This past week I went on a family vacation and was thankful enough to spend 7 beautiful and relaxing days at the beach with some great people and great energy to be around the entire time. But you know what was even better? The fact that I let myself stray away from all social media platforms for the entire week so I could enjoy every single moment of it.

When you are trying to relax and unwind, you shouldn't have to worry about what other people are doing or posting about. And you shouldn't need to feel like you have to post something 24/7 to prove that you are living it up wherever you are. Anytime I travel somewhere I try to keep this mindset because if you are in a new environment or trying to spend as much time as you can with people and soak up all the memories, you can't really do that if you are engrossed in your phone and social media the entire time. It is simply just a waste of time.

Of course, I was still utilizing my phone to take gorgeous pictures of the beach full of sunrises and sunsets and all that jazz, but I truly was not concerned with scrolling through my Instagram or Facebook feed, which is a glorious feeling. If you really want to embrace your vacation time, then your social media can wait.

And to be quite honest, no one is probably that concerned with what you are doing at every waking moment of each day. That might sound a little harsh, but it's true. Instead of focusing on what filter to use on a picture, focus on what is happening in the present moment and take mental pictures. Everyone else can wait and your time is valuable.

You don't even have to go on an actual vacation getaway to take a break from social media for a week. I believe that we all should try to incorporate this more often into our lives so we can put our mental health first and forget about followers and likes and all that other bullsh*t for a while. Our minds have become so corrupted that is why we tend to push our mental health to the bottom of the priority list, when it should be at the very top, along with self-care.

So, I challenge you reading this to take some time away from social media. If you are traveling somewhere in the near future, try not to go on your phone unless it is to take photos of the memories you are making. Or even you aren't physically going somewhere on vacation, take a week to be selfish and put a hold on your social media accounts. Make time for yourself so you can completely live your life to the fullest in the moment it is happening.