I’m only half kidding when I tell you that one of my favorite things about our national parks is the cell phone service and the ability to connect to the internet is absolutely horrible. And that’s why I’m a little upset to hear that at Yellowstone national park they are working to make upgrades to cell towers for better reception and more wifi capabilities through certain areas of the park. I’m all for faster internet speeds when I’m wearing a dress shirt and bowtie but when I’m looking at bison out in the pasture I don’t need to be posting it to social media for a live feed. P.S that’s a really excellent way to go viral as people would love to see someone get mowed over by a charging bison.
The internet and 24-7 news cycle have made it easier than ever to be connected and better informed on everything that is going on in the world at any moment. In a lot of ways that is a magnificent thing and in others it absolutely horrible. I have tried and often not succeeded at disconnecting from work, and the influences of the news/internet during weeknight family time, weekends, and most importantly family vacations. I like to think I was getting better but after a week and a half in northwest Wyoming, I’ve come to the conclusion that a modern man can indeed survive without access to WIFI and cell service and popular to contrary belief you can actually thrive.
It’s amazing how much time you have to go on walks, throw airplanes, look at the stars, play games, imagine what the clouds look like, run, swim, jump, and 10,000 other things that you could dream up when the allures of the modern world are as effective as a paperweight.
I took a lot of things away from that trip to our oldest national park but the thing I am trying to use the most is disconnecting from the news/internet and not getting angry at the things that I can not change or have little to no impact on my life. Instead, I choose to use that time to do things with my family like go to the beach, the park or simply play in the front yard and talk to neighbors about the weather.
Call to Action
Turn off your phone, put it down, and then walk away. Do the same for the television and then go outside and do something for a few hours. I believe in you, you can do it. I promise you that you will feel better afterward. Try this 1-2 evenings a week or maybe a whole day on the weekend. Worried that a family member will need to get in contact with you? Well if you have an iPhone I’m going to clue you in on one of my favorite ways to disconnect but let people know that you still somewhat care about them. It’s called the do not disturb while driving mode. Sure it may be a bit of a fib but when someone calls it will go automatically to voicemail and if they text a custom message will be sent automatically letting them know you are not by the phone. You can also set it up to where only certain numbers will be allowed to override the feature so you can take that call from your mom.
Here’s a link on how to set it up. I promise you its a game changer!!
Subjects to change 