"I wasn’t thinking about Elon, or memes, or emails, whatever was doing the rounds online, or the multiple things that would usually take up space in my brain and make me angry, or happy, or otherwise. I was just alive."
Thanks Tony, a fantastic prompt - that's my Saturday sorted then. 🙌
When I no longer needed a smart phone for work (returned it in Oct 2013), I continued using a "dumb" phone for my private mobile number and I've never regretted it. Since then, I'm on my third "dumb" phone in 9 years - the second one had a faulty battery which wasn't replaceable so that one only lasted 18 months, unfortunately. My current "dumb" phone is a flip phone designed for older people so the buttons are huge. (I'm 46 so probably not the target consumer!) It is very robust so I don't care if I drop it. I love answering the phone by flipping it open and ending the call by closing it - it's a throwback to one of my earlier dumb phones from the mid-2000s. Texting is slow so I tend to call people instead of responding via text, which is received with pleasant surprise by some. It only has room for 300 texts so I need to keep up with deleting the essays some people send and all emojis are rectangles but those drawbacks are worth it to break my smart phone habit. I hated the feeling of being tethered to it, and I got very anxious about low battery. It was great to get rid of those negative feelings and bad habits and I have no regrets. I plan to always have a dumb phone - I can always ask others to Google stuff if I really have to know something and I people-watch instead of doom scrolling when out and about. It's great to only get phone noises that relate to texts or calls and I haven't heard phantom notifications for many years now, thank goodness.
I recommend this as a detox strategy for anyone who is concerned about their smart phone habits/behaviour.
Such a great adventure Tony! And what a magic time with the taxi drivers mum.
I traveled round the south island last summer, almost 4 weeks alone. And did a lot of walking in backcountry and places without internet service. It was so weird initially and, like you say, there was a constant feeling that you were missing something amazing or hilarious or terrible- that you definitely wanted to know about. But my takeaway was that I eventually felt so liberated from that I've never gone fully back. And I've become a strong supporter of aeroplane mode, even when I'm not on an aeroplane.
The impulsiveness worries me. I hate the idea im being controlled and influenced by a contrived habit and addiction orchestrated by marketing companies.
So I keep fighting. No notifications. Total bans on sites. Turning my phone off completely and hiding it under a couch cushion (I've been doing that every night for about 4 months and its been great). This newsletter has been an awesome shining light in the tsunami of shitty information out there.
I admire your courage and hope you find a balance you really like too.
This resonates sooo much “...as much deep breathing as I did, as much conversation as I made with the incredibly friendly locals, I couldn’t fight the low-lying feeling of panic that kept creeping in. The feeling that I was missing out on something. “
I want to escape but also to stay connected - just in case. There’s always that feeling of ‘there’s more’ Abit like the grass is greener over there even while recognising how amazing the grass is right here and now.
Dec 2, 2022·edited Dec 2, 2022Liked by David Farrier
I find that the accidental discoveries during travel are often far more valuable and memorable than the activities tediously planned and scheduled in advance. I try to leave plenty of time for "happy accidents".
I went to Latin America a number of times, all in the pre-cellphone era. The first time, the only way to call my family was to trek into town once a week, line up for a phone booth and connect to an operator for an expensive several-minute call. I long for my travelling days, a lot, and am resentful at my scrolling addiction but feel powerless to control it (except for our no-devices-in-the-bedroom rule). I now realize that being offline was important to my enjoyment of those trips. If I went now, with a mobile, I think it would be different, and I shudder at what I'd be sacrificing.
I had plenty of experiences like Tony had with the mother in her house. They are precious, and even more so now that I know how our daily and social world was destined to change.
Loved this piece. It made me reflect on my own relationship with the online world.
For many years, I've had the privilege to stay at my partner's beach front family land in Northland.
Cell coverage wasn't really a thing, when an uncle had a heart attack, someone had to drive to the top of the hill to call 111.
Once a year, we stay there and it has always felt like a detox.
A couple of years ago, a cell tower was built somewhere close by and now I have to make a conscious effort to turn off my phone. I'm fascinated by how much of a struggle this is. FOMO does play a part, but so does the reluctantence to be still and contented, despite the beauty of my surroundings.
This was a really lovely piece. It gave me a safe little haven in a stranger’s home in a quite earnest moment.
send your favorite Worm barista some good energy and/or some prayers. I’m knee deep in my work week and my store has gone to hell. No where else to go and nothing else I can do, but it just got worse.
And still, I’ll have that little garden haven to picture, and that solace means a lot to me.
Great article Tony! Cuba is a fascinating conundrum in that it is ex-pats that appear to be the ones stopping the US govt from moving to a more normal relationship, which would greatly benefit the actual people of Cuba who are most affected by sanctions. Obama took the plunge because he didn't have to worry about electoral consequences - I have read some insights from people who were working on it, & another one of the egregious actions of the Drumpf administration was rolling this back.
On going offline - I well remember when the Christchurch earthquakes happened, people being in deep backcountry (tramping) & emerging to find their city in chaos, & home destroyed ... And more recently, emerging from their adventure to find the country in total COVID lockdown & being unable to travel home to anywhere else in NZ ... or further afield.
Yes, I like to keep up with what is happening on an armslength scale (US elections, mu$krat implosions, Ukraine survival fight, etc.) BUT I worry more about close to home information - natural disasters, relatives & friends & neighbours having accidents/getting ill - and emerging from the internet black hole to find out too late to help... It has happened often enough to make me think about being in cellph free coverage areas for days, but so far have some success in deciding that life will happen whether I know about it or not!
We forget how recent it is that we only had landlines, and when we travelled away from our HOUSE (let alone city, province, country ...) we were incommunicado unless we dialled in from a phone box! And no way of finding someone at the Mall if you got separated! And internet came via a lound squeal, a tiny memory capacity, and verrrry sloooowww downloads! We just dealt with being out of touch, and news only through once-a-day newsprint and/or radio hrly news, & TV news once a night ...
I wonder if the generations who have grown up with constant access have any change in resiliency? I'm sure someone is studying that!
Love this! Last time I had no internet for 3 weeks was when I was in Antarctica. I managed one satellite call to my fiancé, and in our 5-minute call he told me John Key had resigned, Austria had voted a Green President in, and Trump was getting impeached! I was so excited I burst into our shared common room and told all the other lady scientists the exciting news, only for one of them to give me an almighty dressing-down that I had "failed to seek her consent to be exposed to the real world"... that was an eye-opener as to how seriously some folks take their enforced time off the internet!
Thanks for the reminder Tony! Blimey we are so addicted to the internet aren’t we? How do you get the balance right between staying informed and connected to wonderful communities online (like this one for example), and consuming so much media that it consumes you? Genuine question - I’m interested in what people do. My fingers have their own little brains and I click on the social media icons on my phone and start scrolling without even thinking about it.
Your Cuban experience sounds quite lovely, Tony, despite it not being exactly as you had foreseen, but then, isn't that what life does anyway?
The old "people staring at their phones" thing makes me a bit sad. I've seen small children talking to their phone-engrossed parents and of course, getting no answers; I've also seen very small children, far too small to be doing this, spooling through hand-held devices instead of looking around them, as they're wheeled through city streets in their pushchairs, pushed by phone-gazing Mum or Dad. Life passes by, while "life" on the internet takes all the attention.
Time to blurt out some unrelated news. https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO2211/S00237/nz-skeptics-bravo-and-bent-spoon-awards-2022.htm. NZ Skeptic of the year: David Farrier in contrast to the Bent Spoon award to Sean Plonker.
Congratulations David!
"I wasn’t thinking about Elon, or memes, or emails, whatever was doing the rounds online, or the multiple things that would usually take up space in my brain and make me angry, or happy, or otherwise. I was just alive."
Thanks Tony, a fantastic prompt - that's my Saturday sorted then. 🙌
When I no longer needed a smart phone for work (returned it in Oct 2013), I continued using a "dumb" phone for my private mobile number and I've never regretted it. Since then, I'm on my third "dumb" phone in 9 years - the second one had a faulty battery which wasn't replaceable so that one only lasted 18 months, unfortunately. My current "dumb" phone is a flip phone designed for older people so the buttons are huge. (I'm 46 so probably not the target consumer!) It is very robust so I don't care if I drop it. I love answering the phone by flipping it open and ending the call by closing it - it's a throwback to one of my earlier dumb phones from the mid-2000s. Texting is slow so I tend to call people instead of responding via text, which is received with pleasant surprise by some. It only has room for 300 texts so I need to keep up with deleting the essays some people send and all emojis are rectangles but those drawbacks are worth it to break my smart phone habit. I hated the feeling of being tethered to it, and I got very anxious about low battery. It was great to get rid of those negative feelings and bad habits and I have no regrets. I plan to always have a dumb phone - I can always ask others to Google stuff if I really have to know something and I people-watch instead of doom scrolling when out and about. It's great to only get phone noises that relate to texts or calls and I haven't heard phantom notifications for many years now, thank goodness.
I recommend this as a detox strategy for anyone who is concerned about their smart phone habits/behaviour.
Such a great adventure Tony! And what a magic time with the taxi drivers mum.
I traveled round the south island last summer, almost 4 weeks alone. And did a lot of walking in backcountry and places without internet service. It was so weird initially and, like you say, there was a constant feeling that you were missing something amazing or hilarious or terrible- that you definitely wanted to know about. But my takeaway was that I eventually felt so liberated from that I've never gone fully back. And I've become a strong supporter of aeroplane mode, even when I'm not on an aeroplane.
The impulsiveness worries me. I hate the idea im being controlled and influenced by a contrived habit and addiction orchestrated by marketing companies.
So I keep fighting. No notifications. Total bans on sites. Turning my phone off completely and hiding it under a couch cushion (I've been doing that every night for about 4 months and its been great). This newsletter has been an awesome shining light in the tsunami of shitty information out there.
I admire your courage and hope you find a balance you really like too.
Thank you!
This resonates sooo much “...as much deep breathing as I did, as much conversation as I made with the incredibly friendly locals, I couldn’t fight the low-lying feeling of panic that kept creeping in. The feeling that I was missing out on something. “
I want to escape but also to stay connected - just in case. There’s always that feeling of ‘there’s more’ Abit like the grass is greener over there even while recognising how amazing the grass is right here and now.
I find that the accidental discoveries during travel are often far more valuable and memorable than the activities tediously planned and scheduled in advance. I try to leave plenty of time for "happy accidents".
Same! It’s challenging and saddening and maddening and inspiring and beautiful and generous all wrapped up in a tiny isle. Happy planning!
I went to Latin America a number of times, all in the pre-cellphone era. The first time, the only way to call my family was to trek into town once a week, line up for a phone booth and connect to an operator for an expensive several-minute call. I long for my travelling days, a lot, and am resentful at my scrolling addiction but feel powerless to control it (except for our no-devices-in-the-bedroom rule). I now realize that being offline was important to my enjoyment of those trips. If I went now, with a mobile, I think it would be different, and I shudder at what I'd be sacrificing.
I had plenty of experiences like Tony had with the mother in her house. They are precious, and even more so now that I know how our daily and social world was destined to change.
Loved this piece. It made me reflect on my own relationship with the online world.
For many years, I've had the privilege to stay at my partner's beach front family land in Northland.
Cell coverage wasn't really a thing, when an uncle had a heart attack, someone had to drive to the top of the hill to call 111.
Once a year, we stay there and it has always felt like a detox.
A couple of years ago, a cell tower was built somewhere close by and now I have to make a conscious effort to turn off my phone. I'm fascinated by how much of a struggle this is. FOMO does play a part, but so does the reluctantence to be still and contented, despite the beauty of my surroundings.
This was a really lovely piece. It gave me a safe little haven in a stranger’s home in a quite earnest moment.
send your favorite Worm barista some good energy and/or some prayers. I’m knee deep in my work week and my store has gone to hell. No where else to go and nothing else I can do, but it just got worse.
And still, I’ll have that little garden haven to picture, and that solace means a lot to me.
Great article Tony! Cuba is a fascinating conundrum in that it is ex-pats that appear to be the ones stopping the US govt from moving to a more normal relationship, which would greatly benefit the actual people of Cuba who are most affected by sanctions. Obama took the plunge because he didn't have to worry about electoral consequences - I have read some insights from people who were working on it, & another one of the egregious actions of the Drumpf administration was rolling this back.
On going offline - I well remember when the Christchurch earthquakes happened, people being in deep backcountry (tramping) & emerging to find their city in chaos, & home destroyed ... And more recently, emerging from their adventure to find the country in total COVID lockdown & being unable to travel home to anywhere else in NZ ... or further afield.
Yes, I like to keep up with what is happening on an armslength scale (US elections, mu$krat implosions, Ukraine survival fight, etc.) BUT I worry more about close to home information - natural disasters, relatives & friends & neighbours having accidents/getting ill - and emerging from the internet black hole to find out too late to help... It has happened often enough to make me think about being in cellph free coverage areas for days, but so far have some success in deciding that life will happen whether I know about it or not!
We forget how recent it is that we only had landlines, and when we travelled away from our HOUSE (let alone city, province, country ...) we were incommunicado unless we dialled in from a phone box! And no way of finding someone at the Mall if you got separated! And internet came via a lound squeal, a tiny memory capacity, and verrrry sloooowww downloads! We just dealt with being out of touch, and news only through once-a-day newsprint and/or radio hrly news, & TV news once a night ...
I wonder if the generations who have grown up with constant access have any change in resiliency? I'm sure someone is studying that!
My 10 days in Cuba in 2017 is still one of my favorites. The people were awesome, the pace was relaxed, and the lack of internet was delightful
Love this! Last time I had no internet for 3 weeks was when I was in Antarctica. I managed one satellite call to my fiancé, and in our 5-minute call he told me John Key had resigned, Austria had voted a Green President in, and Trump was getting impeached! I was so excited I burst into our shared common room and told all the other lady scientists the exciting news, only for one of them to give me an almighty dressing-down that I had "failed to seek her consent to be exposed to the real world"... that was an eye-opener as to how seriously some folks take their enforced time off the internet!
Thanks for the reminder Tony! Blimey we are so addicted to the internet aren’t we? How do you get the balance right between staying informed and connected to wonderful communities online (like this one for example), and consuming so much media that it consumes you? Genuine question - I’m interested in what people do. My fingers have their own little brains and I click on the social media icons on my phone and start scrolling without even thinking about it.
Drink mango juice and coffee, eat yellow gooseberries and don't think about Elon. Sage advice for our times.
Also, I love the light standards (if that is what they are) in the photo of central Havana :)
Your Cuban experience sounds quite lovely, Tony, despite it not being exactly as you had foreseen, but then, isn't that what life does anyway?
The old "people staring at their phones" thing makes me a bit sad. I've seen small children talking to their phone-engrossed parents and of course, getting no answers; I've also seen very small children, far too small to be doing this, spooling through hand-held devices instead of looking around them, as they're wheeled through city streets in their pushchairs, pushed by phone-gazing Mum or Dad. Life passes by, while "life" on the internet takes all the attention.