Technology, the simple life, and vandwelling

[waldenbound]

I've been meaning to post this for awhile.
My reasons for wanting to live in a van, besides economics, is for the freedom and living a very simple life. Our lives, however, are becoming ruled by technology. I just updated my auto gps and I had to wrestle to get the thing connected, but now in order to download all the maps, I have to buy a memory card now!

Certainly technology makes van life easier and safer. We have Google maps for traffic, apps for insurance, AAA app, Gas Buddy, campground locators, email for keeping in touch with friends and loved ones. Well all use some tech, since we're posting on this forum. My goal is to use the minimum technology I need to keep in communication with others, and to make travel a bit more safe and easy. I am agonizing over solar, I keep telling myself I don't need it, then I say yes I do need it. Now I'm thinking to intentionally limiting how much solar I have so it limits the gadgets I can have. Not enough power, well, can't have the gadget and I keep my life more simple.

I guess what I really want is my time back. All of the time spent updating software, checking apps, checking inboxes, ect. I also want my freedom back, freedom from the incessant notifications, software updates, checking apps and inboxes all of the time. The constant distraction of tech gadgets. Buzz, chirps, whistles, dings. I want to be more present to the natural world and to others around me, and not sucked into the tech rabbit hole.

I don't know, maybe I'm becoming a Luddite in my advancing age.

Can anybody else relate? Has your use of technology changed with van dwelling? Have you simplified your life to be less tech dependent?

 

[Queen]

I've been a borderline Luddite forever, I use technology as needed (banking and reading forums and news) but am not deeply attached to any of it. If it all went away tomorrow I'd write checks and read the newspaper, just like I used to.

But when my wife retires and we go back to FL, we'll be hanging out together much of the time, kayaking, going to the beach, swimming, etc. Coupled with no internet provider except my phone with minimal data and my aversion to tech will be allowed to flourish!

 

[SoulRaven]

Yes, I identify! Right now, I am with my husband and son and ALL the technology. I am working on being on my own and will eliminate almost everything. "Less is more." I always loved it when the electricity went out in town as there was a quiet, a peacefulness that is so rare. As a child, we did not have television until I was 5 although others did and someone gave us their old TV, so I can entertain myself without technology just fine. I loved to play outside!

Every time I pick up a print book or even a magazine, I realize they will soon be gone forever just like so many other things I loved and enjoyed. Ah, but there is still nature out there to be enjoyed, they haven't taken that away, yet.

 

[rvwandering]

I absolutely love having access to so much information through the internet. It has changed our traveling life for the better. We see more, travel slower, camp cheaper and make more friends.

But I also try hard to not get too caught up in being connected every minute of the day. I've been resisting getting a smart phone because I know I'd be looking things up constantly. If we're away from our RV or driving down the road we're completely disconnected. We don't even take our phone with us when we're out.

We finally bought a GPS about 18 months ago and I love that too. We also have a Kindle but that's about it for technology.

One thing I worry about is an attack on our cyber system. Everything is so dependent on the internet that if it shuts down we'll be helpless.

 

[Queen]

... As a child, we did not have television until I was 5 although others did and someone gave us their old TV, so I can entertain myself without technology just fine.  I loved to play outside!

This makes me go "hmmm", maybe that's why I'm weird about tech stuff.  We moved to Italy when I was nine, the next four years we had no TV and no phone and that was normal, we read and played games and spent time talking.  When we got back to the states I was never comfortable with the phone and would leave the house when it rang so I didn't have to answer it.  Never got used to the vcr or the cable box, mostly just read books when I wasn't outside.

 

[MrNoodly]

We should all live the way we want in ways that work for us. What we shouldn't do is live according to someone else's ideas about the proper way to live -- including what material things are necessary or unnecessary.

I'm guilty of judging people in huge RVs hauling huge trailers of stuff. Meanwhile there are others judging me for my gadgets. I should just be glad that I have the chance and adequate means to live the way I do. I'm glad I'm not trapped in a life I don't want. A lot of people don't get to make that choice. Others do but don't think they can.

 

[lenny flank]

I dunno. I need a laptop and wifi to make my living. It's also nice to be able to keep in touch with friends and family even when they are 2,000 miles away. And Lady Garmin helps me find cool places to see without getting lost all the time. My digital camera gives me my nicest souvenirs, and lets me share my adventures with other people.

I'm sure that "Luddite" feeling goes all the way back to the time the first australopithecine chipped a stone tool, and his neighbor said "Why can't you just use a stick like everyone else?"

 

[Queen]

Can't speak for others, but there is no value judgement on my part if someone chooses to use tech. I simply prefer not to.

 

[waldenbound]

The discussion wasn't meant to judge anybody, I was just reflecting on my experience. I'm sure not going to be running around like Lewis and Clark in my buckskins and keelboat, I just bought an iPad Pro. Probably my last big tech purchase.
I just want to find the balance of just enough tech, and not more.

 

[SoulRaven]

I don't believe stating personal preferences or why they might exist is making any kind of judgements.

 

[rvpopeye]

If you want to find the right "balance" , you'll be in the perfect lifestyle to do it !

I spent the first 15 years of my life with almost no tech 9 months out of the year when "uptah camp".

Then from 27-50 with tech being my every thought.(mostly analog , not computers except for those proprietary built into the gear.) Got my first laptop in '06.
Now , not so much but am really aware of how much time people spend staring at various screens. I call it "webaholics" (LOOK OUT FOR PEDESTRIANS! and texting drivers.... :dodgy: )

 

[highdesertranger]

can I do without it, yes. does it make life easier, yes. highdesertranger

 

[WalkaboutTed]

I just want to get away from politics. People shoving people.

 

[Cammalu]

Sigh, I'm afraid you'll have to go sit at the bottom of the ocean for that.

 

[Gunny]

Cammalu, you have a beautiful spirit, All my best for you in your travels. Should you ever need anything ask JiminDenver, he has all my contact information.

Rob

 

[ArtW]

This makes me go "hmmm", maybe that's why I'm weird about tech stuff.  We moved to Italy when I was nine, the next four years we had no TV and no phone and that was normal, we read and played games and spent time talking.  When we got back to the states I was never comfortable with the phone and would leave the house when it rang so I didn't have to answer it.  Never got used to the vcr or the cable box, mostly just read books when I wasn't outside.

I'm another that, due to financial considerations, spent a long time with no TV (can't watch TV if you can't pay the electric bill) and I find I far prefer a book to TV to this day

I figure I can probably charge what little tech I'll actually need with a small portable solar setup (phone, Tablet) and maybe use Luci lights for lighting

 

[lenny flank]

I suppose whether watching TV rots one's brain depends on what one is watching. Watching PBS or the BBC makes one smarter: watching reality shows or soap operas, doesn't.

I like online TV because it gives access to English-language versions of British, German, Chinese, Arabic and Japanese TV--which have some of the best educational documentaries in the world. (Even Putin's propaganda TV has good documentaries on science and wildlife.)

 

[Putts]

I look at my build two ways: 1) The simple stuff that will work for three weeks at a time in the outback. My cabin on wheels. 2) All the tech stuff that will keep me in touch and safe. Radios, wifi, security systems, personal locator devices, etc.

On the simple side, I'm buying a dog for security; I'll have my ukulele to practice; chainsaw (a little techy) for firewood; and realistically, I'll be using a laptop a lot, mostly to write stuff I've been wanting to write but never had the time.

The tech stuff aren't entertainment, I have no TV and cable and haven't for years...though I do watch Netflix docs regularly. I seriously doubt I'll be doing that on the road. Tech stuff is to improve safety, security, navigation, recon, comms with family and others. Not strictly necessary, but able to enhance my ability to succeed in my simple lifestyle.

I think the tech stuff will degrade simplicity not by its presence but by how much attention you give it.

 

[XFILE36]

waldenbound,
I don't like technology much either.  In fact, I still have a flip phone and a LAN line phone.  I don't do social media, on purpose, except a small youtube channel designed to wake up the sheeple.  I have email, but only use as necessary.  I am extremely traditional and think I could totally live off grid and plan on buying a small Amish built home as well as a traveling van.  Not having GPS or a smartphone has it's disadvantages too.  People took at me like I have a third eye when I say I don't have them.  (I may have to buy a smartphone to travel though.) 
I love a hand-written letter.  I hate texting for various reasons including the impersonal nature of communication.  I love phone calls or talking face-to-face. It can be very isolating not knowing others that "are in the world, but not of the world", like the Bible says. Glad to see others that think this way too.  Hope to meet some of you along the way.

 

[ArtW]

I suppose whether watching TV rots one's brain depends on what one is watching. Watching PBS or the BBC makes one smarter:

Agreed, to a point, PBS and BBC both have educational programming, but watching Sesame Street (do they still have that?) as an adult wouldn't make me smarter, it's make me suicidal
and for everything you can learn on TV, you can learn it far more in-depth by reading