I when I was younger I used to turn off my phone, and leave the house sometimes I would merely drive around for hours, (this is when gas was much cheaper) other times I would simply walk around in the city as a way to get lost in the surroundings. I like to be invisible, turning my phone was a way to be invisible from family and friends. This exercise was not that difficult for me since it’s natural inclination to disconnect and be incognito. I couldn’t do it for the whole day since, my family and particularly my boyfriend would be worried, though not too much since again I have done this in the past. I hate how connected yet disconnected we have become. Rushkoff talks in his book about a girl who is considered the most social girl in school, she is always going out trying to find the hippest party communicates with thousands on facebook and everyone listens to her. Yet her phone is a constant barrier, face to face communication seems much more difficult for her. When I was walking around Portland on my technology free day I saw two guys, who looked to be friends, they weren’t even communicating to each other they were both engrossed in their phones. I made a remark to them on how odd it looked to me, and they said they were tourists. This poses an interesting point, our smart phones help us navigate a foreign city and allow us to see different attractions in a more efficient manner. We can go to this famous coffee shop, we can see that famous monument, but that takes away one of the greatest joys of traveling. Exploring for the sake of exploring. Simply walking around without any preconceived notion on what you want to see, this allows for pleasant and not so pleasant surprises. If we no longer discover things on our own, then I feel we have lost part of human experience.
@ColleenBurke85