I am writing-in from a tiny medieval beach town in the South of France. Seriously. My girl friend and I decided that it would be an awesome getaway from the hustle and bustle of Paris to take a train somewhere remote and get completely off the grid for a week or so.  We lasted exactly six hours.

Not being pestered by constant texts or emails might sound like a dream, and trust me – it has been wonderful being able to focus on the present and not have the constant dinging of messages interrupting our flow. It’s a strange feeling to leave your house for the day, possibly even until late at night and leave your phone behind on purpose. Ordinarily I’d forget my pants before I’d forget my phone. Luckily, there is a fancy little oceanside restaurant up the road that has a wireless connection. I swear that the clouds create an opening directly above this haven and shine a light directly onto what is now referred to as the gleaming beacon of hope. I think this is where I say: Hi, My name is Allie and I have an addiction.

The gleaming beacon of hope is a pretty pricy restaurant where you can’t just plop down at a table and plug into the interwebs; that would just be rude. You have to actually be a patron there – which means my friend and I have been eating very well, very slowly for the past 6 days. The gorgeous male servers that we barely notice because we are locked into our matrix think that we are insane. We sit there Mac-to-Mac back-to-back and dine or drink in absolute silence for at least an hour before forcing ourselves off. We honestly count down to shut down. The first time that we discovered the beacon of hope haven, our eyes dilated and pulses rose as we devoured our high-speed information.  It was as if we hadn’t had water for two days and then someone gave us a liter of Evian. I felt like one of the Avatar humanoids plugging my tail into the port of my laptop. Ohhh yessss… Feels so nice… Or rather how a junkie in a movie reacts when they get a much-needed fix. Which begs for an interesting question: Is the internet an upper or a downer? Well, I suppose that depends on the session – right?

When did we get so addicted? Was Nintendo the gateway drug of our generation? I know for myself, anyway, that it’s not the technology itself, but the connection to… well, everyone. I like staying in contact with my circle of peeps – knowing they are having a good week and that they are well and happy. I like scrolling through my newsfeed and knowing which of my friends is having a girl or a boy (Congrats Christine! And Elissa!) And touching base with my parents to tell them I’m not starring in an episode of ‘Locked Up Abroad’ although that would make for an awesome prank, mental note. Obviously checking into Hello Giggles and knowing what the bunnies are up to, who won nails of the day and what madness Molls is stirring up – are all a must too.

But I refuse to fret or guilt myself over these little pleasures. I figure like everything in life, it’s all about moderation. We have only been logging-in once a day, after all. Speaking of, I’m off to the beacon of hope haven right now to upload this article. Hope it was worth the $37 egg white scramble. And vice versa.

Below are some pics from my recent mostly wifi-free travels. You can find more pics here.