Earlier this year, Craig Mod set out on a 620 mile walk across Japan to see if he could develop a more mindful relationship with his smartphone. Along the way, he discovered the benefits of boredom, the “experience of time,” and the enriching details we miss when we remain always-on:
A month ago, when I started walking, I decided to conduct an experiment. Maybe even a protest. I wanted to test hypotheses. Our smartphones are incredible machines, and to throw them away entirely feels foolhardy. The idea was not to totally disconnect, but to test rational, metered uses of technology. I wanted to experience the walk as the walk, in all of its inevitably boring walkiness. To bask in serendipitous surrealism, not just as steps between reloading my streams. I wanted to experience time.
via WIRED.