I'm legitimately very happy for you. But the thing is, even though I am absolutely too reliant on my devices and on tech in general, I like my stuff. It is possible for me to disengage if I need to, and I have taken steps to do that more often. I've been in situations with little or limited internet and it's not ideal and can be frustrating, but I can do it.
But the idea of being on vacation and unable to watch TV or a movie, stream a video, catch up on my podcasts, stream music, chat with my friends, play a game, or get stuck in some dumb Wikipedia k-hole at 2:00 in the morning, has absolutely no appeal. Yes, a lot of that stuff could be off-loaded to being done offline. I could pre-download videos, podcasts and albums. I could pack a ton of physical books or just download my Kindle library to my Onyx Boox or my Kindle Oasis (I genuinely prefer reading on an e-reader than on paper books because I like having the ability to switch between books and I'm a fast and voracious reader who often reads multiple books at a time -- and I've been that way since I was a child), but I would still resent not having internet access or a TV on my vacation.
But that's me. For better or worse, I am a very connected person, and I don't find a ton of comfort being disconnected. I pitched a number of magazines a story about me going to one of those extreme digital detox places (that don't allow any electronic devices of any type, so no Kindle, no offline music player, nothing) and documenting my descent into madness (or maybe enlightenment) a number of years ago, but no one bit. The bottom line is, the only way I would ever do something like this, willingly, would be because it would be funny to punish myself that way and because it would be a good story to tell. But as an actual vacation prospect, no. This whole concept just makes me more anxious and stressed than if I went to a nice resort where I could delete my work apps off my phone and enjoy Instagram on the beach with a Mai Tai.
But the idea of being on vacation and unable to watch TV or a movie, stream a video, catch up on my podcasts, stream music, chat with my friends, play a game, or get stuck in some dumb Wikipedia k-hole at 2:00 in the morning, has absolutely no appeal. Yes, a lot of that stuff could be off-loaded to being done offline. I could pre-download videos, podcasts and albums. I could pack a ton of physical books or just download my Kindle library to my Onyx Boox or my Kindle Oasis (I genuinely prefer reading on an e-reader than on paper books because I like having the ability to switch between books and I'm a fast and voracious reader who often reads multiple books at a time -- and I've been that way since I was a child), but I would still resent not having internet access or a TV on my vacation.
But that's me. For better or worse, I am a very connected person, and I don't find a ton of comfort being disconnected. I pitched a number of magazines a story about me going to one of those extreme digital detox places (that don't allow any electronic devices of any type, so no Kindle, no offline music player, nothing) and documenting my descent into madness (or maybe enlightenment) a number of years ago, but no one bit. The bottom line is, the only way I would ever do something like this, willingly, would be because it would be funny to punish myself that way and because it would be a good story to tell. But as an actual vacation prospect, no. This whole concept just makes me more anxious and stressed than if I went to a nice resort where I could delete my work apps off my phone and enjoy Instagram on the beach with a Mai Tai.