The Story I Couldn't Tell Until I Got Home

I spent 11 days on a cruise to Alaska with almost no phone signal. I thought I'd hate it. I loved it.

Two weeks ago, I boarded Cunard's Queen Elizabeth for the voyage. I packed for glaciers, whales, gardens, and a memory card full of photos. My Mint Mobile plan held up for about a day. Then the signal died. I bought one day of ship Wi-Fi, caught a quick burst of connection in port, and didn't have real service again until the last day of the trip. For most of the voyage, nobody could reach me.

Here's the part that surprised me: I was fine. Better than fine. I had a great time.

This isn't another "I unplugged and it changed my life" post. I've already written those. Turns out this isn't even a new lesson for me. I've been circling it for almost twenty years.

Back in 2008, a local newspaper interviewed me about working on vacation. There's a photo of my son flying down a pool slide while I sat poolside with my laptop. I thought I'd cracked the working while on family vacation code. Two years later, I unplugged completely in Paris and wrote about it. Eight years after that, I tried it again in England and called it a digital detox.

Here's the difference, though: I still had Wi-Fi on those trips. I chose to disconnect. This time I didn't plan to lose all service. It just happened.

While a tech-free Alaska wasn't a planned experiment, it showed me how much my relationship with technology has actually changed.

I love technology. It's been part of my career since the early days of the web, and these days I spend a lot of my time helping leaders get comfortable with AI. But somewhere along the way to Glacier Bay, I remembered something I'd let myself forget. Technology is a great tool. It's just not supposed to be the main character. You are.

Even on the one day I had signal, I didn't post, text, or call. I used to love sharing my travels in real time. At some point I noticed something that bugged me. Instead of experiencing the moment, I was composing it. Which photo. Which caption. Post now or later? Part of me wasn't watching whales. Part of me was already writing the post about the whales.

Sound familiar? It's the same instinct as half-listening in a meeting while you draft a follow-up email in your head. Or standing in a conference hallway between sessions, mentally refreshing your notifications. Or being on a call, already composing your response before the other person finishes talking. Or being at a family celebration and watching what’s on your phone instead of focusing on what’s happening around you.

When I finally got Wi-Fi and checked email, nothing was on fire. Nobody needed me ASAP. The world kept going just fine without me. With a huge sigh of relief, I found that being checked out felt really good.

Without the pull to document everything, I noticed different things. A woman from Glen Ellyn whose Illinois college overlapped with mine. A waitress in Seattle who answered my breakfast order with one word: "Gorgeous." The light changing on the mountains. Whales surfacing out of nowhere. Quiet conversations with Bruce after dinner, comparing how differently we'd each experienced the same day. On the last day, a warm chat with a woman from Salisbury, NC, who had three kids just like me.

Although none of this was on the itinerary, all of it makes up the story of what I actually want to remember.

I used to think sharing something in the moment made it richer. Alaska taught me that living the experience in the moment first is what makes it worth sharing later.

Try this in your next meeting: leave your phone in your pocket for ten extra minutes. Notice who's actually in the room, not just who's on the agenda.

Try it again at your next conference, in the gap between sessions. One real conversation. One detail you would've missed if you'd been half composing your next message.

And your friends and family? Don't make them wait for you to get off your phone to talk.

You might be surprised by who and what was waiting for your attention the whole time.

Are you usually present in meetings and conversations, or half planning your next move while someone else talks?

Hit reply and tell me: when's the last time you put the phone away and it actually paid off?

Over the next few weeks, I'll share more from Alaska. It’s all about what shows up once the signal interference disappears.

Stay curious, and look out for those wonder-full moments.

Barbara

P.S. If podcasting's on your radar, I'll be speaking at the Empowered Podcasting Conference next month. If you're there, use code EPCBR15 for a discount and find me on the community and podcasting panel.

Barbara Rozgonyi works with leaders to build trust and visibility in an AI-powered world, one honest story at a time.

BarbaraRozgonyi.com