Unplugging for the Holidays

Growing up in a people-pleasing tradition, I was always taught to nod along and sideline my own needs. This holiday season, I'm breaking free from those chains and redefining what it means to truly unplug. Join me as I recount my transformative journey from the bustling streets of Peru and the serene peaks of Kilimanjaro to a quieter, more intentional holiday season at home. I've embarked on a social media sabbatical, daring to prioritize personal moments over digital distractions while still managing my online business, Hike Like a Woman.

Escape the digital tether with me, as I share the strategies I'm using to carve out peaceful, presence-filled moments amidst the chaos. From minimizing my social media footprint to intentionally limiting work-related communications, I'm discovering the joy of being truly present with my family. As we gear up for a February adventure to Iceland, I'm balancing the excitement of planning epic trips with the simplicity of everyday joys. Whether you're a fellow adventure seeker or just someone looking to reclaim your time, this episode offers a fresh perspective on setting boundaries and embracing meaningful connections.


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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:13

I grew up in a religious tradition where I was taught to be a people-placer, a tradition where I was taught to always put a smile on my face, to always say yes to everything and to every opportunity, where I was taught to be quiet, meek, submissive. I don't know what happened because I don't have any of those qualities right now, but today I want to talk to you about how I am learning to set boundaries in my life. This is not a conversation about adventure travel or hiking today, but maybe something we all need to hear as we head into this busy, busy holiday season. Welcome back to the pod. My name is Rebecca. I'm so glad you're here. Last week we talked about breast cancer. That was kind of a heavy episode, but today I want to talk about boundaries and just one thing that I have done to put some boundaries in place in my life so that I can kick back and enjoy the next few weeks with my family as we go on all sorts of epic outdoor adventures and enjoy wintertime here in southeastern Wyoming.

Speaker 1: 1:17

I think one of the things that I love the most about adventure travel is I get the opportunity to unplug and to disconnect. When I was on Kilimanjaro, my phone did not work, except for in a few spaces, and then it was okay because then I could catch up with my husband and my family. When I was in Peru, we actually stayed at a couple of campgrounds that had Wi-Fi, but I intentionally did not get Wi-Fi on my phone. I intentionally just left my phone off because I didn't want to be distracted by what was going on in the world around me. I wanted to just be present on that trip with the incredible women who were in South America with me. So no Wi-Fi, and it was great. When I came back from Peru in October, in the middle of October, I wanted to keep that feeling going, that feeling of being disconnected.

Speaker 1: 2:16

But how do you enjoy being disconnected from your phone, from social media, from email all the time, but still run an online business? Because that's what I do here at Hike. Like a Woman, I run an online business where I make money by selling trips and outdoor adventures. It's kind of a weird way to make money and I don't make a lot of money, but it's just what I do. And so how could I disconnect from social media for a few months and go off grid and not answer my emails, not be constantly on social media, not updating social media, and was there a way to make that happen without being overseas and on an epic adventure? So I put a few things into place. I decided I wanted to just take a social media sabbatical, and that's what I'm doing right now.

Speaker 1: 3:15

From Thanksgiving, which was last week, until the new year, I am 100% off of social media and I am not answering emails or responding to any emails unless they come from trip participants. The only social media that I'm on is Slack, because that is the platform that I use to communicate with people who are going on group trips with me, and we're headed to Iceland in February, so there's kind of a lot going on to get ready for that trip to Iceland, and so I'm on Slack checking in with trip participants because they're the people who pay the bills around here for me. So thank you for going on trips with me, and I'm only in my inbox about 10 minutes a day, and I actually have somebody helping out with social media just to make sure that things get checked for spam, that creepy people are not following and spamming our account. That happens quite a bit when I'm traveling overseas and when I'm not on social media for a while, we tend to attract some pretty significant spammers. So I have someone helping me check about 10 minutes a day, just check to delete spam, delete unwanted comments and things that are not positive and respectful, because it's social media and that happens a lot, unfortunately.

Speaker 1: 4:38

So I put these rules into place. I said I'm going to do this social media sabbatical. I'm not going to be on social media and I'm not going to be in my inbox from Thanksgiving until the new year. I'm going to take some time to just be present with the people that I love and that's my family. So we're doing a lot of fun things for the holidays lots of outdoor adventures, I'm going to bake, I'm going to decorate my house. I'm going to just have a ton of fun with my family.

Speaker 1: 5:07

And I think it's really important that if you're feeling stressed out, if you're feeling overwhelmed, if you're feeling like the holidays are just too much right now because, let's be honest, I think the holidays can be too much and I think that often they are too much then I would encourage you to throw up a boundary, and maybe not throw up a boundary, to put up a boundary. That sounds better, I think by stepping away from social media for a month, month and a half or so. What I am able to do is get back my time, because I've realized how much time I spend scrolling through Instagram or replying to comments on Facebook or looking to see what people are fighting about on Facebook, especially after a nasty political season here in the United States. So I'm getting my time back by being off of social media. I'm also getting some sanity back, because I'm realizing that I don't have to spend all that time on social media. There are things that I can do to move my business forward that don't involve social media.

Speaker 1: 6:18

I haven't given myself a complete break from work for the holidays. I'm not just like taking time off and sitting around doing nothing. Instead, I'm still sending out a newsletter every single Monday. I'm still publishing and recording this podcast every single Tuesday. I still have YouTube videos going live on Tuesdays and Fridays. So I still have those things set up and put in place.

Speaker 1: 6:44

I'm still trying to be consistent with all of those things, but I don't need to be on social media for three hours a day, and that's how much time I was spending on social media, you guys. I'm not even proud to admit it, and I would always be like well, I'm spending so much time on social media because it's work, but it's not half of the time. I'm looking at recipes or googling things like how to melt butt fat, googling things like how to melt butt fat. So there you go. I hope that you're able to step away this holiday season. I hope you're able to do something that makes you happy. I hope you're able to set some boundaries and to put some boundaries into place, and I hope that you're able to relax and rejuvenate and have some fun, because the holidays should be about having tons of tons of fun, especially in the outdoors. So thanks so much for being here and I will be back next week, cheers.