This was an assignment for a Teacher Leadership class I am currently taking where I had to go at least 48 hours without any screens, cell service, or technology. It was an eye opening experience to find out how truly important "unplugging" is.
Market culture communication technology has become such a huge part of the 21st century that most of us don’t know how to live without our television, cell phone, social media, radio, and music. We are constantly “plugged in” but in this mini-experience, I have learned that being “unplugged” is a world that should no longer be forgotten.
For the 48 hours, I decided to take a trip to my cabin in Readsboro, Vermont. This cabin has no electricity, cell phone service, running water or heat. My family goes up here not only to hunt but in the off seasons we call it our “break from the world”. We enjoy being at this luxury cabin. Isn’t that funny? We call this tiny ole' cabin of ours a luxury. But in this technology based world we live in being up in the middle of the woods with acres of forest and nothing but our books to read, pictures to draw, stories to tell, and life to live we consider ourselves the lucky ones.
No one truly realizes what they have until it is gone, but in this case, no one realizes what they are missing until it is gone. People don’t see that this society as a whole has lost the respect for nature, for the arts, and for the love of loving!
When I went to the cabin with my dad, stepmom, and two step siblings we arrived around 1 o’clock Friday afternoon. We unloaded our food and clothes out of the car and left our phones. We went quadding as soon as we unpacked and got back around 5 o’clock and we were ready for dinner. We cooked hotdogs over a campfire and bundled up in blankets and cozy clothes to keep warm outside. When dinner was done we had no clean up because we simply used buns, hot dogs, and a stick to roast them on. Before we went to bed we sat around the living room where we have a wood burning fireplace and chatted about our day to then go to our beds. I sleep in the loft and it is very warm up there because the heat rises, I have to admit I cheated by using a flashlight (if batteries is cheating) to read my book and I ended up falling asleep while reading.
The next day we got up, got dressed, brushed our teeth outside with some bottled water we brought and went to go get our water for the day. We have to walk a little ways into to the woods with a 5-gallon Poland Springs water jug to get to our well. We pump the well and once the water starts flowing we start to fill the jug while continuing to pump. We bring the water back to the cabin and start breakfast. We keep a cooler of ice in the wood shed to keep the condiments and drinks. So we grabbed some milk and cereal for breakfast. Then our day was filled with cards games such as rummy and blackjack, we went quadding again, went for a walk in the woods listening for animals, read our books, and of course a lot of talking. Lunch was just ham and cheese sandwiches. For dinner, we had shepherds pie that we had previously prepared at home and froze so it stayed frozen in our cooler. We cooked it in the oil powered oven. Dinner was filled with laughter and genuine conversations as was the night before.
When Sunday morning came, we packed the car first and by the time the entire cabin was cleaned and ready to be locked up it was already noon. My parents knew I had to finish 48 hours so we sat around for an hour, talking about anything and everything.
What I found amazing about this trip, although I take these mini vacations being unplugged often, was that I paid attention to how we act. I usually only go about our “Vermont routine” and enjoy it while it lasts. But as I paid attention knowing that I would later write about my experience, I found that being away from all that technology and distractions made the people around you connect. Not only do they connect with each other but everything around them; we connect with nature, with experiences, with hard work, with sounds and just about anything else! We got to chill out and not have to worry about what others were doing or what to post next on my social media platform. Being out there in the mountains gives me a sense of euphoria like no other. Unplugging from the world for just a little while can bring someone so much realization and joy that they’d wish every day was as fulfilling as the day before.
