Life Sans Smart Phone
I recently returned from spending a few months studying abroad in Paris, France. I had the incredible opportunity to take classes about the history and culture of the city while rapidly improving my French language skills. I also had the chance to experience living in a confusing and exciting city without the aid of my most prized possession... my iPhone. Here in New York, I use my iPhone for essentially everything that I need on the go. Can't find that restaurant where I'm meeting my sister? Look it up on Google, plug it into Maps, and I'm there in five minutes. Want to go to the movies? Look up the reviews and times on Flixster. Love the song I heard on the radio? Shazam, I have the name in one minute and am immediately sent to the iTunes store where I can download it.
Life in Paris was definitely different without all of these things literally at my fingertips. When I was lost in this city, I was seriously lost. Many times I would ask multiple people for directions who would all point me down different roads, around different corners, and into more unknown territory. I don't want to say that I enjoyed being lost because I definitely did not, especially when the sun was setting and I had no credit left on my pay-as-you-go mobile to call my friends. What I did enjoy though, was finding my way. When it finally clicked; when I finally realized that I could take the 12 train to Odeon instead of the 6 all the way to the 4, I had a sense of accomplishment that you just can't get from the Hopstop app.
I'm also not one to argue that life is better without email or social media apps accessible at all times because when I went to Barcelona to meet up with my mom, I had no way of getting in touch with her because neither of us had phones. However, there was something refreshing about getting to whatever my destination was with my friends and putting my phone away, for good, until I left. Here when I sit down at a restaurant with three friends all of our phones are on the table: we leave ourselves constantly open to the never ending deluge of texts, calls, emails, pokes, tweets, and plus ones. Yes, it is extremely convenient to be able to look up the latest news when you're about to have lunch with your politically minded best friend from high school, but once you get to lunch are you genuinely tuned in to the conversation?
I think this is a question that gets raised often, but I never really thought seriously about it until this summer. When does convenience revert into distraction and nuisance? The same question comes up in almost every arena of our lives from work to family events to exercise to happy hours with friends.
So I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments. When does convenience of technology turn to distraction and/or inconvenience for you personally? 
Lauren Argenti is an intern at CJP Communications