Note on how we are glued to our phones, even in nature

Reconnecting in nature is not the same as it used to be

Text and drawing by Frits Ahlefeldt, Hiking.org

When on the way to hikes,  in trains, I am often stunned by how around 90-100% of the passengers are on their phones at any given time. In nature it is not like that… but are we heading that way?

I see it on the playgrounds, parents are watching their phones, not their kids, and on the streets mothers put screens in front of the kids in the baby joggers, when running, to keep them quiet, while the grown-up watch the meandering curve of their pulse, on their Bluetooth connected fitness app.

Our use of technology is growing rapidly and all-ready It is massive, and even when hiking we use our phones more and more, for more and more things, and while we watch our phones, they monitor us to feed the clouds.

Some believe it makes hiking more safe and helps us push the limits for what hiking can be.  Still, I wonder if we tend to forget what we lost while connecting to the digital realm. Wonder if we forget to put our feet in the cold stream, and forget to taste the wild berries and let our thoughts rest, while we listen to the birds and the wind…