In New York and New Jersey, many Jewish day schools have their winter vacation this week and next. Here are some tools that might be helpful. This is something I wrote about last year which I learned from my cousin out in San Diego. With all the amazing tools that we have today, we are still connected with our loved ones and friends. But the expectation, we hope, is that when someone goes on vacation they go on vacation.

If you are using Gmail, there is an “away message” that you can set up. Go to your Gmail settings (looks like a wrench); in the general tab all the way on the bottom is where you can set up your away message. You can even set it up to turn on automatically when you go on vacation. A good message to put in the body is: “I will be on vacation and will have little to no connection to cell phone or email. If there is an emergency, please call (back up person).” The subject line can be overridden so that whoever sends you an email will get the subject line. “Shneur Garb OOO (out of office) Jan 1-15, 2016.”

Here are some entertainment tools one can bring. Please check with the hotel if they allow it. Some hotels not only allow, but they have entertainment workstations with ports for USB and HDMI. Bring a Chromecast that can plug into the TV via HDMI. This way you can control what’s being watched on the Hotel TVs.

One other great tool: It seems the Wi-Fi in hotels are quite spotty. Again, I am hoping that people will vacation properly and not be hung up answering email, though I can’t deny that some emails may be urgent. One option is purchasing a MiFi hotspot. This can be purchased from Verizon. The MiFi will be a hotspot that has a password which I would only give to your family. Data charges do apply. One of my kids was using this and fell asleep connected to the MiFi. The bill was very high.

As our children are all tech savvy, even an 11-year-old sometimes has a smartphone, usually a hand-me-down from a parent or older sibling. WhatsApp has become an integral tool both for chatting and safety. I was at a seminary presentation for my 18-year-old and the rabbi was telling us how they stay in constant contact with their students. Something helpful is to make a family WhatsApp group called something like GarbFamVacation; add all of your family and extended family if they are with you. Have your children check in with you every hour or two. This can be super helpful if you want to let the family know it’s time for dinner or that Tatty is trying to sleep past 6:00 a.m!!

Here are some dos and don’ts. If you are using an ATM machine, keep your eyes alert for anyone who is behind you watching you put your pin in. Calling your children’s names at the top of your lungs in a hallway is EXTREMELY dangerous. This is giving way too much info for unfortunate cyber thieves. Putting your children’s names on their bags with their last name and address is just as bad.

Bring a USB key with all of your important documents. God forbid you may need to go to the hospital and usually it’s something no one brings with them. Most hotels have a business center where you can print these out.

Lastly, though very tempting, people are usually looking for free Wi-Fi to connect to, including this writer. Many hackers will set up a MiFi that says HilttonguestWiFi or GuestWifi. All these hackers need is five minutes and they will grab all of your pictures and contacts. I usually tell our VIP clients to pay or the 4G and not risk your life and business being turned upside down.

Be smart if you go to waterparks: Pay the $10 for a locker. Leaving your cell phone and wallet unattended is not smart. Hackers do not need more than 10 minutes, or less, with your phone. If you are traveling abroad, it’s not uncommon to check in with the embassy and tell them you are a U.S. citizen and will be in the area. Chabad houses around the world are great resources for what to do in the area, places to buy kosher food, etc. As a lifelong Chabad chasid, I know that Chabad houses are welcoming to all Jews. However, though a shliach may not tell you this, they are not a replacement for you to save money on a hotel. Many of my classmates are shluchim around the world; nevertheless, I email them and ask what hotels are nearby and whether they sell food. A nice thing to do is to donate something to the Chabad house before you travel.

As I started writing in this column, vacation is for vacation. I know we all think the world will cease to exist if you don’t answer that email or text within two minutes or less. Fifteen years ago, larger CEOs and presidents of companies would return your call after their vacation. Let’s not look back at these few moments and memories we have with our children and have visions of all of us typing letters on our smartphones. It’s super sad when we see a whole family sitting in the lobby, parents included, texting.

I challenge any of you to unplug for one day; you will be shocked how amazing life can be.

By Shneur Garb

Shneur Garb is the founder of The Garb I.T. Consulting Group in Teaneck, NJ. For questions or comments email [email protected].