Escape from technology

FEBRUARY 22, 2020 : Traveling is my escape from technology. It is hiking along a coastal path feeling the breeze across my face, hearing the waves break upon the rocks and smelling the ocean instead of being on the computer. It is sitting around a campfire at night and looking up at the stars and enjoying doing nothing instead of spending even more time on the computer.

Travel is my break from the digital, connected world and a step into the real, physical, natural world. It is seeing the beautiful view in front of me instead of looking at a screensaver.

Yes, travelling creates a time when I can remove myself from the usual daily dependency on technology. I would like to believe that.

However, if I am truthful, believing that I’ve escaped technology is, to put it bluntly, a bunch of hogwash.

How did I get to my beautiful view? Google Maps.

How did I select which hike to go on? User reviews on a hiking app.

What do I do while hiking? I take photos with my camera that are automatically uploaded to Google Photos, where I will create a digital trip album.

After the hike I will write a blog on the computer about my hike.

All day, everyday, I wear a FitBit that counts my steps as we walk. My husband’s watch tells us how many kilometers we went and what altitude we climbed.

When tired, I go to bed in the campervan with my tablet and read my Kindle books.

Oh, and when we hike, we also have a drone for those spectacular aerial shots.

We also carry a satellite phone for emergencies in areas without cellphone coverage.

We hook onto a backpack, a solar power pack for recharging the four phones we hike with (his, hers, satellite, and local SIM).

We use an app on the phone to identify the plants we are seeing during the day, and an app to identify the stars we are seeing during the night.

And we have an app to help us select and book our campground.

We also have an app connected to our security cameras at home to check that all is okay.

And then we have another app to control the watering system in our garden at home.

We have a WhatsApp group with our neighbors who are watching over our house.

And of course, WhatsApp and Skype to stay in touch with family.

So, I might want to believe that travel is my escape from technology – but that’s not how it really is.