Written by Sophie Jarvis
If you told me a month ago that I’d happily spend a week with almost no phone reception, I honestly wouldn’t have believed you.
As a uni student, my phone is basically attached to me. I use it to check Brightspace every morning, keep track of my timetable, reply to messages, organise my calendar, and, if I’m being honest, spend a bit too much time scrolling through social media instead of studying.
Over the uni break, I went on a camping trip around Tasmania, and for most of the week, we had little to no reception.
At first, it was frustrating. I kept picking up my phone without even thinking, only to remember that nothing was going to load. No Brightspace notifications, no emails, no TikTok to pass the time in the car, and no quick messages unless we happened to drive through a town with service.
After a couple of days though, I stopped noticing, or even wanting to use my phone.
Instead of looking down at my phone, I started looking out the window. Tasmania has the most incredible views, and I realised I probably would’ve missed half of it if I’d been glued to a screen.
We packed a lot into the week. We visited Tasmania Zoo, camped on the beach, and spent our days exploring all the different towns. I lost count of how many hikes we did, but one of my favourites was the Dove Lake Circuit at Cradle Mountain. It was one of those walks where you keep stopping because the view somehow gets even better.
The whole trip made me realise just how dependent we are on Wi-Fi all the time. At uni, that’s pretty normal. Between Brightspace announcements, assignment reminders, discussion boards, group chats, and emails, there’s always something that needs our attention. Even when we’re supposed to be relaxing, our phones are usually still buzzing away beside us.
However, for one week, my phone wasn’t buzzing, and it was the best break from uni that I could have had.
Coming back to campus, nothing had actually changed. I still had classes and assignments, an inbox full of emails, and plenty of new Brightspace notifications to catch up on.
That week reminded me that I don’t have to be available every second of every day. Missing a notification because you’re hiking through Cradle Mountain, sitting around a campfire, or spending time with the people you’re with really isn’t the end of the world.
I’ve found that you don’t need to do a big trip to Tasmania to find this feeling either. It can be as simple as leaving your phone in your bag while you catch up with friends, or going for a walk around campus without checking it.
As students, being connected is part of everyday life, and most of the time that’s a good thing. But after spending a week with almost no reception, I realised that sometimes the best way to recharge isn’t by plugging your phone in. It’s by switching it off for a little while.
Charlie blog is a SSAF initiative.
