before i get laughed off of here for such an ignorant and stupid question, treating europe like some monolithic promise land, i’m not. i’m from america though, and i really dislike phones and modern technology. america is so consumerist and obsessed with the internet that it disgusts me, and i am wondering if it’s different elsewhere in the world. i just want to live somewhere where the towns are full of people enjoying each other’s company in the real world and not isolated on social media. i want to live somewhere where i don’t have to even have a phone if i don’t want one. i know this is a really silly question and i’ll probably get teased for it, but i’m being sincere. i just want to live like we did before the internet became so omnipresent. it’s so isolating here.
(also, i’m not really asking about europe so much as “not north america,” but this is easiest.)
4 comments
Not really. Like anywhere else if you go really far out into the countryside and hang out with the oldest demographic then you’ll probably have some luck. But speaking *very* generally Europe is pretty well connected and tech-savvy.
>i just want to live like we did before the internet
I’m afraid thats almost impossible mate. There may be areas where phone are used a bit less, but I don’t think the way you imagine it. You could of course just turn your phone off most of the time, but that does not solve the problem of other people being on their phone all day, neither does moving to a very remote area (and your chances for that are better in NA)
Maybe you could find a small village with mostly old people, but thats rare and probably not what you want.
I guess thats something you have to put up with, and it doesn’t seem to get better. Kids are getting smartphones at such a young age nowadays, no one can think of a world without them.
I understand your point though. I can imagine that the whole “being online and available 24/7”-thing is a bit exaggerated in the US, although not uncommon in europe either
You even have good connection up in the Alps, so even going to a remote mountain valley is not an option. I think it’s more of an age than a place thing. And I have the outsider impression that in Southern Europe – while still being well connected – people tend to meet and go out casually more than in more Northern places. So maybe someone from a Southern European country can elaborate if they rely less on social media and more on personal contact.
Can’t speak for the other North-Western European countries, but I think in this region of Europe, it’s pretty much impossible to be a member of society *without* a smartphone or some form of computer, unless you’re one of the elderly and your kids do everything for you. Think pretty much the same goes for Southern Europe. Perhaps the further reaches of Eastern Europe?