There is no Starbucks in West Marin. No fast food. No Safeway. There is one sweet little cafe, Blackbird, right across the street from Tomales bay, where you can drink a really good espresso and use wifi. The next nearest cafe would be in Fairfax which is a 40 minute drive away.
I live in a valley, a dip in the land between the pacific ocean and the mountain top. There’s no phone service here or wifi. I used to think catching up would be easier, just leave the valley, right? It turns out all of the Point Reyes peninsula has spotty service. And by the time I get to a cafe, the list of things to do and people to call and e-mail gets so long that I have decided maybe it is just better to become one of those out of touch folk. Tell them all, I live an hour north of San Francisco, you are all welcome to come visit, my heart and doors are open and sorry for not replying to your communications. Oh, that’s so hard! You know I love my people. But, I have this wonderful opportunity to be present in this magical land.
Last year, in Chicago, there was a lot of internet in my life and now being away, which those of you know me, know I generally spend 1/3 of my years off the grid but now this is all of my year off the grid. Anyhow, I love the internet. My business exists on the internet but not having it and detoxing from it, it is clear to me just how addictive it is. Information at your fingertips, stimulation, passive aggressive interaction, it is all just what a dopamine junky thrives on. It’s so easy to get in the spell of being on the internet but after 3 months of going without, I have detoxed and when I have it, I no longer know what to do on it. It seems, I’d much rather go look for mushrooms or take photographs or watch the waves crash up on the shore.
I, for one, am obsessed with lifestyle photography and stories. So, I will look at photos of people cooking on a open fire in the Alaskan wilderness and such things but it is way more satisfying to load up with some wood and head down to the beach with friends for a bonfire. Or drive to Tomales Point at sunset and photograph the elk grazing in the pastures over the ocean. You find other ways to fill your time when internet and TV don’t exist, you relearn how to converse with others, you watch the seasons peak and begin to turn, you become familiar with different types of birds and plants, the moon’s cycle and the tides diversities.
I do miss the web at times but when I look at the big picture and all that I have gained by disconnecting, I am grateful. How about you? What is the longest you have gone off grid? How did it make you feel?