i went almost three years without a smartphone. was always too embarrassed by this decision to blog about it. i went back to smartphone so i could have a reliable navigation system for giving rides to a politically sensitive group of people who don't need to experience the pains of getting lost / me fumbling with my gps / cops.

i ended up spending a lot of time on my laptop, so it didn't really cut down on my screen time. i expanded my device footprint to replace all the nice tools that come in a single device (camera, gps, notebook, etc). that made me less nimble as a traveler.

i'm glad it made me get a garmin inreach, though. i will never replace that with a glass screen for backcountry emergencies.

If you want to go minimal on the backcountry device as well, PLBs are nice as a barebones alternative that only require a battery change every few years and don't need a subscription.