I survived without a mobile phone & I almost died on New Year's Day

I survived without a mobile phone

Almost everyone now owns a cell phone of some kind.  It's a convenient tool, an always-available link to friends and family, and a pocket computer with... wait for it... an actual telephone! Most of us are extremely attached to our phones, and some people now even have phone notifications connected to their watch.

The day I left San Francisco, I gave up my iPhone! And I survived! The first few days I would reach into my pocket for the phone and only to come up empty-handed. It was a little unusual at first but I learned to live without it fairly quickly. For example, if I'm lost, I would ask a stranger for directions. If I'm meeting up with someone, we set a place and time to meet, and both parties would be accountable to show up on time.

It may sound like an archaic way of life, but I LOVE the simplicity of life without the distractions -- Only the important stuff gets done. Everything else is just noise.

Here's an interesting read: America's Quietest Town: Where Cell Phones are Banned

By the way, if you've texted me and didn't get a response, it's likely because I didn't receive your message.

I almost died on New Year's Day

I was driving on the Sea to Sky Highway between Vancouver and Whistler. It was a blue bird day, but the temperature has dropped below zero. All of a sudden, I hit black ice and my car spun out of control. In just those split seconds, I remember thinking "I'm skidding into on-coming traffic", "now I'm facing backwards on the highway", and "I think the car has stopped spinning. Oh no, it didn't"! Boom!

I could have hit the guardrail and went flying over the cliff or flipped over upside-down. I could have hit the on-coming car head-on or the cars behind maybe also head-on. I got away lucky with a bump against the snow pack and literally drove away until there is a safe spot to pull over. Ironically enough, this would have been a good time to have a cell phone to call for help!

Instead, I asked passerby where to find an auto shop. "Here!" What are the chances that I had pulled over right in front of one. Except nothing was open on New Year's Day. With help from two people, we removed the bumper, detached the lights, and checked that there is enough tire clearance to drive on. When I got home, I realized how lucky that I didn't get hurt (other than a few cuts and bruises from crawling on the ground when working on the car) and thankfully no one else got hurt either.

Here's another interesting read: World's Most Dangerous Roads - Whistler's Sea to Sky Hwy Rank #2

Not exactly the way I imagined starting the New Year, so here's to another year full of surprises! Cheers!