Date achieved:
Tuesday 28th August to Friday 7th September 2018
Where?
Cairns to Airlie Beach – somewhere sailing through the Whitsundays
Why is this experience on the Challenge List?
I wanted to do this experience as something to achieve because with the way that technology has so rapidly evolved, phones have literally become part of us and essentially we cannot live without them. Due to our commitments and links that we have with our mobiles such as; with work, social media, entertainment, camera, communication, information at our fingertips and anything else that a phone can do. For this reason of how much we rely on it, I wanted to put it down and just shut it all out for three days.
Description:
When I arrived at the Young Endeavour they took all the phones of all the youth crew and placed them in a box, this box was not to open until the voyage was finished.
It was interesting because giving up the phone and detaching myself from the connected world was one of the easiest things to do. Through this it allowed me to make real connections with other crew members, immersed ourselves into the everyday adventures of tall ship life and challenged ourselves to reach our limits without borders.
Would I do it again?
DEFINITELY!! It was like a weight off my shoulders not having to worry about what everyone else was doing all the time or just absent-mindedly checking my phone. I made connections with people that were real and we were all in the same boat (literally) figuring out how how to not have a phone. I enjoyed it so much I almost didn’t want it back, I would love to do this challenge again possibly even longer next time.
Highlight:
When we were being handed back our phones after not having them for 11-days, it was such a weird feeling… Someone even said “What are these bricks? Do we even need them back?” It just goes to show that we don’t need them and without them, there is a world out there waiting to be discovered.
The connections that I made with the people on the ship with me were so real, what amazed me is even after eleven days it can feel like you’ve known the shipmates forever. There’s nothing like a midnight watch on the deck, stargazing, having a talk whilst drinking Milos.
It’s incredible that without a phone how much more you can notice, we saw some sights that I otherwise would have only dreamed of. This included; sunrises and sunsets, whales (I even witnessed one breaching), dolphins, turtles, sharks, a never-ending ocean and so many other things. Here are some of the extraordinary moments that I captured on my camera.
Cost:
The actual removal of the phone didn’t cost anything, although where I did it on the Young Endeavour for the 11-day voyage it cost $1,950.00.
Further information:
More information about the Young Endeavour can be found here, I cannot recommend this program highly enough I loved every moment of it and have so many memorable moments and achievements in those eleven days.
Please note, that even though I didn’t have my phone for 11-days I still told my family and friends where I was before I left and that I wouldn’t have my phone with me. The way that my family and friends could know where I was without me telling them, was through the Young Endeavours captain’s log. The log was posted in every day by the captain and youth crew with updates from the day.
There are so many benefits of not having a phone or just taking a break and you can find out more here.
Try detatching yourself and see what you can achieve!