Are you one of the increasing number of people who suffer from nomophobia?
That's a term derived from "no-mobile-phone phobia," or the fear of being out of mobile phone contact. A recent survey in the United Kingdom found that about two-thirds of those questioned admitted to anxiety if they didn't have contact with the important people in their lives 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
When the term first arose it applied primarily to the fear of losing one's phone, running out of "minutes" or draining the cell phone battery, but it's been expanded to include situations when you're in places where a signal isn't available. There's even a website dealing with the problem: The Mobile Phone Anxiety Centre offers "Tips for avoiding loss of mobile contact."
It's an issue that certainly has implications for many national parks and other natural areas. As we've reported on the Traveler in the past, proposals to construct new towers to expand cell phone coverage in national parks can be counted on to draw plenty of comments, pro and con.
So, what about you? Are you anxious about being out of cell phone contact during a park visit?
Would you actually decide to skip a trip to a park just because the answer to "can you hear me now?" is ..."no"?
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Comments
Part of the reason to go to most National Parks is to get away from the "rat race" and everything that goes with it. We all need a chance to get out in nature and just "be". Not having cell coverage is a little scary since we are all so used to being connected all the time. We need to remember it wasn't all that long ago that we didn't have the convenience of constant contact.
wouldnt stop me...one of the reasons to go to the parks I do is to be disconnected...
Wouldn't make any difference to me. We are so busy hiking, taking pictures, watching animals, etc., that my phone is usually stuffed in a bag in the car anyway.
I do like having Internet access every other night or so to upload pictures to a web site to store.
But do I feel out-of-touch without cell phone service? Yes, and I love it!
I agree with Celbert. I have lived my whole life of 60 years without
being tied to the cell and will not start now. Most of our hiking in
parks is in the out back, I expect to have no phone service, so consequently
do not carry one. The problem is that most people are totally
inconsiderate of others, have it ringing or some obnoxious song on high
volumn, and talking loud so everyone can hear how important they are. My
advice, leave the phone in the car or at home or hotel, and make the
calls that you deem are important (most are not) at night in your own privacy so
you do not invade mine.
I tell people that using cell phones on the trail attracts predators.
Please leave our National Parks alone. They are perfect the way they are. No need for cell phone towers to clutter the landscape or encourage obnoxious phone conversations on the trails. If you can't live without phone availability, that's what they invented Disneyworld for.
Please leave our National Parks alone. They are perfect the way they are. If you must stay within cell phone range please go to Disneyworld. That is why it was invented, to have an adventure without any risk or inconvenience.
I think I must be the only person left in Fla without a cell phone?? When people ask me for my Cell # and I tell them I don't own one they look at at me first as if they misunderstood what I said and then they say i'm nuts! I just tell them --if you need to get ahold of me call my wife on her cell phone-- she usually knows where I am. Amazing that you can actually exist without one!! I say no cell toers in our NP's. John and Teddy wouldn't approve.