A few years ago, when I lived on a farm in Kitchener-Waterloo, I was using a phone book (really!), actual cookbooks, an answering machine, and real maps. Yes, I was a stubborn throw-back to older times. When I finally felt the need to get a cell phone, I just used it for calling people...when absolutely necessary. Then my boss started texting to get a hold of me, and I capitulated. Granted, I had the kind of phone with three letters on each button on the number pad, meaning lengthy text messages were not an option. When I accidentally melted that phone, I got a Blackberry. I began using it not just as a phone, but as my phone book, as a camera, and to take notes. Then, when I recently dropped that phone in the ocean, I was given an iPhone.
My life has changed...
Now I can use Facebook, surf the web, or do Facetime with my sister. I have it set up to ding at me when I get email. I can look up my route on google maps. I've downloaded apps, for god's sake. If it weren't for the fact that my plan only enables me to do these things when on free wifi, I would probably be connected to it like an IV drip.
The issue of this new technological connection is compounded by the fact that I am doing a blog and website. The other day I must have spent 6 hours trying to figure out how to update my website from the computer I was on and then download photos to it from my iPhone and edit them.
Wait a minute...
THIS IS THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF HOW I WANT TO SPEND THIS JOURNEY!
And this makes me wonder: at what cost does this delightful and speedy resource come?
How different it now is, compared to my childhood, to travel in a world where we have the technology at our fingertips to instantly retrieve information about anything we need to 'know' (or so we think).
Part of me longs to drive down an unknown road in a place I've never been, and say, "Hmm...an intersection. Left or right? How about right?" instead of consulting the screen capture I did of the google map I looked up, or to drive into a town and unexpectedly come across a little funky coffee shop where I can sit and read all day long instead of first doing a search of 'top 10 coffee shops in ____".
What is beginning to come to my attention is the amount of TIME I can spend doing research instead of actually experiencing life. Having the internet and mobile technology can be a tool that saves a lot of time and helps me find wonderful places and people who wouldn't have crossed my path otherwise.
Or it can use me.
How does one find that line between
being spontaneous and being well-researched?
Between winging it with a map and a prayer, and knowing exactly where you're going?
Between saving time and wasting life?
What is also ironically concerning to me is that writing a blog, keeping a website, and using Facebook and texting have started to BECOME my trip! I am spending more time reporting on what I'm doing than on actually doing. I am spending more time posting a photo than it took me to take the picture, and the length of my yoga class was shorter than the time I spent writing about the yoga organization. As I reflected on my day today, I found myself thinking in 'facebook update speak': "Coffee shop, free yoga class, farmer's market. Good day."
Holy smokes.
It MIGHT be time to unplug a bit.
How is it that I am starting to judge my own sense of success based on how many people "like" my posts? We've certainly made it easier for people-pleasers to get instant feedback. If I post my life and nobody 'likes' it, what do I make that mean??
It might be time to unplug.
Don't get me wrong...I love using technology.
I LOVE my phone!
I love that so far I have found four really amazing places to visit and connect with on this trip just by using the internet.
AND...I think I'm going to start turning off my phone more often and using a real paper map. Maybe even asking real strangers for directions and recommendations of places to go. Maybe taking some random turns.
Don't worry...I'll blog about it later.