Month: August 2016

A Summer Digital Detox?

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I don’t know if it was my desire to follow the Olympics but the big digital detox I try to achieve on my summer holidays wasn’t so effective on our recent Mallorcan holiday. During the day, I did leave my iPhone and Kindle in the room, sand, water and heat not being the best conditions so it was just in the evenings when I would log on thanks to the free Wi-Fi and use a few key apps and tools, Twitter #teamGB, bbc.com, photos apps and Spotify, not many tools but it meant that I was on online more than I have ever been on holiday.

On our holiday, I really noticed how digital our world is.  As a language teacher, I would encourage my students to visit the country and immerse themselves in the culture, watch tv, listen to the radio etc.. Yet this year we had BBC1 and 2 on our hotel television and listened to Chris Evans at breakfast.  Fortunately it was wall to wall Olympics coverage and therefore an added bonus, but in other years I’m not so sure I would have wanted the normal schedules, I go on holiday to escape daily life and who doesn’t like to watch a local soap opera and guess the storyline through exaggerated gestures and sniggers at the ropey costumes and set.  Another observation on holiday was the number of children entertained by their tablets in restaurants, some eating and playing, a real pet hate of mine.  For me, family mealtimes are very special times to talk and laugh together.  I’m the first to admit the children had tablets to keep them entertained on the flight but they used them rarely during the holiday.

I can’t help but feel that the proliferation of digital media means we are losing the opportunity to feel and live the culture of the country we are visiting.  We ate out each evening in the local town and it was a challenge to find authentic Spanish meals among the pizzas and pastas and yet when we found those restaurants the food, its freshness and taste were superb.  Every restaurant seemed to have the same children’s menu sausage and chips, burger and chips, pizza etc..  We asked for the children to share an adult’s meal and it was always readily agreed giving them a little taste of Spanish specialities.  They both loved tapas and Little Miss always is an amazing eater she will try and enjoy all food.  Eating out in restaurants meant that the children tried a few words of Spanish too which makes the MFL teacher in me very proud.

Our holiday showed that its becoming more difficult to do a digital detox without depriving yourself of some of the things you like to do.  Our digital world has evolved and in some ways this is brilliant, no longer do I need a Walkman and cassettes or CDs, camera, a pile of books as they’re all on my iPhone and Kindle. However its all about balance, so we need to feel comfortable putting our devices to the side and playing, talking and relaxing.  We will never remember the game we played on a tablet but will cherish the memory of the mass water fight, being clapped on to a slide and doing gymnastics in the pool.

Word in a month July: Outside!

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After a horrid summer so far, the sun came out mid month and since then we have spent as much time as possible outside.  We’ve camped in the garden, made dens in a wood, spent days at the beach, played in the park and garden and even in the evenings relaxed in the garden.  The fresh air, sunshine and natural lifestyle has benefited us all  and we’ve finished the month feeling so much happier and relaxed.

Summer 2016 A Catch up!

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This summer I have written so little on my blog, the good news is that I’ve been too busy living the holidays. Last year the awful weather meant lots of time indoors and the opportunity to write, this year after  months of moaning about the weather since the children broke up the weather has improved dramatically and I feel that we’ve lived outside this summer.  I’ve been checking my phone for photos to remind me of what we’ve been doing as I love snapping away and remembering our special times.  My phone is brimming with photos, summer at a seaside resort is brilliant and we’ve had a bit of extra excitement with Warner Brothers filming their new blockbuster on location in town too.  We have spent so much time outside this summer, we’ve enjoyed nights out in the tent . I really didn’t expect both children to stay the whole night in the tent but both did and loved it.  Whilst we slept in the garden I’m inspired to camp away from home next year.  We also had fun making dens at the local National Trust property where we spent a day on trails and adventures.  We’ve done plenty of walks, trips to the beach and park and simply playing in the garden, today we set up the train set in the garden simple but fun.  Pirate weekend preceded carnival and we went to our first outdoor production and explored a pirate ship as part of the activities on offer. Carnival week was great, we did the traditional what’s not my line finding the rogue items in the shops’ window displays, watched the parade, went to the dog show, saw Titan the robot and lots of other random activities.  One of my favourite evenings was the four of us watching the fireworks on the beach and then tucking into a bag of chips.

Our holiday to Mallorca was amazing but I’ll write a blog on the trip, so many happy memories.  We’re just back from a few days with my parents too and are currently hosting Grandad, we have our final treat this weekend with the county show.  It’s one of my favourite weekends of the year, it’s normally when we’re back at school but this year has been brought forward, you’ll find me in the craft tents and sampling local foods.

This really has been one of our best summer holidays, the weather has really made it and the children are at a great age to do things.  As the holidays draw to a close and we get back into routines,  I’m looking forward to catching up with my blog writing to keep all the memories sparkling.