Today was a watershed moment because I was leaving for a trip, and the thought of traveling without my iPhone nearly paralyzed me. I realized that this would be the first time that I would be on a trip without it. So I wondered how I would deal with the Uber scheduling, how I would check-in for my flights, how I would keep track of my expenses, how I would share photos in social conversation, or even take photos, for that matter! My flip phone has a camera, but it isn't useful for the kinds of things I need the camera to do -- things like scanning documents! And, would I now have to go back to the primitive idea of printing my boarding pass rather than using the boarding pass on my iPhone? Yikes!
Before I even left the house, however, I had to decide whether to take my iPhone or my iPad since they now work about the same. I decided on the iPhone because it's smaller and lighter and I'm a very light traveler. (Well, except for all my devices and cords, that is)! One goal I have is to get down to just two devices -- a laptop/tablet and a phone. My Microsoft Surface Pro actually is made to function as both a tablet and a laptop, so I really don't need it, and an iPad, and an iPhone, and a flip phone! But, gosh, each one does something the others don't do, so I feel I need them all!
I started down the highway driving my regular 3 hour route to Las Vegas to get to the airport. Before I had even gotten out of my little town, I suddenly had an urge, which I now realize was a withdrawal symptom. I just wanted my iPhone back. I didn't want to have to struggle anymore trying to make accommodations to a flip phone. I had suddenly forgotten all the reasons for engaging in this experiment. I just wanted to have what was comfortable and natural to me --- my iPhone 7!! I even wondered how I would occupy myself for the 3 hour drive to Vegas. After all, I was going to stop in Searchlight, NV for lunch -- a small 2 casino/1 post office kind of town -- and if there was nothing I could do on my phone I would have to just eat lunch!! And another thing, I wouldn't be able to listen to what music I do have on my iPhone -- I would be stuck with only one CD for the entire trip. Since I was already partly out of town, I knew it would not be in my best interest to go back to my regular AT&T authorized dealer. So, I said to myself, "I'm sure they have an AT&T authorized dealer in Needles, CA. I can just stop there and tell them to switch everything back to the way it was."
After these moments of darting back and forth in my mind and feeling like a trapped animal, I took a scan of the landscape and I remembered. I remembered when I used to drive these highways long before the thought of a iPhone (or any cellphone) had ever germinated in the mind of Steve Jobs or Bill Gates. I traveled 200 miles every Sunday on these roads with no phone at all -- nothing but my hitchhiking thumb if I broke down or needed help. And, I certainly had no device to 'occupy myself.' What there was on those drives was the beautiful desert landscape and my own big, broad thoughts that spanned across the desert horizon. I saw rocks and sand, the moon hanging in the sky, the heat warping the pavement, the mountains stolid and sure, the sky as immense as heaven. I sang, and prayed, and dreamt up new plans and ideas. When I remembered all of this, I felt a sense of calm descending on me. I wondered to myself, if maybe, I could do that today instead of needing some external electronic device to keep me company.
So, I soldiered on past Needles, had a quiet lunch in Searchlight, and headed to Vegas -- draped in the holy landscape that feeds my soul.
Before I even left the house, however, I had to decide whether to take my iPhone or my iPad since they now work about the same. I decided on the iPhone because it's smaller and lighter and I'm a very light traveler. (Well, except for all my devices and cords, that is)! One goal I have is to get down to just two devices -- a laptop/tablet and a phone. My Microsoft Surface Pro actually is made to function as both a tablet and a laptop, so I really don't need it, and an iPad, and an iPhone, and a flip phone! But, gosh, each one does something the others don't do, so I feel I need them all!
I started down the highway driving my regular 3 hour route to Las Vegas to get to the airport. Before I had even gotten out of my little town, I suddenly had an urge, which I now realize was a withdrawal symptom. I just wanted my iPhone back. I didn't want to have to struggle anymore trying to make accommodations to a flip phone. I had suddenly forgotten all the reasons for engaging in this experiment. I just wanted to have what was comfortable and natural to me --- my iPhone 7!! I even wondered how I would occupy myself for the 3 hour drive to Vegas. After all, I was going to stop in Searchlight, NV for lunch -- a small 2 casino/1 post office kind of town -- and if there was nothing I could do on my phone I would have to just eat lunch!! And another thing, I wouldn't be able to listen to what music I do have on my iPhone -- I would be stuck with only one CD for the entire trip. Since I was already partly out of town, I knew it would not be in my best interest to go back to my regular AT&T authorized dealer. So, I said to myself, "I'm sure they have an AT&T authorized dealer in Needles, CA. I can just stop there and tell them to switch everything back to the way it was."
After these moments of darting back and forth in my mind and feeling like a trapped animal, I took a scan of the landscape and I remembered. I remembered when I used to drive these highways long before the thought of a iPhone (or any cellphone) had ever germinated in the mind of Steve Jobs or Bill Gates. I traveled 200 miles every Sunday on these roads with no phone at all -- nothing but my hitchhiking thumb if I broke down or needed help. And, I certainly had no device to 'occupy myself.' What there was on those drives was the beautiful desert landscape and my own big, broad thoughts that spanned across the desert horizon. I saw rocks and sand, the moon hanging in the sky, the heat warping the pavement, the mountains stolid and sure, the sky as immense as heaven. I sang, and prayed, and dreamt up new plans and ideas. When I remembered all of this, I felt a sense of calm descending on me. I wondered to myself, if maybe, I could do that today instead of needing some external electronic device to keep me company.
So, I soldiered on past Needles, had a quiet lunch in Searchlight, and headed to Vegas -- draped in the holy landscape that feeds my soul.
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