If you suffer from phantom phone rings or chronic email checks, a weekend at camp might be the prescription.
Just two hours north of San Francisco in the beautiful wine country of Anderson Valley, Calif., adults come to unplug from all digital devices and connect on a human-to-human level at Camp Grounded. Founded by the Oakland-based group Digital Detox, the camp aims to build real human connections beyond virtual interactions of an Instagram photo or 140-character Tweet.
Levi Felix, Digital Detox’s 28-year-old co-founder, told The New York Times that his goal is to connect people to themselves and to each other through the camp.
“There’s always going to be more media, more to do outside of where you are,” he said. “The only moment that matters is right now.”
For a weekend, 200 campers ditch their phones, laptops, tablets and watches at home in favor of activities like yoga, stargazing, writing sessions and hiking at the refurbished 1970’s Boy Scouts camp. No work-related talk is allowed and campers are encouraged to change their names to form a fresh and renewed identity.
More and more techies have recently advocated for this kind of digital break. In March, the nonprofit Reboot instituted a National Day of Unplugging, where “hyper-connected people” were encouraged to embrace the “ancient ritual of a day of rest.”
It’s almost ironic that in such a highly connected world we are so disconnected from each other. What do you think – Are our gadgets preventing us from making real connections that camps and digital breaks are necessary?
For more information on Camp Grounded, click here.
