I couldn’t go five minutes without lighting up that addicting little screen that is my iPhone.

I was the queen of Snapchat, always on top of emails and never missed a new Instagram. When it was time to seriously study, I had to put my phone behind me where I couldn’t see it and schedule breaks now and then to check it.

But phones don’t work in the middle of the sea. And that’s where I was headed.

I embarked on Semester at Sea in early January. I have already visited Hawaii, Japan, China, Vietnam and Singapore and am on my way to Burma. My travels have brought me to places out of history books like the Great Wall of China and Hiroshima. I saw my Pinterest travel board come to life in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam. I have eaten fresh sushi at a fish market in Japan, made dumplings by hand in China, feasted on spring rolls at almost every meal in Vietnam and stayed away from liquor with snakes or scorpions coiled inside on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City.

But after every country, I come back to the “floating college campus” that is nothing at all like St. Thomas’ familiar campus.

It’s not just that we are in the middle of the ocean, taking classes on a ship and wearing $4 patterned pants from Vietnam. That’s unique, but that’s not it. The difference is in our hands. They’re empty. Phones aren’t glued to our palms 24/7.

And guess what? We still have social lives. We have friends. We communicate with each other. All without technology.

I admit, it was an adjustment. I learned quickly that if you don’t set a time and place to meet someone, you probably won’t find them. You can’t just fire off a text asking someone’s whereabouts on the our ship, the MV Explorer.

And that ever-so-convenient, “I’m looking down at my phone so I don’t have to acknowledge you” trick doesn’t work very well here. I’ve discovered elevator rides are actually a lot less awkward when you just make conversation.

Semester at Sea alumni told me I would make lifelong best friends on this voyage. Traveling the world together makes memories. Being stuck on a ship for up to 10 days at a time with limited space builds relationships, and now I see how loosening our grasp on mobile devices forges and strengthens friendships.

It’s comforting to know that when we get back to basics, even with the stigmas surrounding our generation’s communication technique, we connect with each other sans technology.

Yes, there are moments when I miss having my trusty little iPhone companion in hand, but on a deeper level, it’s not the apps I miss. I don’t miss Snapchat, I miss seeing my sister and my friends’ faces. I don’t miss Facebook; I miss knowing what my network of friends and acquaintances are up to.

In that sense, technology is a beautiful thing. It allows us to connect with friends and loved ones at the tap of a finger. I won’t take that for granted again.

Part of our humanity is wrapped up in our desire and ability to connect with each other. That is why we are addicted to our iPhones, but it’s also why we can let them go and talk to each other face-to-face when we lose the 4G.

I’m not going to throw my phone overboard before coming back to the United States in May. There are merits to that “addicting little screen.” But I do think you’ll see my head up instead of looking down at my phone walking across campus. And I’ll appreciate having my hands full again and able to connect with the people I’ve gotten to know empty-handedly.

Baihly Warfield can be reached at baihly.warfield.sp14@semesteratsea.org.