Recently my husband and I took a two-week trip to Australia to visit family members and do a bit of touring. It was the first time I had been on a vacation for that long since I became active on social media in late 2008. (Yes, I know I need to get out of town more often!)

Even though I wasn’t super-oriented toward social media while I was out of town, I would get pretty frustrated when I couldn’t access it. So, I must admit that it is difficult for me to be “unplugged” for more than a day or so.

 

My Social Media Practices While In Australia

Since we had someone staying in our home while we were gone, I felt comfortable posting on Facebook about our various adventures over the course of our trip. This is not always advisable if you don’t have someone staying in or at least monitoring your home, as burglars have been known to use social media to determine the best time to break in.

Facebook was also a nice way for me (and my husband) to stay in touch with our family and friends while we were away. Many of our family members and friends have never been to Australia, so our posts were well received by people curious to see some glimpses of this beautiful country.

Here is a photo posted on our very first day in Australia, where we were fortunate enough to see kangaroos in a nature preserve.

Along with checking into Facebook on a daily basis, I also enjoyed popping into Pinterest now and then – though I was typically drawn more to the pins related to travel and nature as opposed to the business-related ones.

Speaking of business, I hardly ever checked into LinkedIn, a site I use on a daily basis while I am at home operating my business. To me, LinkedIn reminds me of being at an office, which is fine when I am in work mode. But when I was in play mode, I didn’t feel drawn to it at all.

Although everyone’s situation will vary while on vacation in terms of their desire, need, and ability to connect with their social media sites, here are some tips based on my recent experience.

 

5 Tips for Using Social Media Sites While On Vacation

• Write down and bring your passwords with you – you might need them to access a social site from a hotel computer or someone else’s computer or mobile device.
• Find out in advance (if possible) what the wifi options will be in the places where you plan to stay and what the charges will be. For example, in Australia, almost all hotels have a daily charge for wifi. You might be able to find places with free wifi if you do some research in advance.

• Consider bringing a tablet with you as well as a smart phone. After a few days, it gets frustrating to look at everything on the small screen of a phone.
• If you are traveling outside your own country, research what type of adaptors you will need to bring along for charging your mobile devices.
• If you tend to post business related information on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc., use Hootsuite or another social media management tool to schedule posts to appear while you are out of town. Or, before you leave, post that you are on vacation and will be “offline” until a certain date.

 

How About You?

What are your social media practices while on vacation? Do you completely unplug and stay away from all social sites? Or do you tend to use one or more of them? I am curious to find out what approaches my readers take while they off having fun somewhere for an extended period of time.

 

About Joyce

Joyce Feustel helps people, especially those age 50 and up, to become more effective using social media, especially Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Twitter.

She works with business owners, nonprofit organizations, retired people, consultants, and many others. Find her at www.boomerssocialmediatutor.com