I have posted about other people's experiences of having a digital detox including an excellent book The Winter of Our Disconnect
by Susan Maushart that took the concept of a digital detox to the extreme with a 6 month disconnect. But until now it has all been other people's experiences, not any more! Almost by accident we experienced our own disconnect experiment in quite an unexpected way.
Now our annual 2 week sumer holiday has been technology free for many years so no laptop, no email, phones turned off except for me checking the answer machine once a day for messages. However this year was different. We rented a villa just outside Alcudia in Marjorca and we found ourselves even more disconnected than usual.
This was the first time we had rented a villa. In the past we had holidayed in hotels and had access to some UK TV so we kept in touch with world affairs and also there was an internet cafe in case of emergencies. Our villa provided us with our own retreat. Also our iPhones reverted to being just phones, all the usual clever things they do to keep us connected wherever we are, didn't work here. The TV in the villa was digital terrestrial and all the channels were in Spanish except for the Disney Channel during the day. So no news unless you could follow Spanish, which we couldn't. After just 2 days we were feeling very disconnected, even isolated, we had no idea what was going on in the world . It was almost like withdrawal symptoms. On the 3rd day we went out for newspapers. We managed to get The Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail and we just devoured them from beginning to end. But it still felt quite 3rd party, no going on the internet to look at BBC News or being able to use Google Maps to help us navigate the maze of streets that made up the estate our villa was on.
However not all was bad, we talked, we played games, we reconnected as a family. At home we all use the internet and our various computers and smart phones as an integral part of our individual lives. That said we do eat together round the table at least once a day and we aim to have a 'sabbath' from Friday tea time to Saturday teatime with as little technology used as possible. But on holiday, especially this year in our retreat we really connected, all 4 of us chatting, playing volleyball in the pool, especially nice, as usually one of us absents themselves from family activities but on this holiday we were all together all of the time and it was brilliant.
So what was different? well no TV at all for starters, and no internet at all either. We may have been disconnected from the world but we were so much more connected to each other. Another factor for me was that my watch stopped on the plane on the way out and so I for one had no track of time and I became aware that I wanted to know what time it was to decide whether it was time to eat or go to bed. So instead I started to listen to my body and eat and sleep when it wanted to rather than follow some pre-determined schedule.
So will it last? well no not really, we all have come to depend on the internet and the digital world too much to disconnect ourselves permanently but it will definitely encourage us to keep our sabbath as clear as possible.
by Susan Maushart that took the concept of a digital detox to the extreme with a 6 month disconnect. But until now it has all been other people's experiences, not any more! Almost by accident we experienced our own disconnect experiment in quite an unexpected way.Now our annual 2 week sumer holiday has been technology free for many years so no laptop, no email, phones turned off except for me checking the answer machine once a day for messages. However this year was different. We rented a villa just outside Alcudia in Marjorca and we found ourselves even more disconnected than usual.
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| Our villa in Marjorca |
However not all was bad, we talked, we played games, we reconnected as a family. At home we all use the internet and our various computers and smart phones as an integral part of our individual lives. That said we do eat together round the table at least once a day and we aim to have a 'sabbath' from Friday tea time to Saturday teatime with as little technology used as possible. But on holiday, especially this year in our retreat we really connected, all 4 of us chatting, playing volleyball in the pool, especially nice, as usually one of us absents themselves from family activities but on this holiday we were all together all of the time and it was brilliant.
So what was different? well no TV at all for starters, and no internet at all either. We may have been disconnected from the world but we were so much more connected to each other. Another factor for me was that my watch stopped on the plane on the way out and so I for one had no track of time and I became aware that I wanted to know what time it was to decide whether it was time to eat or go to bed. So instead I started to listen to my body and eat and sleep when it wanted to rather than follow some pre-determined schedule.
So will it last? well no not really, we all have come to depend on the internet and the digital world too much to disconnect ourselves permanently but it will definitely encourage us to keep our sabbath as clear as possible.
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