4 ms·

Ever since I was young, my mother and/or Grandparents would take me on a vacation every Summer, where I was completely disconnected from everything going on in

by skolor 17y ago

Ever since I was young, my mother and/or Grandparents would take me on a vacation every Summer, where I was completely disconnected from everything going on in the world at wide. I may sneak a few minutes on a borrowed computer every now and then, but it was never anything significant for the 2+ weeks we would be gone. Looking back, even though I would hated being disconnected for so long, they were the best thing for me. Even now, when I get that week or two of vacation I tend to completely disconnect. I've reached a point now where I am connected to the internet, my hands on a keyboard/mouse at least 10 hours a day, for 90% of the year. And now, I look forward to those weeks off more than I ever did as a kid (and especially as a teenager. I hated being disconnected like that when I was in high school, absolutely despised it). A week hiking in the Rockies, of even just a week bouncing around my extended family's couches, has become something I look forward to months before the actual trip occurs. I'll never permanently disconnect, and I wouldn't want to, but taking those yearly breaks makes all the difference.

RyanMcGreal 17y ago
I recently returned from a little over a week at a cottage with no phone, let alone internet. It was by no means low-tech - we mastered the art of the the frozen margarita, one guest's mp3 player played a seemingly endless collection of grime and baile funk through the cottage stereo, and we had at least two laptops on hand (no wifi) - but the cottage wasn't connected to any information/communication networks. It was absolute bliss. The common assumption about time is that it passes quickly when you're having fun and drags when you're bored or frustrated. In this case, time passed slowly in a happy drift of relaxation. It was uncanny: we would spend what felt like several hours jamming with available instruments (two guitars and a flute), only to discover that it was still mid-afternoon - with plenty of time for a leisurely swim off the dock - rather than deep into dinner time. Over a period of a few days, I read a 900 page book and still managed to find time for dog walks, in-depth conversation, a long bike ride into town, a trip to a local farm, and so on. What happened when I got back for a second week of day trips around our house is interesting: I just couldn't muster up any enthusiasm for my usual online haunts. Why read reddit when I could dig into the next book? Why update my Twitter profile when I would take a stroll down by the waterfront? Why bother catching up on over 300 emails when my son was eager to hear the next chapter of The Hobbit? It was a few nagging responsibilities that got me back into the online swing, and as I reconnected, time seemed to speed up again to the usual blur of disconnected images and themes to which I was clearly accustomed before going away. I'm back to doing my usual activities, but like Aaron, I find it all feels strangely hollow - even this comment. If I don't take some kind of tangible lifestyle decision out of this experience and the slow epiphany that ran through it, I fear it will have been for nothing.
- skolor 17y ago
  Its rather interesting, but while I agree with the first half, about the trip itself, but when it comes down to it, I live to be online. While there are several things I do online that are superfluous, and tend to slip away after each of my breaks (last year, I stopped doing for-money blogging, the year before I dropped quite most of the games I played) and don't come back. While there are plenty of things that are fine to slip away, the constant flow of information, that fount of knowledge that the internet is, I really depend on that. The break from it is nice, to get my bearings again, but its just that: a break. Its not a way I would want to live my life, and not one I can see myself ever choosing.
  - RyanMcGreal 17y ago
    Agreed. I don't think it would be practical or even beneficial for me to turn off. However, I think I need to get better at somehow reducing my exposure to the sheer, full-spectrum flow of stuff - particularly the trivialities - that consumes so much of my time and leaves the rest of my time feeling cramped and rushed.

by skolor 17y ago

RyanMcGreal 17y ago

I recently returned from a little over a week at a cottage with no phone, let alone internet. It was by no means low-tech - we mastered the art of the the frozen margarita, one guest's mp3 player played a seemingly endless collection of grime and baile funk through the cottage stereo, and we had at least two laptops on hand (no wifi) - but the cottage wasn't connected to any information/communication networks. It was absolute bliss. The common assumption about time is that it passes quickly when you're having fun and drags when you're bored or frustrated. In this case, time passed slowly in a happy drift of relaxation. It was uncanny: we would spend what felt like several hours jamming with available instruments (two guitars and a flute), only to discover that it was still mid-afternoon - with plenty of time for a leisurely swim off the dock - rather than deep into dinner time. Over a period of a few days, I read a 900 page book and still managed to find time for dog walks, in-depth conversation, a long bike ride into town, a trip to a local farm, and so on. What happened when I got back for a second week of day trips around our house is interesting: I just couldn't muster up any enthusiasm for my usual online haunts. Why read reddit when I could dig into the next book? Why update my Twitter profile when I would take a stroll down by the waterfront? Why bother catching up on over 300 emails when my son was eager to hear the next chapter of The Hobbit? It was a few nagging responsibilities that got me back into the online swing, and as I reconnected, time seemed to speed up again to the usual blur of disconnected images and themes to which I was clearly accustomed before going away. I'm back to doing my usual activities, but like Aaron, I find it all feels strangely hollow - even this comment. If I don't take some kind of tangible lifestyle decision out of this experience and the slow epiphany that ran through it, I fear it will have been for nothing.

skolor 17y ago
Its rather interesting, but while I agree with the first half, about the trip itself, but when it comes down to it, I live to be online. While there are several things I do online that are superfluous, and tend to slip away after each of my breaks (last year, I stopped doing for-money blogging, the year before I dropped quite most of the games I played) and don't come back. While there are plenty of things that are fine to slip away, the constant flow of information, that fount of knowledge that the internet is, I really depend on that. The break from it is nice, to get my bearings again, but its just that: a break. Its not a way I would want to live my life, and not one I can see myself ever choosing.
- RyanMcGreal 17y ago
  Agreed. I don't think it would be practical or even beneficial for me to turn off. However, I think I need to get better at somehow reducing my exposure to the sheer, full-spectrum flow of stuff - particularly the trivialities - that consumes so much of my time and leaves the rest of my time feeling cramped and rushed.