Last week I went off-grid and unplugged for just 48hours. No cell coverage, no wifi, no electricity (unless a generator was running) and wood heat.
Leading up to it I will admit I was a little nervous. I rely on my phone a lot. Like, A LOT! I run a small business that requires emails to be answered, FB posts need to be done and with most of my family in Ontario I worry that if I’m inaccessible then surely an emergency will take place.
About 1/2 way through Carleton, my phone lost signal and I put it in airplane mode to save the battery. I really only wanted to preserve the battery to take photo’s. I thought I’d miss it. But I didn’t. Not even a little bit. It was almost a relief to know that there would be no messages, missed calls or notifications when I picked it up to snap a photo. And as the day went on, I felt ok about just leaving the phone behind. In fact, I almost started to dread going back where there was a signal and the barrage of messages that would come in. But I tried not to think about that too much.
What are my take aways from 48 hours off-grid and unplugged?
- Enjoy the company you have. How many times at a dinner with family and friends do you notice someone pick up their phone? Maybe you’re in the middle of recounting an interesting story and you see them scrolling or texting away. I think it’s actually quite disrespectful to the company you have in front of you. No phone, no signal means 100% of the attention can be on the people in your company and you can engage in a conversation.
- Rediscover activities. We waste an incredible amount of time just mindlessly scrolling on social media. You may pick up your phone for a quick check and before you know it, 30minutes have gone by. If you don’t have and cell service, you get all that time back. We went kayaking, played board games and hiked through the woods. Sure, we would probably have done a few of these things with cell service but it would have been hurried because we’d wasted time on our phones. Being unplugged meant no waiting for anyone to reply to that last message – we could just go.
- Don’t worry about the time. Who else uses their phone as a clock? I know I do – I rarely have a watch on unless I’m out for a run. We really let how we felt dictate our day. Without it, we slept until we woke up naturally, ate when our stomachs told us it was time to eat, hiked until the sky looked a bit too dark and we figured we should head back to the camp. It was wonderful.
- Savour the food. I don’t know what it is, but somehow food at a camp just tastes better. And without the distraction of the television or cell phone while cooking and eating, you can really savour what you have on your plate. We made some EPIC meals, and there was no need to check recipes with google. Steak dinner, pasta with cream sauce, bacon & eggs and more. It was all delicious and we could really appreciate it.
- Let yourself relax. You’d be amazed at how tense you are. I mean, we’re all stressed these days (we’re in a pandemic after all!). But if you can totally disconnect you’ll slowly feel your shoulders relax, your jaw unclench and overall you’ll just feel better. No schedule, no timeline, no phone and no emails… it can do wonders for your mental health.
What do you do or where do you go to unplug for a while? And if you don’t – I highly recommend it. I’ll be making this an annual tradition.
– Candice