The Beauty of Disconnection

I honestly never thought I’d say this, but we just had one of our best holidays in Bintan.

It wasn’t the accommodation – we stayed in one of the SAF Cempaka Villas at the Bintan Lagoon Resort that was comfy and had all the basic amenities but was honestly nothing to shout about.

It wasn’t the food – our best meal was the BBQ we prepared on the first night that involved cooking copious amounts of meat, seafood and corn which proceeded to be our source of protein for the next two days. Carbs were mainly instant noodles and sweet potatoes and the one meal that we did eat out was neither gastrorgasmic nor life-changing.

It wasn’t exactly the activities – unlike previous holidays, we didn’t have any “epic” activities planned. Nothing off the beaten track, nothing special. In fact there was no itinerary. The purpose of this trip was to relive our New York days and the road-trips we used to take and so we all we did was to bring a Wii console to play Mariokart, a bunch of board games and our swimsuits.

That being said, there was beauty in the simplicity of the activities that we indulged in. Perhaps it was the familiarity – most of these games were activities that we had been madly passionate about when we were in New York. Perhaps it was the escapism – for the first time in a long while, we could almost believe we were students/ unbridled young adults that could afford the luxury to do nothing productive but play Mariokart all weekend.

I am certain though, that there were two reasons why this getaway turned out to be so wonderful. The first, was the fantastic company we had. I cannot emphasize enough how important travel companions are, and I think we’re truly blessed to have found in each other a group of kindred spirits, who despite our idiosyncrasies, manage to always have a blast of a time travelling and entertaining each other. We literally spent almost all our waking moments laughing with, or at, each other, and I think that did wonders to relieve all the accumulated work stress.

The second, more surprising, reason was our disconnection from cyberspace. The “What?! No WIFI?!” whine when we first got to the resort became a welcome reprieve when we realised that we could finally take a break from the seemingly endless chain of Whatsapp messages and the compulsion to check Facebook and Instagram. It’s been a while since I’ve experienced this because our modus operandi when we travel these days is to buy a data SIM card so we can remain connected, but doesn’t it feel like you’re constantly bringing the rest of the world with you when that happens?  It’s a double-edged sword because it keeps you close to the people you want to contact, but also unnecessarily tied to all the extra information you don’t really need to be updated about. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m the kind who wants to instantly update anything interesting I’m doing on Instagram (and hence Facebook). Or to be obsessed with trying to find the perfect restaurant to eat at via Tripadvisor. It can sometimes be paralysing and I’ve been chastised by ET previously for not truly knowing how to relax on a holiday. So being forced to disconnect this time, to just be truly spontaneous, was really, really refreshing. It also made me realise how many “moments” I’ve lost in the time I try to update my life on social media.

Without WiFi, I found that that I lost the desire, and slowly the need, to check for Facebook updates. I wasn’t looking out for interesting moments to capture to post on Instagram. In fact I barely even touched my phone that weekend and for the first time ever, my battery actually lasted a good two days. Instead, I was just being – in the moment, happy, laughing, singing, playing, talking, enjoying the excellent company of my friends – and it left me more satisfied and fulfilled than I’ve felt in a long time.

This doesn’t mean I’m gonna turn into some smartphone-discarding Luddite, but in a world of increasingly demanding connectivity, where people monitor your “Last Seen” and how long you take to reply after, I’m beginning to treasure my moments of disconnection more.

F.R.I.E.N.D.S from ETSY Explores on Vimeo.