strange as it may sound, there was something therapeutic about not having mobile signal in the wilderness. that's when i knew we were well and truly out there. in contrast, i had phone reception in the middle of what was supposed to be the sahara desert when i was in morocco summer '08. really, now. should have known better than to believe the fly by night travel agency we booked the desert night with. so much for spending the night in a berber settlement! was most displeased to see twinkling lights of the nearest town in the (not) distance.
but i digress.
when we reached kielder, nobody had any mobile reception and it stayed that way till we were on our way back to the city. part of me panicked (oh no! no signal means no whatsapP!) and another part sort of welcomed the respite from technology. i'd be the first to admit that i'm a complete internet junkie and am pathologically obsessed with my email. incidentally, this is why having a firm-issued bb had i remained a lawyer would not have been much fun. then again, i was still glued to my remote access email as a pupil. so there.
think a big part of this phone addiction is the opposite of being present. not having reception meant that nobody was fiddling with their phones because we were all resigned to being separate from the outside world. which, unsurprisingly, meant that i was 100% present mentally the whole trip. being present is something i'm working on and being without distractions was really helpful.
funny thing - once we were regained coverage, i emailed the parentals to say i was ok despite the 36h radio silence and they hadn't even noticed i was gone :(((
check out me shiny waterproof pants! oh the horror...
(photo courtesy of dan the official wilderness photographer)
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