morning bench ride
Life without smartphones..
Recently I decided to untether myself from my smartphone. Foregoing the smartphone has not come without its challenges and annoyances. For instance, GPS for trail and route planning, lack of Bluetooth music and lack of ability to take video and pictures whimsically seem to be reoccurring annoyances.
Luckily these are fairly minor and can be remedied with standalone devices that I have readily available in a desk drawer. The work arounds aren’t always easy or practical compared to the endless list of apps that are available to the smartphone user, (at a cost) but strangely I’m okay with having to be more deliberate in what I take with me and how I use it.
My takeaway is that yes, smartphones offer a bit of convenience but at a cost.
The cost isn’t always monetary, it’s freedom and lack of being in the moment. not to say with a good bit of willpower or discipline you couldn’t achieve some level of freedom and keep your smartphone; I’m saying I found it difficult. It could be my age as I have had an uncounted number of failures when it comes to smartphones. Weather, weak signal, subscriptions to manage, apps that are cumbersome to operate or app that just doesn’t work.
Also, the environment I typically “play” in is harsh on electronics, bouncing, water, drops, gloved fat fingers to name a few. Dozens of routes and tracking have been lost because at some point in the trip a button or screen was tapped, and it had gone unnoticed until the end of the trip. I have literally spent 6 hours “mapping” trails to come home and find that I have a grand total of 76 feet mapped.
I now sport a $40 flip phone that nests perfectly in my front pocket.
Perhaps I’m on to something. I read this article a few moments ago and thought it would fit well here. Monk Mode