I'm a tech worker and being on a computer or cell phone for 16 hours a day has severely rotted my brain. Where can I go to detox and also avoid smartphones? And no camping or monasteries. I still want to do some fun stuff like surfing or dirt-biking.
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I know you said no camping but get an RV. I have a friend who did this and fricked around the country for like 2 years. Not a techie just a blue collar guy who came into money and decided he wanted to figure out what he wanted out of life so he lived in the California desert in the RV and rode dirt bikes all winter, I'd meet up with him sometimes, then he drove other places in the summer. There's places you can camp for up to 21 days. If you have a good motorhome it almost doesn't feel like you're living in a vehicle so it's not that bad.
I don't really want to completely abandon my life.
I'm not really sure what you mean. You don't have to, I guess you could just go somewhere for a couple weeks in the motorhome then come back to your life. I also know some people who have successfully held remote work jobs in their motorhome.
I drove all around Mexico in November and December 2017 without a functional electronic device. Most cities still had "ciber cafes" which rent computer access for 10 pesos an hour. My truck had a compass, and my intuitive sense of a city's layout improved amazingly with time. Of course, if you are on foot, you can simply pay taxi drivers to take you wherever you need to go. I avoided getting lost while walking around by always knowing where I was in relation to the central plaza, usually by walking in square loops. Most Mexican cities have signage for "el centro", so I rarely had trouble finding the plaza, but finding the right highway out of the city could be more challenging.
Spending $50-100K on a motorhome to use it for a couple weeks, that shit is for richgays. Besides, sitting all alone in the woods with no Internet is fricking boring.
I really don't want a motorhome. I just want to chill and play badminton and do some reading and get food and rest without hearing TV or advertisments and people are actually present.
This sounds more like it.
Ideally I'd want it to be like a pre-2000s village where all human interaction is in-person and nobody is on their phones. Ideally there'd be a strict policy of no phones or a wireless jammer or something to enforce it. Does such a place exist? (Other than North Korea)
>badminton
At the RV park of course.
If you're not into it sure. I get it. Mexico might actually be a good choice. It's still very low tech. Most shops are still cash only. A lot of people still don't have PCs at home. Everyone's on their phone though because of not having reliable home internet though. And nobody else you meet will work in tech unless they're tourists or you go to Mexico City. Everything feels like it's 15 years ago. That's about right, feels like the dawn of the Facebook age. Do a trip down Mexico's Pacific coast or down Chile's coast.
It's not just for me, it's somewhere no one else is using phones (like at all) that I'm looking for.
NGL you sound kinda autistic.
I work in tech so yes?
Be aware that you need an import permit for your car if you wish to continue on MEX-15 beyond Empalme, Sonora.
That area is quite interesting to explore, both in natural beauty and in its time-capsule remoteness and quietness. I visited it on my very first solo road trip.
Forgot to mention, you should look into visiting and maybe volunteering with an intentional community which abstains from phone usage. There are many such groups.
Also there is such a literal place, it's called the radio quiet zone and it's in the Appalachian mountains. There's no TV or cell reception and no wifi (but there's satellite and wired services). The purpose is to allow astronomical observations of the radio spectrum to proceed unimpeded.
Depends, where do you live? I'm from Chile and I can go to some cute mountain village like in 4 hours. No Internet but probably with a lot ecoturism shit. You're fricked in regards to surfing, nice beach = infrastructure.
In Mexico there's tons of nice beaches for surfing with no internet, or no good quality internet. I get the impression that Mexico is less developed than Chile however.
here
My phone works seamlessly in Mexico and without extra cost but I live in southern California where connectivity in Mexico is heavily advertise. Before that existed though, it was a hassle. I'd call from payphones in Mexico to check voicemails. Cell service in Mexico is spottier though, in cities its good but outside of them it isn't. You're right about signage being awful, that's why I like using GPS there. I don't depend on it as much in the US.
>Spending $50-100K
You can get a nice motorhome for well under $20k. They don't have great resale value. You can get an absolute shit one for next to nothing.
Wherever you go it's always good to have a phone and internet for navigation, emergency contacts etc Just have some self control and don't use it unless you have to and then you can go anywhere relaxing and quiet and you don't have to specifically seek out remote places with no signal.
You don't need a phone plan to call 911 in an emergency. Nor do you need a data plan to use OsmAnd, my favorite offline map/navigation app.
I doubt such a place exists anywhere in the world. Slum-dwelling Africans spend 40% of their monthly income on a cell plan just so they can constantly be talking on the phone. Then we see ads begging us to help hungry children. LOL, priorities.