Someone posted on Linkedin recently that she had taken a week off, 7 days without office email, a disconnect. She had done the two week circle tour of the Island of Iceland in one-week. We get so overscheduled, that when we disconnect, we plan a marathon of activity. Back when I had my first blackberry, we were planning a trip to England, we layed out a plan, and ran it by friends who live in London - I will never forget Duncan's response, we were planning "the forced march through England." We revised to three stops in a week, with a couple of nights in most places. It was much more enjoyable. That was also the beginning for me of taking time off without disconnecting. The blackberry was bought because it had international service, email was always there.
I am working on plans for next year, where I will be without phone or email service for 8 days. A real disconnect. Don't fret there will be blog posts, planned ahead, but no witty comments for over a week. I promise to make up for it somehow.
I hope I do well. I read a report of a young person who went camping/partying with friends. They got so far out in the sticks, that her phone couldn't get a signal, and she had a full blown panic attack. How bad was it? Her friends rushed her back into town, she was still melting down, they went the Emergency Room, and the doctors consulted with an expert, and sedated her. All because she had never been anyplace without a mobile phone signal. I think I will do better than that.
For about 25 years after they retired to Florida, my parents would go to Michigan for 2-3 months every summer. It got them out of the worst of the heat and humidity, and the only grandkids were in Michigan. They started doing that before mobile phones, they would go all summer without a phone, they were never enthusiastic email users. Several summers, I received maybe one postcard from them in three months. They knew how to disconnect.
My first email address came in 1996, when I started law school. An account that was really only accessible when I was using an on-campus terminal (there was sketchy access from off-campus.) Within a few weeks I had a home computer, and an personal email address. My first cell phone was bought about the same time (I still have the same number.) My how things have changed in 25 years. When we were at the Blue Lagoon people were buying waterproof plastic phone cases, so they could swim with their phones.
Makes it harder to disconnect. I am going to learn how.
Good for you. I can still manage to disconnect, but not easily. However, knowing in advance I’d be without internet for a while would be fine. No panic attack. I have a distant cousin and her husband coming for a visit soon. From Oregon to Spain for a week. Forced march through Spain is the perfect description. Insane. But they didn’t pick up on our hints, so we leave them to it. They wanted us to go with them to Ibiza, Gibraltar, Barcelona, Sevilla, Málaga, Madrid, maybe Tangiers, and “a few white villages.” Two dinners in Fuengirola will be enough for us!
ReplyDeleteI take it they don't have three weeks to see all of that?
DeleteOne week including travel days!
DeleteI am one of the few people I know who has never possessed (or been possessed!) by a mobile phone or so-called smartphone. It is easy to see why they are called smartphones - they are so smart that they have taken over the minds of millions of users. Where ever I look I see people glued to these things - including my own darling wife. She is obsessed with the bloody thing! However, the way things are proceeding I know that before too long I will be forced into having a ****ing smartphone.no matter how I rail against these things.
ReplyDeleteThe guy who sold me the first blackberry lied, he said "after a week we won't be able to pry it out of your hand," it was only two days.
DeleteIt's quite sad to see. You'll see whole tables of people, friends, out together dinning, all glued to their phones, and not talking. When they should be enjoying each other's company.
DeleteIf I look at my phone during dinner, it is not a good sign for the people around me.
DeleteAfter you retire, there is an adjustment to the non-office environment and communication. You will decompress and be fine with writing that book, planning bucket list travels, cooking, reading, and discovering new things that catch your interest. The world around you is so much fun to discover with your own eyes, not through a screen.
ReplyDeleteI see people walking down the "Mall" in DC, glued to their phones, I have been known to say out loud, LOOK UP!
DeleteWe were about the same time connecting to the internet and me buying my first mobile phone. The phone had two batteries, one to be on a separate charger and the other to be in the phone. From a university where my friend only went with a fake student card to use the internet, he sent me my first text message. I called him and asked him how he did that.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine where you are going where there isn't internet or phone signal. I would just die. What if Biden falls down and never gets up again and you won't know for days!
And would I change anything if I did?
DeleteNot me. When I go on vacation I disconnect. No email, no blogging and very seldom online...and if in the Poconos...mostly no cell phone. I like to enjoy and immerse myself in my time. That is extremely disturbing to get a panic attack over being disconnected. Being disconnected is healthy feeling for me.
ReplyDeleteI will miss my daily blogs.
DeleteI do an unplug, especially on vacation. I rarely take a laptop, and don't blog--though I leave planned posts up. And I am not not much for cell phones so I don't miss that.
ReplyDeleteIt makes things seem peaceful.
I usually take my little computer.
DeleteI was obsessed at first, given the novelty of the smartphone. It wore off after a while, and now I've been known to silence the thing for some purpose and then not realize for days I had done so. Being retired helps.
ReplyDeleteI have been known to silence my office computer and not notice for a few days.
DeleteBehold the modern world.
ReplyDeleteMore computing power in your hand, than we used to land on the moon.
DeletePS: There's something quite amusing about going to central Mich in the summer to escape heat and humidity. Just sayin'.
ReplyDeleteThe summer place had AC.
DeleteI can't wait to hear about your 8 day disconnect. My traveling friends went several days without connection this last spring but I think it was only 2 days at a time.
ReplyDeleteThere is WiFi on the ship, but the comments are it is expensive and feels like 1995 on AOL dial-up.
DeleteQuite sensible to do this. I wish I could. It's possible of course, I have to ask someone to cover for me. I think I will try this just to see for one day what's it like to have NO PHONE.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how you do it, year in and year out, always on call.
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