Funfare for the Common Man

Part 1: Embracing the wilderness  (And part 4 (of 10) of my August 2020 challenge) Out in the wild, cut off from the world: a treat. When you read Trip Advisor or Booking.com reviews, you probably notice lots of people complaining about bad wi-fi in their hotels.  The place we stayed in the Carpathians, in Western Ukraine, didn’t even have wi-fi. I didn’t know that before I booked it. I didn’t even check, nor did I care. When we got there and I found out, I shrugged and said ‘good!’ Less temptation. I can say goodbye to the world for 8 days of peace and solitude. No social media. No keeping in touch with people. No news. No sport. Just fresh air, hiking, relaxing, reading, eating, drinking… [Here’s the part where more socially-connected, millennial readers will say, ‘who needs wi-fi when you have a smart phone with 3, 4 or 5G?’ And I will respond ‘but I don’t have a smartphone!’ And then they will come back at me with ‘yeah, but doesn’t your wife have one?’ and I will retort w...

I often feel that I was born in the wrong century and belong in a different era. I can hardly keep up with modern times, things are changing so fast. I know, I sound like Brooks from The Shawshank Redemption – but don’t worry, I don’t plan on topping myself (belated spoiler alert: sorry if you haven’t seen it). Oh great, another technophobia-themed rant Regular readers will no doubt be familiar with my posts on technology and its failings and my slavish adherence to Ludditism. I’ve long been a fully-fledged, paid-up member of the club. I don’t want to rant and rave yet again, but I had a few thoughts and reflections as I spent last week hiking and biking in the cool, fresh air of the Carpathians. (in western Ukraine, for my non-local audience) Now, I’m all for innovation and progress but…at what cost? The modern world and its gadgets confound and overwhelm me. And I know that every [good] artist has to change his canvas at some point, but…after a certain point, it al...