To Luddite or not to Luddite?
My brief time off the grid and in the woods
By Caroline Ray with art by brooke lambrecht
Last fall, amid an identity crisis that involved dropping out of school, lots of crying, and moving to the wilderness of Maine for a job entitled “Head Cook,” I became completely isolated from technology– an accidental Luddite of sorts. My new cook position required me to move into a cabin located at the end of a dead-end dirt road with no service and only unreliable WIFI. Within the first week, my phone usage plummeted to less than 15 minutes per day, and suddenly I had almost no need for the internet or most modern technology. I kept in contact with my parents and hometown friends, mostly through calls and emails, but otherwise I rarely touched my phone and instead spent my days outside: reading, working, and writing. My job was a five-minute walk from my house, I had unlimited access to acres of public land, and I was surrounded by a group of new and interesting people. My days shrunk to the plot of land where I lived, and I thought little of the outside world. It was boring and beautiful.
Now I’m back at school in the city, and I spend most of my time online. My brief dip into Luddism–the practice of rejecting or destroying modern technology–was only possible because of the simplicity and isolation of my life. Back in the “real world,” technology is an oppressive, ever-present component of daily life, and I’m finding it increasingly hard to use it in moderation. Despite the harshness of reality, I’m trying to find a way to coexist with technology and to preserve some of the distance I fostered in Maine while still moving forward. I go on “tech-free” walks to Target. I read before bed. I delete Instagram, I redownload Instagram, and I delete Instagram again. Nothing radical, but for now it's enough.