Last year I ruined my summer vacation by bringing along a modern convenience: the iPad.
Instead of looking at nature, I1my e-mail. Instead of paddling an old boat, I2my Twitter feed. Instead of reading great novels, I stuck to reading four3each morning.
And that was the problem: I was acting4I were still in the office. My body was on vacation but my head wasn't.
So this year I made up my mind to try something5: getting away from the Internet. I knew it wouldn't be easy, since I'm not good at self-control. But I was determined. I started by6 the iPad to my wife. Then, a stroke of luck: The cell phone signal at our cabin was7than in the past, meaning that I couldn't cheat. I was8, forced to carry out my plan. Largely9from e-mail, Twitter and my favorite newspaper websites, I had little way to connect to the world10radio —and how much radio can one listen to, really? I had no11but to do what I had planned to do all along: read books.
This experience has had a12ending—for now, at least. With determination and the strong support of my wife, I succeeded in my vacation struggle13the Internet. I14realized that it was me, of course, not the iPad, that was the problem.
I knew I had15when we passed a Starbucks and my wife asked if I wanted to stop to use the Wi-Fi. "Don't need it," I said.16, as we return to post-vacation situation, a test begins: Can I17when I'm back at work? And I don't plan to18my convenience completely. But I hope to resist the temptation(诱惑)to check my e-mail every five minutes,19often leads to following my Twitter feed.
A vacation is supposed to help you reset your20to become more productive(高效的). Here's hoping this one worked.
