I just returned from another magical trip into nature with no computer or mobile phone.
Just my wife and me, a tent, some good food, tea, a few books, hammocks, sunshine and epic beauty.
What I find, surprisingly, is that as soon as I'm away from the internet and the online circus, surrounded by beauty, I have almost no interest in the distraction machine that seems to demand my attention at home.
It feels as though a switch has been turned off and the restless part of me has gone dormant, so long as the internet is unavailable.
But as soon as I return home to constant Wi-Fi, email, news and all the other distractions, the switch comes back on.
Once I'm at my desk trying to work with the internet connected, I find it very hard not to “just quickly” check one thing.
Before I know it, I may be checking the news, watching a YouTube video, checking my email again, buying something on Amazon or looking up the name of a song I used to like.
I wrote something similar in another diary, on day ten of a trip to Cleveland.
I had not been interested in technology or films or anything else that had obsessed me at home. Once I was out and about, the urge seemed to vanish. Back in the familiar context of home and laptop, I felt compelled to connect.
Maybe it was simple. If I was busy and connected with people, I didn't care. If I was at home feeling lonely, needy or overwhelmed, I wanted something online.
I did check my email a few times.
The desire seemed social. I am a social person. When that need was not being met, I tried to bond with stuff online or people online.