I am on my parents' Family Plan for mobile service. They recently chose to upgrade all our phones, so my "old" but awesome phone (caller ID and no frills, that's all I ask for) no longer works (except to dial 911). I have been cellphone-free since Tuesday and I can't say I mind terribly.

I'm one who actually doesn't like talking on the phone. Most of my conversations are short and just for confirming plans I'd made with friends via email. Long distance friends, well, it's sometimes easier to contact them via IM or just keep in touch by sending them photos. If my parents had not been so generous, I most likely would have gone onto a plan for less minutes, or even purchased a pay-as-you-go phone.

I won't vilify cell phones entirely. In an emergency situation, they are a handy, quick way to get help. As a single female who is terrible with car repairs, I have the constant worry that I'll be stuck in a situation where my car breaks down in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere. That's one of the main reasons I feel I need to have a phone.

But that over-reliance that some people seem to have for their mobile phones- the people who always seem to have a phone glued to their ear in the car- that's just not me. So these past few days of being without a cellphone have not exactly been eye-opening or torture, but rather affirmation that yes, I don't need a cell phone.