It’s been almost a week since I’ve accessed my email, social media accounts, blog stuff, or the internet in general. 6 days of being completely disconnected from the outside world (except for the occasional Facebook update from D, who has a data plan on his phone). But I swear I have a good reason! Here is where I have been:
Okay, not actually in the ocean, but on the island of Koh Chang.
We chose Koh Chang for our Thai island experience based on the recommendation of a couple of native Thai friends from a restaurant we frequent back in the States. Koh Chang is known for its beautiful white sand beaches, affordability, and laid back beachy bar scene on the west side of the island. However, we chose to stay on the east side, where there’s not a whole lot going on.
We are renting the cutest studio cottage in a little village of 16 houses. It has its own name: Rose Cottage. The property has its own little beach, but nothing to write home about. It’s rocky and the sand is coarse. But it’s ok; you don’t come to the east side for the beach.
Instead, you come to get away from it all. Our village is one of the only few developments on this side of the island. For kilometers on either side are nothing but the tropical jungle and mountain roads, with the occasional shack or mini-market. Taxis don’t come by here. The closest restaurants are 2 km away. The closest grocery store is a whole 7+ km away, on the other side of the island and over a mountain.
Annnnd of course, the wifi in our cottage doesn’t work. And there are no cafés around from which to steal wifi. Everyday, our host tells us that someone is going to come and fix it, but they never show up.
At first, I freaked out internally. 2 weeks cut from the internet is like an eternity! The horror!!
But then, in truth, it felt like relief.
I didn’t realize how much I needed it, how much I needed to unplug. Let’s just say that lately, I’ve been in a slump. I’ve felt like that everything has been suffering – my writing, my health, my relationship. I felt like I needed to be somewhere to find inspiration and clarity again.
At this moment, a little cottage in an isolated village surrounded by the woods and next to the ocean, with no internet, sounds like paradise.
Here on Koh Chang, for once I’m not desperately tending to my social media or working on blog related stuff. Instead, this place is about connecting with nature and reconnecting with each other.
cosy little details
the little wood behind our cottage
Without a working wifi, I fill my days the old fashioned way.
I spend as much time outdoors as possible, until the bugs drive me inside. I lay out my yoga mat again and I’m determined to get my strength back. I previously downloaded the longest books I could find and I spend many hours sprawled out on the wooden bench, lost in stories (the only gripe I have is that I’ve gone through all my new books). Sometimes, a golden dog makes itself comfortable on our porch stairs and keeps me company. We spend hours in the kitchen experimenting with Thai dishes, testing out our newly learned skills. We pass long, stormy afternoons on the patio and actually chat with each other.
We talk about how fun this simple, old way of living is.
In the evenings, I light the incense and sit on the patio while smoke curls swirl around me. As soon as dusk falls, all kinds of critters come out. I watch the geckos scamper about on the porch ceiling overhead, snatching up bugs for dinner. A couple of fat slugs slowly make their way across our porch stairs. The only sounds are the incessant chirping of cicadas, the creepy calls of the geckos, and the occasional low rumbling of thunder. When the breeze picks up, the wind chimes make a beautiful low musical tone. I’ve never felt more at peace.
my new furry buddy. can I steal him??
with so much time, our cooking skills flourished
And on the fourth day, we rent a scooter from our airbnb host.
This gives us a whole new level of freedom. Now we have the entire island at our disposal. The island has only one main road going around the perimeter. We ride up and down that road, the warm wind whipping our faces.
Now that we’ve got wheels, D asks me if I’d like to go to the AIS store and get data for my phone too. I think about it for only a second, and say “Nah, I think I’m good”.
Sometimes, I think I can get used to this kind of life before the internet.
Today, when we return from a market trip, my backpack full of all kinds of Thai ingredients that we will use later on, the internet guys (who finally showed up) have fixed the wifi issues. I feel a little disappointed as a week’s worth of missed notifications start to pop up on my phone. I didn’t want the feeling of being so utterly content – with no outside distractions – to end.
Who knows, I may disappear again (by choice) until we leave. But for now, I’m back to join the world!
Do you ever feel the need to get away for a bit?
Oh man, just reading this makes me yearn for days of camping in the summertime and not caring about being plugged in at all! I loved reading about the things you chose to do instead. This is really how people are meant to function, I think. And certainly the best way to spend your time on a Thai island! Your post has inspired me to perhaps take an “unplug” day sometime soon, or at least step back for awhile. I really don’t like the feeling of being too plugged in, which is why I am a bit loathe to join every single social media site when each one is just another time suck.
Yeah exactly! More and more, I can’t stand to be plugged into all these social media channels (which is making my blog readership suffer, but oh well… because I’m happier). Before, I always felt guilty if I take a few days to just do my own thing, but being here without internet forced me to do that, and I loved it! I’m going to continue to have “unplugged days” even after I leave. :D
Just reading this I wish I had the willpower to disconnect… But in NZ it’s almost impossible to find a place with no wifi, I think I’m going to have to wait until my turn in southeast Asia to try it out!
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21 year old backpacker currently an expat in NZ
http://the-living-spree.blogspot.co.nz/
It’s true that it’s hard to do that, but we can always take a step back and force ourselves to disconnect! Like turn off the wifi even for a couple of hours or something, which you enjoy a book or a long walk! It really does feel good. :)
That place looks so amazing! It’s going on my to go list!
Oooh I hope you go! I just edited the content to include a link to the airbnb page for this little cottage. :D It’s pretty isolated on the east side (and you will need to know how to ride a scooter to get around), but if you do go and stay on the west side (like by White Sand Beach), then everything is there, and the beach is beautiful there!!
You need to import the Asian way of dealing with those missed communication when coming back from vacation. Everything that comes when our Out Of Office alert is on, goes to the Recycle Bin. When asked, a simple “Oh, I didn’t see it, there’s too many emails!” will suffice ;)
And I think now, you need to practice ignoring the internet even when it is available. When you are able to do that, you will be awesome!
LOL! Sometimes, I do that too. It’s such an easy excuse :P. I will definitely continue to have unplug days! In the past month, I’ve been doing that already, but I always felt guilty about it… like I’m wasting the time I could be spent blogging. I won’t anymore though, in order to keep my sanity in check :D.
That sounds amazing. I think all of us could use a quick disconnect from online life way more often than we ever do it!
I think so too! This week really did make me miss the days before the internet and social media were the center of my life. I’m only just now slowly re-introducing the internet back into my life, but I won’t let it become the main thing anymore. :)
A whole week of a technology detox – I’m jealous!!! lol I remember when I was sailing the Greek islands, I didn’t pack my laptop, and I turned my phone off for the whole 10 days (with the exception of flicking it on periodically to see if family had called). But no email, no texts, no social media for 10 whole days, and it was fabulous. Definitely felt recharged afterwards. It can be a fabulous thing to revert to the “old days” for a little bit periodically! :)
Omg that sounds like an amazing trip!! I must admit it’s not completely a technology detox because I still used my ipad to read from the Kindle app and played some Candy Crush, lol. But no laptop, email, or social media was SUCH a relief. I’m going to make it a point to continue to do this once in a while!
Your cottage is adorable! Also, props for unplugging. I unplugged for 10 days when I went to Taiwan a year and a half ago, and it was the best idea ever. Both for my vacation and my mind, lol.
We really do need that sometimes for our minds! Even though I’m kinda “permanently on vacation” right now, my mind is not that way at all. I love the idea of taking a vacation for the mind occasionally too!
Anna seriously, you write so beautifully! I can picture it just perfectly from the way you’ve described it so well! It sounds like heaven – I sometimes wonder how much more talking hubby and I would actually do on our travels if we didn’t always have such easy access to our gadgets and wifi all the time. I’d love to be able to just totally turn off but fear I wouldn’t necessarily have the discipline, so in a way, if the decision was taken out of my hands due to location or availability etc, it’d probably be an opportunity I’d seize gladly :)
Awww, you’re too kind Shikha! It was so weird to realize how we can spend 24/7 together, and at the same time, not really have a lot of real conversations or spend quality time with each other!! I think that was the thing i appreciated the most out of this. :)
What an amazing month of adventure! I hear about the relief of being unplugged. Sometimes the social media stuff just gets too overwhelming.
It is, and it was depressing me more and more to feel like I had to constantly keep up. And if I ignored it, then I felt guilty for not doing more. It felt SO GOOD to have that taken away from me for a little bit!
Gosh it looks amazing. Did you have insect screens to keep bugs out of your bedroom, EEK.
Luckily we didn’t really get bugs inside! Though a couple of little geckos found their way in :). I don’t mind the little ones, but holy crap, the first time I saw the giant one, I almost had a heart attack!!
I always try to have at least one day a week away from my laptop, and go for walks without my mobile, to just step away from things, quieten my mind and think about things, and I always feel better for it.
You find yourself actually living life and really enjoying it!
I think having an “unplugged” day a week is so important for your mind! I do agree that you enjoy life a lot more. And it does make me miss the days before the internet ruled our lives!
Yup, I definitely feel the urge to disconnect every so often. It’s been awhile since I’ve done it. It’s so hard when at home though. Wifi is everywhere! Your cooking looks so impressive. That dish yumm!
It is hard when we’re so plugged in all the time! Ever since getting internet access back, I haven’t completely purposely unplugged again, because it’s so tempting to check updates or whatever. I was a lot happier when I wasn’t doing that, so I need to remember to still unplug on occasion!