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| Hakone | Japan 2016. |
While I’m still rummaging around the many photos I took in Japan, there is a topic I’d like to share today, a thought I had during my vacation. Is technology a disruption to contemplation? Two weeks across the globe, especially in a country like Japan, calls for contemplation. As the cherry blossoms started fading away, we discovered incredible landscapes, impressive temples and the beauty of big cities, their tall buildings and neons.
Disruptive technologies
But we had a pocket wifi, this great invention that allowed us to be always connected to the Internet without tasting the awfully expensive roaming data plans of our mobile companies. I mainly used the wifi to publish at least one picture on Instagram every day, to share the journey and its incredible discoveries.
But I also started receiving e-mails. Some were great, like the first ever acceptance e-mail from a publisher for one of my short stories. Others reminded me of the every day life I left behind when I travelled to Japan. The one I was precisely intending to take a break from for two weeks.
And pocket wifi isn’t the only technology that disrupts contemplation. Cameras. For this amazing journey, I brought my big DSLR, the one full of options to adjust before taking a proper picture. After two days, I felt I was living my vacation through my camera more than through my own eyes. Can the obsession of a perfect picture spoil the beauty of the moment?
Simplify travel
Technologies are useful. I was happy to have the pocket wifi and share great moments of my travels though Instagram. I was happy to get my acceptance e-mail for the short story and to gather many pictures that I will share with my family (and with you! It will come).
But that’s one of the aspects where simplicity can be a savior, to keep technology from taking too much space and disrupting the magic of the moment.
After two days, I decided to remove the push notifications from e-mails on my phone and consult them only once a day. I’d limit Instagram visits to once to twice a day, while we were waiting for our food, and limit the number of pictures I’d take before I’d put the camera down and enjoy the moment.
These are simple actions, but I felt like I enjoyed the rest of my trip much more. I was attentive to the little details of the streets, city and landscapes. My senses were ready to take in that entire unknown I was surrounded by, I was available to talk with my friends and share our awe.
To me, simplicity isn’t about going back to the Stone Age or diabolizing all technology and comfort of modern society. It’s about balance and moderation. It’s about taking the best of modern life while not letting it invade the joy of the moment. We all have our own perfect balance. Some will leave e-mail and Internet at home when they travel, others will enjoy sharing every moment via social media. The importance is for you to find your own sweet spot and reach that balance to make the most of life.
I always leave my cell phone / smart phone at home while traveling (and have no other devices with me except for a basic camera). My husband used to do this as well but nowadays he does bring his phone and makes proper use of any hotel / restaurant wifi connection :). This year was the first time I felt 'disconnected' for the first couple of days, as if something was missing (but that something is mainly just 'checking' the phone compulsively :p). This made me see my attachment to my phone, which I was able to let go off. I prefer to be 'unconnected' while traveling because it gives me the rare opportunity to clear my mind, let go of stress, ... Freed from those things I find I can reconnect with myself on a deeper level and see more clearly what I want out of life. So I definitely intend to keep doing this, doubling my longer holidays as a sort of retreat ...
ReplyDeleteIt's true that leaving the phone home can make us realize how addicted we really are :) It's become such a daily object, such a necessity that I wonder if we can even live without it anymore. Not that it is a bad thing in itself, mobile phones are practical! I guess it is, like everything else, a question of balance.
DeleteI agree with you on travelling unconnected. I think the mind needs a break sometimes, to take in our surroundings, take time to be grateful for everything we have in life... I hope you'll enjoy your future retreat holidays :)
All my push notifications are turned off on my phone, E-mail, Whatsapp etc. which really helps in terms of enjoying life and everything around you. I see my boyfriend reaching for his phone every time it lights up and I find it very annoying when we're trying to have diner for instance. So our current rule is: no phones at the table during lunch and diner.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you! I also turned off the push notifications on my phone. Apart from a call or SMS, nothing comes to me unless I choose to check it myself. It may be a bit annoying to have dinner with someone who keeps their phone under their nose every five minutes. I like your no phone during dinner rule :)
DeleteSo true! My husband and I are taking a vacation in September and I plan to make it as tech-free as possible. No camera but my phone, and no access to Wifi except at our hotel. Since I have a limited data plan, and I will intentionally not up the data before our trip, I want to limit myself to just checking in the morning, and maybe not even posting anything while we're there... we'll see. We'll be in Disneyland, billed the happiest place on earth, and I want to remember what that's like, not scroll mindlessly through my friends' lives.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a lovely vacation, Disneyland in September! I hope you'll enjoy it fully, it is true that it'd be a shame to spend all that time checking the phone more often than your surroundings :)
DeleteFirst of all, congratulations on your first published short story! :)
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I second your sentiment about disabling notifications and limiting screen time to whatever suits one best. A few years ago I owned a Blackberry and the constant inflow of emails was really stressing me out, not to mention how distracting it was—and that was even without all the social media and apps! So, when I got an iPhone, I disabled push notifications for email straight away. Over the years I gradually disabled most notifications on my phone and the ones I haven't disabled I learned to ignore. I limited myself to visit Instagram once a day and use other social media even more sporadically. While I still feel I'm way too attached to my phone (I can't help but reach for it when e.g. a question no one knows the answer to comes up in a conversation: "let me quickly google it..." does anyone else have that?) I guess I'm slowly getting closer to that "sweet spot" you're talking about.
Thanks!
DeleteIt is true that the balance is sometimes hard to reach when the phone apps want to claim your attention all the time. It's kind of the struggle of every marketing division of companies: how to grab the consumer's attention? Sometimes it is important not to let them grab our attention, and use techology on our own terms. When it comes to social media, apart from instagram, I have uninstalled all the other apps from my phone. Problem solved :) I'm sure you'll find your sweet spot, you seem to be on the track indeed :)