Squirrel...

It’s amazing how your entertainment needs can adapt, when away from the comforts of home. About a year before we started this adventure, I finally broke down and bought my first flat screen LCD TV. It’s what was then considered an average size and maybe to some considered small at 47”, but it was much larger than the 36” tube we had been watching. We had access to satellite broadcast and internet including a Netflix subscription.  The boys had a Wii and an Xbox One and each boy had a Nintendo DS. Of course we also had a range of DVD’s to watch as well.

In Grenada, where it gets dark every day by 6:30 regardless of the season and the fact that we do not regularly venture out after dark for both safety and monetary reasons we tend to still rely on electronics for entertainment.  But I am surprised at how satisfied we are with the little we have compared to home. There is no TV connected in the house and the boys left all of their gaming entertainment in Brighton. Sara and I both have our laptops with a 15” screens for the internet and our Netflix subscription. Netflix using the local DNS codes have connected us to Venezuela and does not allow us to turn off Spanish subtitles and does not have the title selection we are used to in Canada. We had purchased 4 Kobo Vox’s on Kijiji before we left and had connected them to the Quinte library before leaving. There is also an IPod with a cheap Bluetooth Speaker which we can listen to music, podcasts, and the CBC/other hometown radio on.  Other than a deck of cards, a Skip-Bo deck, some Lego and a couple board games that a local lent us, that is it.  Oh, and once every couple of months we will head to the local theatre to catch a newly released movie, and that screen is maybe a third of our local Cineplex back home.

When on a vacation before, being away from all the distractions for a week or two was quite pleasant, but as this adventure is 2 months shy of a year, I wasn’t so sure I/we could live without them. But the kids have been very resilient and have not talked too much of their game machines and toys collecting dust back home. What I am most surprised about is that I am just as happy watching Netflix on a 15” screen as I am a 47”.  We all cuddle up together on a couch with a laptop on the coffee table, with a set of external speakers my Mom brought us to boost the sound and were good to watch a movie or binge on some Netflix.   

I find it odd to say, but I have just as much…with less.  I most likely have too many distractions at home and wonder what I could accomplish if I didn’t have so many. Would I spend more time with the kids, learn an instrument, read more, or pursue more real estate investments.  

I would have to acknowledge that I have not changed much even after more than half a year being away when it comes being distracted by a wireless internet connection, as access here is just as convenient. I was hoping at the beginning of this adventure that I would become less addicted to the internet’s allure, but this hasn’t happened.  I only hope that when I go home, I can make a conscious decision to take advantage of what I can accomplish using the internet as a tool, instead of as pure entertainment and distraction.