I have been doing this for last few weekends. When I go for a long walk on Saturday or Sunday morning, I leave my phone home.
I do it so I don't whip it out every five minutes with an excuse of checking my email. Or see what the temperature is (as if knowing that at that very moment is vital!). Or what's the rating on Yelp of the restaurant I see across the street. Or what a "knot" is when I see a board of speed limit for the boats in the canal. Or to take a picture of a beautiful flower on the side of the trail and google it. So may reasons. So many excuses. It keeps me so busy while I walk. Interestingly enough, I see plenty of "busy" people around me who are also taking a weekend walk, some even with their friends!
But when I step out without the phone on me, it's like vacation! It's like vacation on the weekend. It's just me and the surroundings. Yeah, yeah, there are enough articles and tweets about how we all have become slaves of the internet connectivity. But I never really realized that until I said this aloud "vacation on the weekend!". After all, don't we all love the vacations and camping trip where our cell phones don't work, there's no reception, no Wi Fi!
Go figure!!
Now I do not check the weather, but feel it, breath it in and soak in it. I just walk up to the restaurant and check the menu, the ambience, perhaps say hi to the server. I don't know what a "knot" is but I sit there and watch the waves the passing boats generate and let my mind wander with them. I don't take the picture of the flower, but stand still and watch the romance a little bee is playing with it. All my curiosity and appetite for information can wait to be satisfied for later.
Of course, you say, why can't you do both: check the temperature and still feel the weather? Nyah, somehow it's not quite the same. Something about that smart device (or the absence of it) makes a difference. It's makes me free to be with myself. It has been a good exercise for me. And as it turns out, after I come home, I am not that hungry for knowledge after all! I am not sure if that is good or bad, but at least it is self enlightening!
Some day, I will get good enough at it so I can create these vacation moments any time, even if I have my smart phone with me.
I do it so I don't whip it out every five minutes with an excuse of checking my email. Or see what the temperature is (as if knowing that at that very moment is vital!). Or what's the rating on Yelp of the restaurant I see across the street. Or what a "knot" is when I see a board of speed limit for the boats in the canal. Or to take a picture of a beautiful flower on the side of the trail and google it. So may reasons. So many excuses. It keeps me so busy while I walk. Interestingly enough, I see plenty of "busy" people around me who are also taking a weekend walk, some even with their friends!
But when I step out without the phone on me, it's like vacation! It's like vacation on the weekend. It's just me and the surroundings. Yeah, yeah, there are enough articles and tweets about how we all have become slaves of the internet connectivity. But I never really realized that until I said this aloud "vacation on the weekend!". After all, don't we all love the vacations and camping trip where our cell phones don't work, there's no reception, no Wi Fi!
Go figure!!
Now I do not check the weather, but feel it, breath it in and soak in it. I just walk up to the restaurant and check the menu, the ambience, perhaps say hi to the server. I don't know what a "knot" is but I sit there and watch the waves the passing boats generate and let my mind wander with them. I don't take the picture of the flower, but stand still and watch the romance a little bee is playing with it. All my curiosity and appetite for information can wait to be satisfied for later.
Of course, you say, why can't you do both: check the temperature and still feel the weather? Nyah, somehow it's not quite the same. Something about that smart device (or the absence of it) makes a difference. It's makes me free to be with myself. It has been a good exercise for me. And as it turns out, after I come home, I am not that hungry for knowledge after all! I am not sure if that is good or bad, but at least it is self enlightening!
Some day, I will get good enough at it so I can create these vacation moments any time, even if I have my smart phone with me.
No wonder you're not answering my calls Thea days!!
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