A Day in the Digital? Maybe A Day Outside

”Perhaps to truly understand a day in the digital, I first had to live a few days out of it.”

Every morning, I wake up to my phone’s alarm. The moment the screen lights up, notifications flood in like a tide: class reminders, news headlines, social media feeds, video recommendations. Even before I’ve even gotten out of bed, I’m already drowning in the digital world. For me, a “digital day” has become a habit, even a normal part of life.

Daily Dependence on Digital Technology

Since moving to the Netherlands to study and live on my own, I’ve become even more deeply connected to the digital world. Social media has become my sole channel for staying in touch with my family and many friends. Life seems to be surrounded by an invisible digital network, and every choice I make is related to it.

The most intense feeling came after 6 p.m. Because of the six-hour time difference between my hometown and the Netherlands, social media platforms went silent, and I felt as if I had suddenly lost touch with the outside world. Anxiety and uneasiness follow, and it is even difficult to focus on what is happening in front of you. It was then that I realized how digital technology not only shaped my habits and schedule but also profoundly influenced my emotions.

I often ask myself: Am I actively using digital tools, or are they controlling me? During my time in the Netherlands, I found myself rarely able to find quiet time with myself. Information flooded every gap, and I even lost the courage to face the void.

Four Days in the Rainforest

However, during a trip to Ecuador this summer, I unexpectedly had the opportunity to completely disconnect from digital life. It was deep in the Amazon rainforest, there was no signal, no WiFi, and I spent four days in such an environment.

Photo by me, Amazon Rainforest 2025

For the first few hours, I felt a deep sense of unease. Losing signal, my phone felt like a useless piece of glass. I opened apps, only to see an “offline” notification. Without maps, I dared not walk far; without TV series and movies, I felt that time had passed so slowly.

But as time went on, I slowly discovered that this “blank” wasn’t something to fear. Each day was simple: birdwatching by boat in the morning, hiking through the forest in search of animals in the afternoon, visiting a local village, and swimming in the lake in the evening. Parrots flew in groups over the branches, monkeys jumped among the treetops, and countless stars were reflected on the river at night. Time was no longer interrupted by notification sounds, but was naturally divided by the rising and setting of the sun.

Photo by me, Amazon Rainforest 2025

On the evening of the third day, a sudden downpour began. We stopped the boat and took shelter under a tree. The raindrops created ripples on the river surface. I sat there quietly, doing nothing, but felt a long-lost peace. In that moment, I realized that loneliness is not a terrible thing. Digital technology often accustoms us to filling gaps with information, but in turn, it deprives us of the opportunity to be with ourselves.

The Digital or the Non-Digital?

These four days’ experience made me realize that “a day in numbers” is not something that can be taken for granted. It’s a lifestyle we’ve become accustomed to, but it’s not the only one. The convenience of the digital world is undeniable: it helps me find my way around unfamiliar cities, makes payments easy, and keeps me connected with family and friends far away. But at the same time, it is quietly narrowing my life path – making me always take the recommended route and ignore the small shops on the corner and the stray cats I occasionally encounter; making me constantly pay attention to likes and comments, and ignore my true feelings.

In contrast, the four days in the rainforest taught me to relearn how to be “present.” Without the distraction of screens, I began to truly observe my environment. These feelings, often obscured in city life, resurfaced during the days without internet.

Back in the city, my phone vibrated again, messages flooded in, and life seemed to have returned to “normal.” But compared to the tranquility of the rainforest, this normality seems noisy and tense. I began to understand that the digital world is not the whole of life, it is just a framework of life. The real choice is: am I willing to occasionally step outside and experience another kind of life?

Photo by me, Amazon Rainforest 2025