It may sound silly, but one of my concerns about embarking on our van life adventure was that we wouldn’t have a television. I grew up on television and with television. It’s where I spent my Saturday mornings watching cartoons when I was little, where I ate dinner (with the exception of major holiday meals), where I went for comfort, and where I went for company. I would turn it on when I got home from school and later when I got home from work and always have it on in the background until I went to bed. Television soothed me and many times provided an escape from the unpleasant and harsh realities of my life and I leaned on it to take my mind off the daily grind. (Reading has also afforded me these luxuries over the years, but for a time, television was my main source of support.)
There’s nothing wrong with watching t.v. It can be very educational and interesting and I’ve learned many things from watching it over the years and honestly, addiction might be a strong word to use for my television consumption. I never cancelled or missed work or appointments or other plans because of it (except once) and I could easily turn it off and leave the house and not have separation anxiety, but I could also easily spend 4+ hours every night after work just watching t.v. and even more on the weekends.
Luckily, something happened last year before we decided to go forward with van life which helped me start the mental transition out of my television habit. We had two main cable carriers in our area, Comcast and Verizon. We used Comcast for years and, despite other’s complaints, had consistently good service with them. Their user interface, guide and menu display was easy to use and intuitive and their voice controlled remote control was awesome. We loved Comcast but after while couldn’t justify the prices. When our monthly triple play bill (t.v., internet and phone) was going to top $200, we made the decision to move on and switched to Verizon for their cheaper (yet temporary) introductory monthly fees of a much lower $130. There are some real diehard Verizon Fios fans out there and to each their own, but from the moment we switched to Verizon, we looked at their remote control which looked like it hadn’t had a redesign since remote controls were invented and felt a little disappointed and deflated. After navigating their user guide and menu functions, we realized that we had just traded in our Porsche for a Yugo.
Because Verizon’s television interface (not sure if this is the correct word here) sucked so badly, I began to watch less t.v. Yes, a simple thing like a menu and guide display had an effect on my television usage which turned out to be a real blessing. Additionally, we were busy with getting our house ready to sell and in selling down our possessions so my free time was easily taken up with other activities. I was more than happy to contact Verizon to cancel my service when we moved.
Since we started vanlife, television is probably one of the luxuries that I miss the least. One of the experiences I love most about our current situation is that we no longer eat meals in front of the t.v. We eat meals in city parks, in valleys full of wildflowers, on forest service roads, on park benches or even sitting in our van in a Cabela’s parking lot. Instead of staring mindlessly at the news or some HGTV show or Hallmark movie (which I will still always love), I watch birds or the wind blowing tall grasses in a field or at families enjoying picnics or playing in the park. Time that I would have spent in the evening watching television is spent reading a book or magazine, talking, listening to music, relaxing in a folding chair at a campsite or pondering what I want to do with my life when vanlife is over.
It’s been a freeing experience and something I never thought I would appreciate saying goodbye to. Will I resume my habit when we’ve settled down again? I know I will to some degree, but I hope not to the extent as before. It’s surprising though what space opens up in your mind and soul when you make a little room for new opportunities. If you have a habit that you know isn’t serving your best interest, consider taking a break from it for awhile and see if you can fill that void with something more positive.
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