Photo Credit: Gifted Typist
Have you had the experience, intentional or not, of being separated from the perpetual connectivity of email, IM, cell phone and text message? Maybe you’ve just decided to try a little connectivity ‘detox’ and deliberately withdrawn from instantly accessible communication, or perhaps you’ve gone camping and suddenly realized: hey, I’m really alone out here.
Years ago, I went on a sort of ‘talking fast’. I went for a week without talking. It was surprisingly easy actually, but I wonder now if I could make it for a week without some form of electronic communication.
Every time I go to the nearest major centre, I get to experience this for an hour each way. There’s a good 80 km or so of the Trans-Canada with no cellular signal, GSM or CDMA, between Golden and Calgary. And last time I headed west from here (years ago), I experienced the same thing.
I do this on a very regular basis. I consider myself lucky to have a few nice provincial parks within a half day’s drive in either direction, Lake Superior Park being my absolute favourite. I’m a tech consultant and am always on my phone, answering e-mails, or fixing some off-the-wall Windows error. I find hiking and being in the solitude of nature helps to clear my mind and refocus.
The blackout, however, was a different story. I knew I wouldn’t be able to get the latest news from a website and had to resort to older tech radio/phone to keep up to date. It was kind of disconcerting, knowing that so much of what we rely on can so easily be taken away from us.
I lived in a van for two years. The reasons were many and complex, but they included environmentalism and spirituality. Ironically, moving into the van was when I got my first cellphone. Nevertheless, I did without many technologies most of us take for granted these days.
I was often in remote parts of BC, AB, and the NWT. I loved it. I learn plenty about myself and our environment.
I’m happy to be “back in civilization again” now — although I ditched the cellphone as soon as I got a fixed address where I could get VOIP!
One weekend, I went away to visit with friends and figured I’d just leave the online world until I returned home. Unfortunately, over that weekend, some idiot decided to write an email impersonating me saying that I was going to close down the ezine and the community which had grown up around it immediately. I came back all refreshed to find a few hundred emails waiting for me. An alarming number were “get well” messages which surprised me since I wasn’t the least bit ill. There were also several complaints about my suddenly pulling the plug on what I had worked on for several years by this point. Many people were completely convinced by this imposter’s message. Fortunately, because I had established myself well online, many community members quickly realised that I would never do such a thing in such an abrupt and inconsiderate manner. They quickly came to my defence. There was actually no way I could have shut down the community as I had no direct ownership of the email listserve it operated on. My weekend away taught me just how important one’s online presence and identity can become to people.
This topic is timely. Have you seen this Mental Detox Week for escaping the electronic leash?
http://www.adbusters.org/metas/psycho/mdw/
I’ve been adamant about how I may be reached in my life.I had a cell phone years ago when I was in sales, but I ditched it before leaving the profession.
I just don’t like the idea of people being able to get in contact with me every time that they want, rather than when I want.
I’ve found Facebook to be a great compromise. I can stay in contact, but it’s not always chiming for my attention. I check it when I feel like interacting.
Throughout my childhood my family spent much of our summers at a cottage in Northern Ontario. We would go without TV, phones and the internet for weeks at a time. The only radio station we had was CBC. I recall many Saturday nights with Danny Finkleman.
Part the charm of the cottage was the freedom we had from being disconnected. The sky could have been falling at home, but we were to busy doing cottage things.
Finally two summers ago a phone line was installed and dial-up internet was not far behind. Now it’s not unusual to see a stack of 4-5 laptop computers on the coffee table when the whole family is there.
I’ve been travelling to a fishing village in the Yucatan each winter for 20 years. 30 years ago they had no communication with the outside world other than an hour’s drive on a dirt road to a phone, or in a real emergency, military radio. 20 years ago was ideal: there was a public telephone office. You could line up to place outgoing calls, but incoming calls were a bit trickier, and involved asking a kid to go and fetch the person you wanted to talk to while they held the line open. Now, it’s no longer a holiday, what with cellphone and WiFi throughout most of the village. It does make it easier to get things done, but it means people expect you to do things, so it’s not a vacation.
Nowadays when I need to pull the plug, we’ll head up far enough north that we lose the cellphone signal, and I’m glad that only takes a couple of hours.
I have a cell-phone, computer with internet conncection at home, and a telephone landline. Therefore, thereotically, it’s quite easy to track me down.
But my friends sometimes complain that I am impossible to track down. The fact is that, even though I am connected, my personality prevents me to be reached. For example, I have a facebook account which I have not been to since October last year, mostly because I find the idea of that many people getting in touch with me makes my anxiety act up. The same reasoning goes for phone calls and emails, but I respond to them only as needed so I do not suffer the consequences of not responding to work or school.
I have been going canoe tripping in Algonquin for the last two summers. Every time I tell them I am leaving, one of my students asks if I will be checking my email while I am away. I point out that the trees don’t have electrical outlets and you can’t connect to the internet from a beaver lodge.
All the time I am canoeing, I love the fact that no one can contact me and that there is nothing but trees and rocks and water!
@ Amanda,
There is nothing like being in nature to make you realize that you don’t need to be totally stimulated by external things. It may sound New Age-y, but it reminds you that you can just be.
@ Chris,
I’m with you; I hate talking on the phone just in general, so if I can’t be in person with someone, I’d rather have that ‘asynchronous’ connection of Facebook etc.
I am working on a documentary TV series called My Last 24. The show features people in the midst of major life changes. We are looking for somebody who is thinking of going off the grid to feature on an episode. Filming for the episode will take place between July-Jan – so they would have to be making the big move in this time. If you know of anybody who would be good for the show tell them to email me at mylast24@gmail.com.