I challenged myself to go a full year without social media in March 2021.

At the time, I was recovering from the brutality of the first full pandemic year with all the polarization and fear it brought from doomscrolling through newsfeeds. I found myself constantly consuming content I wasn’t seeking; scrolling endlessly throughout many moments of my day for something to spike my dopamine levels enough to evoke an emotion.

Then I watched The Social Dilemma on Netflix. It’s an enlightening documentary about how social media is designed to hook and manipulate us. This made me contemplate all the effects it had on me. That’s when I knew I needed to take action. 

Risks, benefits of going cold turkey

However, as someone who has been active on social media since the days of Myspace and who needs to stay updated on platforms for my career’s sake, I kept finding excuses to avoid limiting my social media use.

Finally, I decided — I’d go cold turkey. For a year.

I was expecting FOMO — Fear of Missing Out. I readied myself for anxiety from being away from constantly updating feeds. But I knew in the long run, it would be good for me.

And it was.

Stopping my social media consumption gave me back so much time for myself. It made me feel liberated. And, I can’t believe how much better it made me for my family’s sake.

During the first week, I noticed how my fingers would automatically click on the folder where my apps once were on my phone, only to not find any. Similarly, I found myself typing in facebook.com on my browser throughout many times of the day. I soon realized I didn’t know how to properly be bored anymore. Any chance I got, I was spending it on consuming content.

Sleep, independence, clear-headedness

Over time, I began to do more of the little things I enjoyed. I started doodling a lot more, reading in-depth articles on things I truly enjoyed and reading more books because I would scroll less in the mornings. My sleep is better probably due to the lack of blue light from my phone. I was enjoying and controlling more of my own time.  

Another benefit for me was my sense of independence. Maybe it was the lack of unsolicited news content or an echo chamber of like-minded thinking, or even an urgency to send out virtue signaling, but I have never felt like such an independent thinker. I no longer feel aligned with any party or thought process. The decisions I made for myself and my family were truly mine. I felt free to have my own opinion, and since I can’t post, I don’t have to worry about sharing it with people that I otherwise wouldn’t be talking to on a day-to-day basis.

The adage that “ignorance is bliss” did play true here and, honestly, I really like this bubble I’ve created. It’s free of external judgment and I no longer seek virtual validation of my opinions. 

With all these changes, my mind was also clearer. I was more intentional, and with that, a better person for my family. No longer did I ignore a beautiful moment when my daughter is dancing in front of me because I was busy reading an article or editing a picture. I took incredible in-the-moment pictures because I wasn’t worrying about how it would look when I posted them. My conversations with my wife were so much more creative, aspirational and exciting as we moved away from discussing current events and topical news. I felt much more present.

Stay without social media or return to the apps?

Even though I originally felt I wasn’t THAT MUCH engrained in social media, removing myself from it showed me just how much it was seeping its way through my life. 

So what are my next steps? As much as I have enjoyed this journey, I don’t know if it’s sustainable for me.

One key thing that was missing was the sense of connection I felt with some people. Although much of the “social” part of social media has been lost, some people I connected with on social media were not people I could just call or text with. As much as I could say I didn’t need surface-level connections with people in that way, it wasn’t the case. I found myself wanting to know what was going on in their lives, their families and their adventures. I missed out on celebrating major life moments for others. Ironically, the motivation for self-improvement I received from some really inspiring people was also now missing in my life. 

So now the hard part has come:

• How can I go back to social media without losing all the benefits I gained without it?
• How can I use it for the true social aspect without consuming it like I did before? Is that even possible?
• I loved how I have felt this past year, so have I really weighed the pros and cons of returning?
• In my field of work, it could be dangerous to not understand the social environments I can market in and how they evolve if I am not a consumer of them. But is that enough of a compelling reason to return?

It’s difficult. I don’t know the answers to any of these questions. Because of that, I’m figuring out just how I will return and to what extent. One thing I do know, though. I need to find the tools and put the parameters in place now to allow me to use these platforms differently than I had before.

Or maybe I’ll just stick to this blissful bubble. I kind of can’t wait until I run into someone I haven’t seen in years and really mean it when I say, “Let’s catch up. 

Photo: ©dusanpetkovic1 / Adobe Stock.

The drive over the river and through the woods last week wasn’t quite as pleasant as you remember it being, huh? Then you need the best road trip apps available whether taking the kids to a family holiday gathering or on a grand vacation across the country.

Best family road trip apps for before you leave

Packr or PackPoint

Not sure what to bring? The free Packr and PackPoint apps help you figure it out. It considers your destination, the forecasted weather, the length of stay and planned activities to provide a checklist of essentials. (You can also buy “premium” versions of each with added features and app integrations for $2.99.)

I prefer Packr because it adds checklists of things to do before you leave. This includes preparing your home (take out the trash, turn down the thermostat, etc.) and car (don’t forget your sunglasses or driver’s license). However, Packr only runs on IOS so if you have an Android phone, get PackPoint.

Roadtrippers

If you don’t want to miss anything cool on the way, Roadtrippers helps find interesting activities, museums or offbeat sights along your route as well as food, gas and hotels. This includes popular (and not-so-popular) landmarks, parks, nature walks, historic sites and the odd mega-sized ball of twine. The free app will do for most, but there is an ad-free version for $30 a year that includes offline maps, live traffic info and more.

TripAdvisor

The OG of travel recommendation sites, TripAdvisor, provides a lot of reviews of local restaurants, accommodations and attractions so you can determine whether that ball of twine is really big enough to see.

Essential travel apps for driver/navigator

Waze

Seriously, who doesn’t depend on Waze? The crowd-sourced traffic information provides the best real-time updates on it all: traffic jams, road construction, highway hazard and — best for the lead-footed — speed trap and red light camera alerts.

In my own personal comparison tests over the years, Waze regularly provides the fastest path and the best re-routing when backups or accidents occur. Yes, it will occasionally offer odd alternate routes (exiting and re-entering a highway or interchange to save a minute or two, for example) when you don’t expect them. But, as I tell my wife, it’s better to yell at the app than the driver or the passenger seat navigator.

Best road trip app alternative — Traffic/map: Google Maps runs on Waze technology (Big G owns W) but doesn’t offer the robust features. The rerouting feature sometimes just doesn’t kick in. However, it works fairly well especially if you are in a less populated area where there may not be many Waze users.

iExit

Need to find gas soon at a reasonable price? A place for a quick bite? A bed to crash in for the night?

The iExit app does it all, providing you’re driving a U.S. interstate highway (and, sometimes, a major state roadway). This one-stop app gets you what you want when you need an unplanned break not far off your primary route.

Helpful alternatives — Food and gas: iExit is integrated with Yelp and GasBuddy to provide the accurate and important info you need on food and gas, respectively, but having these apps handy is good if you venture off the interstate system.

Must-have road trip apps for the kids in the backseat

Kids today are probably more in tune with what’s available for them, tech-wise, when it comes to smartphone and tablet game apps than you or me, so let them at it. And aside from letting them go wild on the kiddie stuff available through your Netflix or Amazon Prime accounts, how about …

Podcasts — Dealer’s choice

Most podcasts are available on multiple platforms these days, so fire up your fav. Then, download some eps of the shows on our list of great kids’ podcasts. Adults will find many of these as smart and entertaining as the kids so you might want to hook them into your car’s audio system.

Spotify

If music is what they want, check out the “Kids & Family” genre on Spotify. You’ll find family-friendly songs from popular adult artists as well as kid-oriented musicians. A special “In The Car” tab features playlists perfect for singing or bopping your head along. You can also find more kid podcasts, nursery rhymes, stories and more to keep the little one entertained. Best of all: you can listen to free if you don’t mind the repetitive ads, but a subscription is worth the money.

Can I travel by taxi with a baby in New York City if I don’t have a car seat?

Of the eight million stories there are to tell about our hometown, the answer to that question about cabbing it with children around NYC is one that brings a dozen or so people to our site every day. And why not? While NYC may have one the greatest underground rail systems in the world, if a subway rat can carry a hefty slice of New York pizza down the stairs, what’s stopping one from dragging Junior down onto the third rail, amiright? So above-ground travel is a definite option for many.

Aside from taxis and buses, there is another transportation you can consider if you have a young one in tow and you do not own a car: Uber Car Seat.

Open the Uber app and after selecting the basic UberX service option, tap the “Car Seat” button and for an extra $10 surcharge, your vehicle comes equipped with a car seat. (If you enter the promo code CARSEATNYC10 in the Uber app, your first surcharge is waived.)

Uber Car Seat provides a user with a forward-facing IMMI Go car seat, pre-installed by a driver trained in installing it. According to its website, the seat works for a child who is at least 12 months old, weighs at least 22 pounds and is 31 inches tall. Children who weigh more than 48 pounds or exceed 52 inches are too big for the seat. More details on the seat and use of the seat are available on the Uber Car Seat FAQ page.

Uber offers this service in several major U.S. cities, including Orlando, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and a few international cities.

If you try or have tried Uber car Seat, let us know what you think.

As a self-proclaimed early adopter and technology geek, one of my first moves when I learned my wife was pregnant was to scour the Apple App Store to find apps for new parents that will help them and their babies.

I use each of these helpful parenting apps below almost daily, except for Full Term – an extremely helpful app for expecting moms and dads in the final days of pregnancy, but one I never used after that.

Baby Connect ($4.99)

Baby Connect makes recording and tracking key information about your child, especially in the first six months of life, very easy. This parent-friendly app allows you to enter daily information about feeding, diapers, sleep, mood, activities, medicines and more. It even lets you snap and save daily photos though I have not used it for that myself.

Tracking your baby’s every activity may seem like overkill, but it is immensely helpful when trying to figure out why she may be fussy, to see if she is getting enough sleep/food on daily and weekly basis, or if the amount of diapers is showing healthy development. The results can also be shared with your pediatrician for assessment, which we found very helpful as well.

Baby Connect allows you to authorize several users (such as parents, daycare staff and nannies) for each child. All entries are immediately and securely synchronized on each user account. This feature proved key as my wife and I both use the app to enter our youngest daughter’s information.

Full Term – Labor Contraction Timer (99 cents)

For all dads awaiting the birth of their child, I highly recommend Full Term.

This is the easiest-to-use of the apps for new parents to be lets you time and record contractions – an important thing in the final stressful hours prior to baby’s birth. It is a simple as pressing stop/start on the app timer, and gives you duration and frequency of contractions for last contraction, last hour and last six hours – critical information in making the decision on when to call the doctor or go to the hospital.

Baby Shusher ($4.99)

This simple yet fun Baby Shusher apps for new parents will help you keep your mouth from drying up while trying to soothe and quiet your baby.

Open the app, press “start” and a familiar “shushing’”white noise emanates from your phone. Helpful on the go and for naps, but not really a replacement for a white noise machine for night sleep.

PingMD (free)

PingMD may be the game-changing medical app for the relationship between doctor and patient, and perfect for the parent who worries about every little health issue involving his or her child and ends up scheduling doctor appointments that result in lost time and additional cost.

This simple healthcare app allows simple, fast and effective communication between you and your doctor, and all it requires is a user profile for the patient. You can send and receive ‘pings’ (notifications) between you and your doctor during and after office hours on any subject related to your child’s health. These pings can include a picture or video along with your message.

We actually chose our pediatrician partially based on the fact that she was a PingMD pilot doctor. We have sent probably up to 10 pings to our pediatrician with questions related to sleep, diet and rashes (with pictures) and the quick answers we received gave us peace of mind while saving us several trips to the doctor’s office.

1 Second Everyday (99 cents)

A must-have for those parents who want to keep those precious early life memories alive as long as possible,. This is probably my photo/video app and one I think my youngest daughter will be most happy about in the future.

You create a video from a collection of one-second snippets recorded from each day of your baby’s life. The results are simply stunning and we are planning to use it at least for a year to later show Gracie how much she has changed in her first year of life. We are in our fourth month now and watching the video is just so much fun!

Intuitive and easy to use, the app lets you take your video using it or a generic phone camera application. The app will recognize the video based on the time stamp and allow you to choose your one second from a recorded longer clip. It then goes ahead and adds it to the other seconds you already chose in chronological order.

You can see the video that inspired me to use this app: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtgzTr8iopk

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Konstanty Owczarek is a finance professional residing in Manhattan. He moved to New York City 10 years ago and is originally from Poland. He researches apps for new parents for fun and practicality.

He is married to his lovely wife Suzi and they have a 5-month old daughter Gracie Zosia.

I remember reading a few parenting books when my son was a couple of months old. They described how your child has distinct crying sounds, and you should be able to decipher between a cry for food versus a fussy cry because your child is tired. I was not very successful at deciphering this baby code…so, when my son was screaming and crying, I went through the checklist – 1. did he hurt himself?, 2. did he take a nap recently?, 3. did I feed him his bottle?, 4. does he want to be held?

Now, there could be some light at the end of the tunnel for parents. Someone recently told me about a new & innovative iPhone application for new parents. The Cry Translator made by Biloop Technologic, S.L., claims to be successful at identifying the five distinct cries from infants: hungry, sleepy, stressed, annoyed, or bored, and that these five cries are universal to all babies regardless of culture or language. For $9.99, the app claims that within 10 seconds of recording your baby crying, it will provide you with suggested tips to soothe your baby. That is a bold claim, but sounds amazing.

Not sold on this app yet? The application description mentions that “according to clinical research conducted in a pediatric hospital in Spain, 96% of the babies ceased crying after applying the suggestions displayed by the Cry Translator.”

I am still using my blackberry so I am unable to download and share the success (or lack there of) of this new iPhone app. Can some other dads share their feedback?