitpic our great picnic lunch in the park?
It’s become a habit for us to wake up and check in on all our social media sites, but that doesn’t mean we will let our love of technology take over our whole summer. We like the outdoors, too!
Photos by theCarol (top) and bandungraya.blogspot.com (bottom)
