My take on the

“Digital Detox Vacation”

and why it is not a solution to your digital addiction.

I lost my phone in China.

Well, actually, I lost my phone before getting off the plane. I hadn't intended to be phone-less in a foreign country, but the fact that I was is significant to the story.

It’s a nightmare I'm sure you've had. Happening to forget your phone in a public place with little hope of getting it back is a familiar thought that I'm sure has crossed your mind, most likely while frantically patting down your pockets or shuffling through your bag. I had the unfortunate luck of putting mine in the front seat pocket, not thirty minutes into the flight, and gave it no second thought as I stepped off the plane 14 hours later. I was far more concerned about fresh air and solid ground at the time.

With little opportunity, nor the energy, to retrieve it, I accepted that it was gone. I’ll admit that I was a little unsettled at first thought. How would I check emails, send photos, or even take photos? How would I decipher the language without my Offline translator? How would I know where to go without GPS? How could I be without my phone for the next two weeks?

But there I was, embarking on a journey through a foreign country without it. I had unintentionally set myself up on one of those Digital Detox Vacations — the kind I've read about on Huffington Post. Except this was a modified version. No spa to detox my soul; no stillness to reconnect my thoughts.

I quickly learned the reason why a “Digital Detox” would be paired with a “Vacation” as it’s consistently advertised: it’s the easiest way to remove technology from your life with the least anxiety. Think about it — your plan is to take a vacation and leave your favourite gadgets at home. The iPad, the phone, and the smartwatch are left behind on purpose. You've set up your out of office reply, changed your voicemail, and updated your status. The world knows you’re leaving, and only then do you actually go.

Bidding farewell to technology couldn't be more easily done.

The iPad, the phone, and the smartwatch are left behind on purpose. You’ve set up your out of office reply, changed your voicemail, and updated your status. The world knows you’re leaving, and only then do you actually go.

Now, I must admit that during my two week phone-free expedition I did have access to technology. Unlike a pre-planned Digital Detox getaway, I had commitments that I had previously made before leaving, having assumed that I’d be able to use my phone while away. But while relying on my iPad instead to keep me connected (yes — I still had my iPad), I soon realized that China is not as Internet-friendly as I had anticipated. The frustratingly tricky Chinese Internet soon led me to realize that I would indeed be very limited to online communications for those two weeks. I had to accept this.

It’s not often many of us are put in a situation like the one I was in. Why would you be? What’s the lesson to be learned?

My augmented reality

After I lost my phone, I felt lighter. No need to keep it charged, to check for notifications, to make sure it was still in my pocket, to snap a photo of something interesting — these are obligations we have from simply having a phone. It seems trivial, but its mere absence was like a weight was lifted.

I became completely immersed in everything. Finding Wi-Fi was the least of my concerns. My Lonely Planet guided me to streets where my GPS would have; the few translations provided on its pages were surely as useful as any app I had intended on using. I was led by instinct — what smelled good rather than what was recommended; where people lined up rather than what Yelp suggested. I wandered and discovered.

Instead of taking pictures I would look. Looking is so effortless, yet our eyeballs are often stolen by shiny screens. I was on a Huangpu River cruise in Shanghai after sunset. Both sides of the river were lit up; bright neon lights illuminated every building and skyscraper, making these architectural wonders look even more magnificent and the city more alive. No camera could capture it, yet most passengers aboard were focusing on their selfie or watching the cityscape through a recording screen, or both. My memory of this beautiful scene is one I doubt could be replaced by a photo.

What soon became obvious to me was the authenticity of my experiences. The frustrating satisfaction from following a map, the discovery of unknown tastes and smells, the joy from looking — these were real experiences not provided by a smartphone.

The world travellers are laughing right now. I can hear them. That’s how you should travel, they’re thinking. That’s the real world.

So my question to them is this: Why limit this authenticity to travel? Why not be like this at home?

It has now been nearly four weeks without my phone. I am home now, and still without one. What I learned while travelling doesn’t validate a Digital Detox Vacation. It doesn’t imply that by travelling without a phone I have become more mindful and present. I have become those things simply because I have experienced some time without it. But if I had lost my phone at home, I wouldn’t have waited to get a new one. I also wouldn’t have learned such a rare lesson.

Why is it deemed necessary and expected in our culture to always be connected? You can wear a watch for the time. You can meet up with someone by making a phone call before leaving the house. You can decide where to eat by glancing into restaurants. You can let your phone die without your world ending. It’s not right to be consistently interrupted from the present to respond to your emails or texts. You shouldn’t feel obligated to remove yourself from real moments for the sake of your followers.

If you think you need to take a vacation to get away your phone, there’s a bigger problem you need to face. You don’t need to travel thousands of miles away from it to feel the same freedom that I did. You don’t need to spend thousands of dollars to reconnect. You just need to put it down, and do something else.

Life is happening everywhere, no matter where you are, and it’s happening whether or not you’re looking up from your phone.

If you liked this story, please recommend & share.