Most people travel to reconnect – to themselves, to nature and to each other. The problem with modern travel (as opposed to those postcard days when I first started) is that we’re addicted to we rely heavily upon our devices.
We use them for researching and planning our travels , for sharing our travels , and for entertaining ourselves while we travel – music, reading books, taking photos, and of course just hanging out on social media.
The dangers of a digital world
Technology is extremely useful (we wouldn’t have this business without it), but it can be a very draining part of our lives, if we don’t set clear boundaries. It’s too easy to pick up the phone and check what someone else is doing rather than have a conversation with the person who is sitting beside you on the bus.
This constant connection to the outside world life is taking us away from the connections that really matter – the ones with our loved ones, our real travel experiences, and to the space we need for pause, contemplation and reflection.
It’s even more important for those of us who travel with kids . We never had to worry about getting sucked into cyberspace when we were young. We only had the present moment to entertain ourselves with. We played, we connected, we talked, we experienced.
Our children are born only knowing a heavy technological world and are sucked into the vortex quite quickly. We have to give them the space to unwind and disconnect and we have to do it with them.
Yes, we can put in rules and boundaries about who can use what device when, but let’s face it, it’s far too easy when the going gets tough and exhaustion sets in to just encourage the use of a device for entertainment.
Sucked right back in. Sometimes it’s easier to scroll rather than talk to people. It’s far less demanding of us, but in the long run, takes so much more away.
Photo: Shutterstock
Choose to unplug
You have to make the choice to frequently boot yourself of the devices. Our preferred way of doing anything is through the portal of travel! When planning for your next holiday destination , choose places where disconnecting is easier. (There’s quite a few of those in Australia!!lol)
You’ve probably gathered that we really enjoyed our time in Outback Queensland . We visited as part of the Tourism Queensland’s Unplugged Outback campaign. Get unplugged and go Outback!!
It’s a fabulous region to unplug in as there is so much culture and history to explore. Outback Queensland is really unique and unique experiences engage us and distract us from the need to pick up our devices.
Plus, in Outback Queensland there are plenty of stars to gaze at of an evening.
Unplugging for us while we were on our road trip was exceptionally tough and often unwelcome. It was purely because we were trying to run our business from the road in a country where internet is pretty dodgy and hard to connect to. It meant we were super stressed and falling way behind with our work
But brush that aspect of it aside, I love unplugging. I truly wouldn’t be so connected if it wasn’t for our travel blog. I do prefer engaging with the present moment. Unplugging always gives me that contented sigh of relief. I just wish I could stay in that world and not return to the work piles.
I was talking with Jen Adams from Places We Go yesterday – another person juggling a travel life with a business and a family. We spoke about disconnecting and how much we love it when we’re forced to.
“It just goes to show you though,” she said, “the business won’t fall apart if you disconnect. We think it will, but it doesn’t. Disconnecting is a choice really and it’s up to us to take control of our life back.”
The memories unplugging in Outback Queensland gave us
Our time unplugged in the Queensland Outback gave us exceptional memories to share for the rest of our lives. Savannah and I lay in a hammock the other evening on our camping trip looking at the stars. We tried to find Jupiter together and pointed out other stars. There were no devices interrupting our giggles and cuddles, just like there weren’t any when we were staring at them for the first time through the telescope at the Cosmos centre in Charleville .
Kalyra and I still talk about the great fun we had on the tour of the Mt Isa mine together. Writing this now fills me with a little sadness that she’s at school and I’m stuck on the computer, and we’re no longer making such incredible memories together each day.
We loved learning about the stockman and the fighting spirit of the farmer’s and innovators that come from the region of Longreach.
And Winton became our favourite outback town in Australia . We made music together, chased dinosaurs, and learned all about Banjo Patterson and Waltzing Matilda.
We have a lot of wonderful memories from Outback Queensland and going unplugged helped us to connect more to our experiences and each other. We spent a lot of time talking and laughing with the locals, which really enhanced our experience and made us think Outback Queensland has the friendliest people in Australia.
Maybe it was just because we were kicked off the devices and had more of a chance to re-discover friendliness and warmth!
Read more Outback Queensland posts:
- Undara Lave Tubes
- Is this Queensland’s best-kept secret?
- The Ultimate guide to driving the Savannah Way
We visited the Outback in partnership with Tourism Queensland as part of our Outback Queensland unplugged adventure.
How do you feel about going unplugged and how often do you do it?
