How many of you wish you could climb into the DeLorean with Doc Brown and travel back to simpler times?

Some days, I think about that more than I probably should.

Back before social media.
Before smartphones.
Before every quiet moment had to be filled with a screen.

Back when people actually talked to each other.
When kids used their imaginations instead of scrolling for entertainment.
When family vacations were about memories — not Wi-Fi passwords.

If I could pick a year to go back to, I’d probably tell Doc Brown to set the DeLorean for June, 2008.

Both of our boys were still in school, and we were getting ready for a trip to Holden Beach, North Carolina. Vacation planning back then was practically an event itself. My wife and I would call travel agencies the minute they opened, hoping to reserve the beach house we had been watching for months. Sometimes we book nearly a year in advance.

And then the real planning began.

Three families were going on this trip every year, and since there was no texting back then, you either picked up the phone or got together face-to-face around someone’s kitchen table. Imagine that… people actually sitting together and talking.

After nearly a year of planning, vacation day finally arrived.

Road trips were different back then, too.

Not my favorite part of the trip at all was having my wife read the maps while I drove. Let’s just say “map reading” wasn’t exactly her favorite thing, and there may have been one or two arguments while I tried peeking over her shoulder to see if we missed the exit. 

We would print scavenger hunts and the license plate game from a website called Momsminivan.com. Every family's car competed to see who could find the most states. We searched every passing vehicle, every gas station parking lot, and every rest stop trying to spot a new license plate before the other families did. The winning family got first pick of the bedrooms at the beach house, so everyone took the competition pretty seriously.

But that was only the beginning of the car games.

Before tablets and smartphones took over road trips, kids had to create their own fun. We played endless games of Tic-Tac-Toe on notepads balanced on our knees. We played Hangman and  “I Spy.”

Even simple things became entertainment back then. Spotting a yellow car, seeing cows in a field, counting motorcycles, or finding funny billboard signs along the highway somehow kept everyone laughing for hours.

And the amazing part was this — everyone in the car was part of it.

Nobody had earbuds in. Nobody was scrolling silently through social media. The laughter, the friendly arguments over game rules, and everyone talking over each other became part of the trip itself. Looking back now, those little paper games and silly contests somehow became some of the biggest memories.

Stopping at Sheetz along the way was half the fun. The kids would rush inside to pick out their favorite snacks while the adults stretched their legs and grabbed coffee. What should’ve been a 10-minute stop usually turned into 45 minutes, but somehow those are the moments I still remember most.

For lunch, we always stopped at the same Virginia rest stop right after crossing the state line. The moms would spend days planning who was bringing what — sandwich meat, chips, salad, cookies, and Coke packed in coolers with melting ice.

After eating, the boys would toss a football around or start a pickup game in the grass, while the adults eventually joined in.

The entire trip was filled with conversation.

Nobody sat silently staring at a screen.

If we weren’t talking, we were watching the scenery roll by: Pilot Mountain appeared over the horizon as we entered North Carolina… old cars we wished we owned… roadside diners… billboards… even armadillos alongside the highway became part of the adventure.

Then finally, after hours on the road, you’d smell the salt air before you even saw the ocean.

And every day at the beach was spent together.

• Digging giant holes in the sand.
• Throwing footballs.
• Watching dolphins swim offshore.
• Walking the beach at sunset.
• Listening to the waves crash at night through the open windows.
• Playing the ring game at "Sunset Slush."

Those were the kinds of memories that lasted forever.

Today, things feel different.

Phones replaced conversations in the car.
Apple CarPlay replaced unfolding maps across your lap.
Road trips are quieter now because everyone is looking down instead of out the window.

Even beaches have changed.

People sit under umbrellas with headphones in, scrolling through Facebook while the ocean crashes behind them. Kids don’t dig in the sand as much. Families don’t always notice the dolphins anymore.

Sometimes it feels like people are recording life instead of actually living it.

Technology is useful. It truly is.

But not once has a smartphone ever created one of my favorite memories.

Those vacations from over 20 years ago still live vividly in my mind because we were actually present for them.

The laughter.
The conversations.
The football games at rest stops.
The sound of the ocean at night.
The excitement of finding another state license plate.

Maybe that’s why those memories still matter so much.

So here’s my advice:

Leave the phone at home once in a while.

Spend time with your family.

Because someday, those simple moments will become the memories you wish you could travel back to.