Once we come to terms with the fact that we have a limited amount of time on this earth, the decisions we make become incredibly meaningful. I was likely an English major in a very close parallel universe, as the insights in this week’s digital detox update reference JRR Tolkien, Robert Frost, and others from my bookshelf to explore a seemingly simple directive: don’t click like.
Once you’ve removed the digital clutter, you need to make sure you’re filling your time with more wholesome, restorative, and healthy activities. One of those things is getting comfortable with mental quiet time, during which you’re not being bombarded with external ideas. Solitude doesn’t have to be a scary thing – it can just be time to decompress and process thoughts and emotions.
It’s only a few days into Lent, and I’ve already bent (or broken) some rules – but largely for good reasons. The key to an effective digital declutter – and reentry – is focusing on why you’re using a given tool and making sure it’s supporting that end, not using you. A trip back home this week turned my regular schedule sideways and necessitated a little flexibility.
I have given up Facebook before, but I’ve never done anything as extreme as a digital detox. I recognize that my relationship with technology (especially social media) is unhealthy, so in the coming weeks, I hope to make my technological interactions more mindful and assess what works for me and what doesn’t. Ultimately, these are tools for me to use, not the other way around.
Somehow we’ve made it to four years of Radical Moderate! Over this time, I have hoped to provide useful information and highlight perspectives that might not be obvious at first, to encourage readers to ask more questions and dig deeper before making decisions. To mark the occasion, we’ll be looking at the traditional fourth anniversary gift (and Valentine’s Day gift) of flowers.
They say that low expectations are the key to happiness – and there is some truth to that. While I didn’t have low expectations for Italy, I tried to keep them realistic. As is the case when traveling, we encountered inconveniences, setbacks, and even some scary moments during those two weeks, but keeping perspective and flexibility helped us laugh about them, if only in retrospect.
It is impossible to travel without creating an impact, and the one I talk about most frequently is carbon footprint. Ecological impacts from travel can be significant, which is why if and when I do visit new places, I want to make sure that my other impacts can be positive ones, such as supporting the local economy and being a good cultural ambassador.
Our choices about transportation options while we were in Italy were influenced largely by cost, convenience, and carbon footprint. While driving added some complexity and stress (navigation, traffic, tickets…) it also enabled some off-the-beaten-path travel that represented some of our richest memories of the trip. This post examines the benefits and drawbacks of various travel modes should you find yourself in Italy.
We were not entirely sure whether we wanted to go to Venice while in Italy, mainly because it is such a touristy city: we would have to contend with throngs of tourists, but we would also be part of the problem. Ultimately we decided to go after better understanding the causes of many of the problems and how we could support the city more sustainably.
After eating many amazing, truffle-filled meals in Italy last fall, Christian decided to get me a truffle for Christmas. Despite the rapid expiration date and mile-high carbon footprint of this tiny fungus, I loved every bite of pasta, pizza, and eggs graced with its presence. I also wanted to know how I could get the flavor without repeating such an expensive and impactful purchase.