Tech-No

Tech-No

 Lee Davey

 Escaping gadgets and gizmos is an increasingly difficult thing to do and, coupled with the 24/7 office courtesy of the smartphone, down-time is something we grasp at between emails. Increasingly, restaurants and other social gathering hot-spots show family members of all ages transporting themselves to another world where, in reality, they are just a few inches apart – the sort of distance that would once be filled with conversation.

 Reading that paragraph back to myself, I sound like a Dad from decades ago but, hands up, I am all of the people in the above paragraph. My attention is easily divided by a ‘bang’ in my pocket, I’ve found myself handing my 7 year-old Son my phone between courses because Cat Physics beckons and, in short, relaxation is more starter-sized than the full main course. But, during our first trip of the season to the Caravan Club’s Hunters Moon site, I was timing Poppy (12) and Charlie (7) up, over  and along a short section of the play-park when, horror of horrors, my phone battery died. I then asked Poppy if she had her phone to hand only to find it was still in the caravan, battery condition unknown, as she hadn’t turned it on since we left home!

 We’ve been caravanning for a decade or so and it’s always been about getting out & about and it doesn’t seem to matter if we’re relaxing or running around, even a local-ish weekend trip somehow sees us immersed in a subconscious family oriented timetable where technology isn’t centre stage. We hitch-up our Swift Sprite (Major 6 – the bunk layout works great with kids) a lot and, in the pursuit of comfortable exploration, regularly tow 7,000 miles or more per year with an 8 day, 5 country jaunt the sort of spontaneous break we all look back at fondly.

 So, with Poppy’s phone back at base and an itinerary we’d yet to establish, we wondered how tricky it’d be to go completely screen-free for the duration of the break? What’s more, could we do it on each 2015 getaway? Growing up in the 70’s and 80’s, available technology was limited to digital watches and a pushbike horn that sounded like an American fire engine so we played football like Pele, rode our Raleigh Grifters like Sheene and, most importantly, social skills were being developed instead of lost.

 Theoretically, going screen-free could enable me to revisit my youth and spend more quality time as a family but would it or could it work in these technologically dependant times? Our Swift Sprite will be accompanying us on trips from Belgiumto Birmingham, Scarboroughto Scorrier and with the caravan enabling us to see different sights and try different things, I’m hoping it will be the perfect environment to ditch the screens – apart from the sat nav as, with my sense of direction, I really need it.

I'll see you on the other side...

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