Story by: Enrique Martinez
Does technology make the world better or worse? This is a simple question that I have been thinking about for the past few weeks. Sure, it’s nice to have a smart phone that can connect you to your social media sites, send emails, take photos and post them on the internet, and put you in contact with anyone by dialing a number.  That being said, none of my best memories include a cellular device. Most of our memories are of us doing something fun, exciting, interesting or new. While we create these memories, we have unplugged from technology and opened our eyes to the world, our friends, our family and our lives, instead of constantly having our heads down looking at the screens on our phones.
Mail Online recently published an article that claims each person, on average, spends about 2 hours a day looking down at their cellphone! They even took it a little further and claimed that those 2 hours are a third more than the time spend interacting with our significant others! I have talked to friends and their families about what they think of technology. Everyone seems to be happy that you can have everything at your fingertips, but yet often feel lost without their phones. How can we break this feeling? How can we get away?
I am writing this post today, because I tend to be on my phone a lot during the week. Sometimes it is because of work, but more often than not, I am on social networks that were created to digitally share memories with other people. I see it as your own different online life. How can we unplug? How can we forget about our phones and just enjoy our families and friends, and communicate without interruption. Quality family time is really hard to come by these days, but I will guarantee you that no matter how addicted you or your kids might be to technology, going to the lake with your family can provide that much needed quality time together.

Meet My Dad, Enrique Sr.

I was blessed to be born into a wonderful family. I am the youngest of three, and the only boy. I moved to a boarding school in Mississippi in 8th grade, leaving my family in California at a very young age. While it is hard to be far sometimes, my parents have always been extremely supportive of me, even if they didn’t want to be deep down. Now that I live in Memphis, and my middle sister is in New York, we cherish any time when our whole family is together, and this story is no exception.

My mom and older sisters Ana Paula and Fernanda

My parents are the type of parents that always want to have memories with the family, so it’s simple, if we are together we are not on our phones. My middle sister has always been the keeper of this rule and has been known to take phones away if you pull them out during “Family Time.” For Father’s day a few years ago, we decided to go to our local lake in California and go fishing for the day.
I quickly found out that my two very smart and very beautiful sisters had no idea how to fish. The only time they had fished before was in a stocked lake full of trout where you could probably stick your hand in and grab a fish. After laughing to myself for a few minutes watching my sisters trying to figure how to get a hook on the line and bait the hook, I decided to be a good brother and teach them how to do it. This was my biggest mistake. If you do something once, be prepared to do it every time after that. I was getting asked to put hooks on and baits on hooks the rest of the day because the hooks were “sharp” and the bait “smelled gross.” I still get a kick out of it looking back on it.

Where are all the fish we caught?

The Eldest of three, Fernanda fishing like a pro!

We only caught one fish that day, but that didn’t bother anyone because we had such a great time together.
The great thing about a boat is that you are constantly involved with everyone else on the boat. No matter how stressful your week has been, everything seems to slow down once you get on the boat. I call this sensation being “unplugged” from the world. I challenge you to look up the closest lakes near you, we even have a post so you can find one in our area here. Check if there are any places that you can rent a boat for the day and discover boating with your family! It’s an incredible experience that will leave you wanting more. And remember that no matter what you like to do on the water – fishing, wake boarding, or just cruising – Memphis Boat Center has the right pontoon boat, bow rider, or ski boat just for you and your family!
Go ahead, make great memories with your kids on the water. Find your getaway and get Unplugged!