Hello!
Pretty unusual hey? Not one click on the camera shutter today. That feels a bit weird to tell you the truth!
I was running about a lot – errands plus it was Jeff’s b’day that I was grossly under prepared for because we discussed this a few weeks ago – we decided on getting some hiking tents later in the year when the finances had recovered.
Then the whole fancy couple of nights away happened for my birthday.
So I dashed into town to pick up something I had been thinking to get him for a while. (Chromecast so he/we could watch Netflix & such on the normal telly, not his little tablet! Once he woke from night shift and worked out what it was he was pretty rapt. )
I also baked a cake. (as one should do)
***
So – I stumbled across some information about clearing US customs that reported about people being requested for their mobile phone and other devices along with their passwords for inspection.
Is it going to look really dodgy when I say I don’t own a mobile (cell) phone? Smart or otherwise? Or an ipad or anything similar?
In fact – is anyone else left out there that doesn’t run their life from their mobile phones?? Is it just us and Ruby?? haha
Seriously. Would love to know if any of you cope with life without a mobile phone and why.
I have had them in the past, but never really used them very well. In the end it was a drain on money for something I have easily lived without for quite a few years now.
Being mobile-phone-less you notice the phone habits of others more keenly. Bit like being the only non-smoker in the room!! Some people have to attend to calls/messages/notifications really frequently which makes normal conversation with them quite disjointed.
I get all my messages and info via my PC at home – which isn’t even a laptop! lol.
So when we step outside the room, the house or the property we are really free! I like that!
Anyway – sorry for the lack of pretty colours in my post. I will put in a better effort tomorrow for sure!
Cheers!
I think that’s wonderful!! You are much freer to enjoy your life. I think when you visit the US for the wedding it will be a little shocking. Everyone is very self absorbed here with their phones!! Kind of sad…. it takes a lot of discipline to step away from technology. Have fun!!
🙂 Thanks Kelly. I understand the needs and conveniences of mobile phones, but glad I don’t need it! Will be interesting to compare the different countries to their use of technology (Japan also has a very high usage)
I do have a cell phone but only because it is actually cheaper than a land line and there is no contract. I am not like most with a cell phone though. I am not on the phone a lot. I definitely am not on it when we are out away from home and I leave it in the house when I am in the yard/garden. Basically I treat it like a land line for the most part. I really do not like it when people are on their phones in public. People seem to be losing the ability to connect to others face to face anymore. It’s sad really.
Thats pretty sensible to ditch the landline and make things cheaper for yourself.
More power to you Lisa. I couldn’t function efficiently without my iPhone. But, we don’t have landlines either…
🙂 A lot of people with businesses/work now need them. I think both have evolved around our ability to be in more constant contact.
You’re not alone; I don’t have a smart phone & I’m an IT person! But I have no use for one and only have an old flip phone for emergencies, so I get really ticked off when I get telemarketers calling it & costing me $.25 per minute! I wouldn’t even have that if it weren’t for the fact that I was stuck in traffic once upon a time and was 3 hours late getting home & my husband was panicking ;o)
lol – I am impressed! In IT and just an older phone! 🙂 Ugh – telemarketers. Adding insult to injury that their annoying calls cost YOU the money!!
Three hours late! I bet your poor husband nearly needed therapy!
A phone for emergencies is one of the things that even most who are NOT keen on mobile phones have them for.
I’m with you on no cellphone! My adult kids think I need one for emergencies especially when driving, but I continue to resist.
I don’t think research is adequate on the effects of device useage on the brain, socialization and learning. I think it is pretty profound, particularly with children.
I watch with dismay at the hours my grand kids and kids spend on their devices and feel sadness that they aren’t interacting with nature and other “real” humans?
It will be interesting to see how this will affect future generations.
Yay – I think there are three of us according to my scan of the comments! lol Not feeling alone anymore (haha – not that I worried about that)
It will be interesting to see, as you say, future generations and how socialisation is affected – or not!
As kids we were kicked out of the house if it wasn’t raining and not allowed to stare at the TV – while we knew other kids got to watch it all afternoon. I suppose its up to parents to monitor/manage just like it always was with tv!
I have one for when I am gone or when the kids are gone and I am not in the house. I use it so little that when it rings sometimes I push the wrong button and hang up on the person!! It is a pay-as-you-go so I refill the minutes/time every three months. Very few people have the number, so I don’t get many calls.
haha – I’d also muff it up if I had one
We had a pay as you go for a while a few years ago – but we kept losing the $30 as we never used it within the 3 or 6 month period. We gave up in the end!
I don’t have one by choice. Like the freedom that comes with being without one. I agree with everything you said. 🙂
There seem to be so few of us out there.
Do you get incredulous looks when people ask for a mobile number and you say you don’t have one?
I generally get the question “How do you survive” ??
Sometimes I get “I wish I could but… (Insert kids/work or something)”
Once I simply got an “Awesome”
The only thing that bugs me re not having one is on numerous occasions forms to fill in ask for your mobile number as a required field!! Have you found that in recent years?
I just got my first ever cell phone(a smart phone) last fall. Then we bought a new-to-us used car a few weeks later that has bluetooth. My married son says I went from crawling to flying now that I can talk on my phone in my car by pushing a button on the steering wheel – it’s truly amazing!
I knew once I got one I’d love it but we put it off because we consider it a luxury item. I never go more than 5 to 10 miles from home, live in a small rural community…I really don’t feel the need for one. My daughter-in-law decided I needed one & started talking to my husband about it (I’m only 50 yrs old!) He had no interest either but we discovered that we can finally drop our landline phone, still keep our interenet & have two phones for much less money. So that’s what we’ve done.
My husband never uses his as a phone. He loves reading on it though. He has juvenile diabetes & one of the reasons we decided he really needs one is how much help a smart phone is in monitoring his disease & communicating with his dr. I also feel better if he has a bad episode without me nearby.
I love using mine, being able to talk during my daily walk to far away friends, I read Kindle books on it every night & I love how much easier it’s made traveling.
I do hate being totally available so I actually don’t always carry it with me. I also have it set on priority only calls from 8PM to 8AM – only my kids & husband can call during those times. Everyone else gets sent to voice mail. I have no problem at all turning it off when I’m with friends…something that annoys me to no end about some people.
Keep your freedom as long as you can!
Hi Jenny!
Thanks for your thoughts. I found it really interesting reading your transition from no mobile to how you have adapted and found really good uses and conveniences.
Esp with your husband too – how far the technology has come is mind boggling.
Its good that you have set yourself boundaries to suit yourself – like being able to leave it behind/turn it off or the great idea with priority calls. 🙂
I have a pay-as-you go cell phone. Like someone else said, so few people have the number I am not bothered with constant calls. I mainly have it with me when I leave home just in case of emergency. I also have a PC and a laptop and get my emails, Facebook and keep up with blogs with. We still have a home phone but it is one that we pay $15.00 a month for and buy a card and update it each month. This makes the phone wireless but works like your land line once did. We have dropped many of the frills and hubby and I have never been interested in smart phones as neither one of us seems to be smart enough to use it. I also am offended when people are constantly checking their phone at every jingle and jangle, beep and boop. I mind consider an I-pad or something similar sometime. I value my freedom from someone always knowing where I am and what I’m doing.
Greatly enjoyed all the pictures and information on your trip – loved every bit of it. Here in the US our spring is beginning. Flowers are blooming and our cars are green from all the pollen. My garden is ready to be planted with early peas, onions, potatoes, carrots and parsnips – YUM. Raining right now so will do on Saturday when things dry out again.
lol – “Every jingle jangle beep and boop” That made me chuckle.
The pay as you go is a good idea for those not relying on mobiles for everything. I mentioned in another reply how we had one a few years ago but kept losing our credit as we never spent it in time and it was ‘absorbed’ and wasted. Not cool, so we gave up.
My husband got a Samsung tablet and he is totally loving it. Its basically used at home – on occasions we have taken it away and used free wifi with it.
But all the apps, books & stuff he really is getting great use out of it.
But it generally stays home when we go out!
So glad you enjoyed the trip stories!
I bet you are itching to go get all that stuff in the garden and fresh food happening! Spring is such a lovely time! Enjoy!!
When dining out, we have observed other tables where all the diners are on their phones throughout their meal, instead of interacting. This happens with two at a table or twenty. The
comment made earlier about the affects on socialization are spot on. It seems people have to be told to turn off their phones when they go to church or the theater or weddings or funerals. It’s a sad commentary on things. Technology is great when it doesn’t take over one’s life.
I’ll get off my soapbox now and send belated happy, healthy birthday wishes to you and to Jeff!
Hi Gail – one of my pet hates to see people dining out and their heads hardly coming up from their phones.
Dinner time for me was always one without tv and was about the family interacting and catching up on what everyone was doing/had done throughout the day.
The thought of going out and paying for a nice meal and not talking to the people next to you (or in front) is a bit mad.
I think that was one of the best things about the Overland – hardly a chance to use a phone because we were so remote. Everyone was talking, making new friends and looking up and around! Lovely!
I have a pay-as-you-go phone so the school can reach me if my special needs grand kid has a problem. I wouldn’t even have one otherwise. It doesn’t take photos, or have GPS, or internet access, it’s just a phone.
Its a great option for people like yourself. If you have a need like that it would be silly to not take advantage to make sure the people around you are safe.
Pay as you go without the frills is perfect!
Bravo! Hold out as long as you can.
I very reluctantly got my first mobile just a couple of months ago because it was becoming almost impossible to do some of my online banking without it. I’d just been using Mr Adventure’s before, but he finally persuaded me to get my own, and guess what? I never use it! It sits in my bag and goes flat, I never answer calls and hardly ever even think to look at it.
Haven’t needed one up til now, got through my kids’ teenage years without one and get really irritated by people constantly looking at theirs as they walk along …. I often feel like sticking my foot out and tripping them up! Oops, sorry for that vent. 🙂
lol!!
Did you read a while back in the UK they were putting padding around poles to stop people hurting themselves because they walked into things!!! Seriously!
I think it would be a good lesson to crash once in a while so people re remember about looking where they are going!!
I have an old, about 8 years old, cell phone that I use. I don’t have a home phone and it is definitely not a smart phone. I do not like talking on the phone but I drive a good distance every other week for chemo and I have to drive in some really bad traffic sometimes so I feel safer with the cell phone with me in case of a flat tire or such. I am also caregiver for my 84-year-old Daddy and I want him to be able to reach me if I am out at the grocery store or at chemo. He is a high risk for falling and I know I would be a wreck if I had no way for him to contact me. I have him put his cell phone in his pocket when I have to leave the house so that he can easily call me or an ambulance.
Even though I dislike talking on the phone, I will admit to loving my laptop and sending emails and checking my friends on Facebook. And I am really enjoying your blog! I live in Tennessee and saw where you are coming to the USA for a visit this year, Texas I think. I hope you have a wonderful time while visiting. I seem to recall that this is not your first visit but my memory may be wrong on that.
Hi Kathy! Great to hear your thoughts re the cell phone. For frequent travellers, its really a very good safety thing to have these days.
Plus peace of mind when it comes to family is really understandable!
I also totally love communicating with people via the blog/email and facebook. Its just a bit of fun and a great way to keep in touch with lots of family and friends. I used to be quite the chatterbox on the phone but now its more internet (or real life!)
So glad you are enjoying the blog. I have been getting a lot of enjoyment out of writing it. I think its been a year now! Still don’t seem to have run out of things to say! haha
Yes – Texas it is! Getting rather excited. Also going to do some camping/hiking at the Grand Canyon which I am looking forward to immensely.
I did travel across the States back in the early 90’s after having worked in Japan then travelled across Europe! Was away from Australia for about 2 years!! 😀
Still… thats a long while ago and these areas will be all new for me!
Tennesse would be a great place to visit… Smokey mt NP would be amazing to experience and some of the states other trails etc look great!
Hope the chemo treatments are doing their job and things look rosy in that direction!
🙂 Thanks for writing!
I have a cellphone, but it’s five years old and I do prepaid. It’s pretty cheap. I do love my iPad, but I use it for pretty much everything, including drawing, but I don’t use it when face to face with people. I don’t judge people for using them, I just think they are talking to friends/family in another way. Hey I heard the US were requesting social media passwords, not just cell phone info, so I hope that’s not true… maybe it’s made up? Eek, good luck!
Jeff also loves using his tablet. So many great apps he has made great use of.
People make very good use of their phones for all sorts of reasons – they seem like a part of most peoples lives. Its more I notice as a non-mobile owner the awkwardness of having to twiddle my thumbs through interrupted face to face conversations with some people while they attend to several calls or messages.
Yes – I heard of that story requesting social media passwords too – what do you say to that?? Thats a lot of trust to put in someone to give out that information. Especially if you don’t have the ability to then get back and change your password straight away – because I don’t have a smart phone! Hmmmm