In 1967, Time Magazine ran an article, “The Hippies: The Philosophy of a Subculture,” where they laid out the Hippie code:

Do your own thing, wherever you have to do it and whenever you want. Drop out. Leave society as you have known it. Leave it utterly. Blow the mind of every straight person you can reach. Turn them on, if not to drugs, then to beauty, love, honesty, fun.

The Sports Dude and I just returned from our honeymoon to New Orleans where we departed for a four-night cruise to Cozumel, Mexico.

As we made our way down the Mississippi we knew we’d lose 3G reception at some point, so we snapped some pictures and got them posted to Facebook before we went dark. We had no cell phone, 3G or WiFi for three entire days, as in 72+ hours. For three days my iPhone 4, which is usually in my hand or on my person somewhere where I can easily hear/feel the phone ringing, sat in the safe in our stateroom. For three entire days I lounged around the pool with my fully loaded Nook enjoying my summer time reading. I blew through The Lincoln Lawyer, and made headway through New York: The Novel (an 800+ page volume that would normally NEVER make it onto my poolside reading list. I love my Nook). We went kayaking and snorkeling in Cozumel. We actually sat chatting with the people sitting with us in the main dining room, and around the tables during the comedy shows. We discovered three-card poker, and I liked it! I actually found myself, for the first time since I got my first cellphone in 1995, completely detached from the outside world, and 100% PRESENT in what I was doing, and I liked that too. It was liberating. It was freeing. It was the BEST part of the vacation. I was actually 100% present in what we were doing. I wasn’t taking emergency calls from the office (yes, there was one). I didn’t have to referee a fight over the remote control between my kids. I was able to live for three whole days not knowing what was happening in the world at large (pretty tough for a news junkie). And while I wondered what my friends were up to on Facebook, I was more interested in what I was up to. So, maybe the Hippies were on to something. Dropping out was pretty darn sweet for those three days. Late into the night on the last night of the cruise, it was pretty apparent when the 3G returned.

• Conversations in between the comedians slowed down, and the smart phones came out.
• The Sports Dude, and the guy sitting next to him, peered into his Evo, catching up on the Heat game.
• You could tell that others were checking Facebook and texting.

As for me? My phone was still safely tucked in the safe down below, where it stayed until we arrived at our port the next day. I just didn’t want that part of my vacation to come to an end.