Travel

Unplugged Vacation

Digital Detox

Do you want to feel peaceful and productive after your vacation? Want to take a pause from your regular scrolling and typing? Take a deep breath, here’s a rejoicing vacation idea that one must try.

We are all now connected by the internet, like neurons in a giant brain.- STEPHEN HAWKING

Digital world has always sealed the deal by the “staying connected” concept. But it’s high time to realise how virtual we have become. We know what’s happening far away but are ignorant towards our needs of inner peace and stability.

Rio grew up in Bengaluru considering a computer to be his best friend. Last year, he realised that his dependence on gadgets was making him depressed and anxious, and affecting his relationships. According to the researchers from around the world, screen time should be considered a modern-day risk factor for depression and suicide.

24 year old Rio shared, “I had become so insular living my life online that I had lost the ability to connect with people.” This January, he decided to reset his relationship with technology and checked into a 12-day digital detox programme at Healing Hideaway, a retreat run by therapist, Bindiya Murgai, at Ketti Valley in the Nilgiris. “It was excruciating to be deprived of technology, but slowly, it started to get easier. I am still learning how to create meaningful human relationships.”

A growing number of people are opting for programmes and holidays that force them to take a break from their devices and balance their use of gadgets.

At Healing Hideaway, the customised detox vacation can extend from a weekend to 15 days, but the focus is on enabling people to leave their devices, and regain control over their life. Murgai explained, “We take stock of patterns of digital dependence, and figure out what can be done to make them more mindful. Participants are required to surrender their devices, undertake counselling sessions, and learn mindfulness exercises to control the urge to reach for a gadget, do meditation and go for nature walks. A key aspect of the detox is learning how to maintain digital boundaries in one’s life by creating no device zones”.

Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) ruins lives by causing neurological complications, psychological disturbances, and social problems. While technology addiction can cause anxiety and affect relationships, Murgai points out that many don’t see it as the source of their problems. “Technology is a socially nurtured addiction,” says Murgai.

Nisha Manchanda, her husband and two daughters attended the programme to wean the teens off their phones. She says it led to better communication within the family and enabled her daughters to focus on their studies, singing and golf. “We started to learn how to become a tech-wise family and rebuild our relationships without distractions,” Manchanda says. “This entailed new boundaries like leaving phones outside at dinner time, and no phones or laptops from 9pm till 9am.” The family adapted a new and healthy change of routine.

Bengaluru-based Ishwarya Kumar’s company Upturn Learning runs a digital detox programme for children. Spanning over five days, the 40-hour detox introduces children to theatre, photography, baking, gardening, astronomy and writing. It is followed by regular meet ups and online outreach, where mentors suggest activities for parents to help their children think beyond gadgets.

Plugging with Nature

Chandni Aggarwal, who runs the start up, Transforming Travels, started organising short digital detox retreats after her own experience with phone addiction. The retreat takes participants to a village in Uttarakhand to try organic farming, trekking, beekeeping and cooking. They have to deposit their phones for the first 24 hours. Instead of everyone taking photos, only one DSLR camera is allowed for the entire group. “It makes people close to nature, helps them unwind, stay away from notifications and introspect,” says Aggarwal.

It helped engineer and food blogger Shreya Srivastava reduce her smartphone usage. “As a blogger, I frequently click photos and use Instagram, but during those two days, I realised I could survive without a phone,” she says.

Here are some of the practical suggestions to manage the amount of time spent with technology:

• Make deliberate choices about time.
• Box out time to put technology away.
• Remember: The most precious thing you can give someone is your Presence.
• Be mindful of your reasons for connecting to technology
• Get the most important things done and let go of the rest Make it fun instead of considering it another chore.