Disconnected and Unaffected

Airplane mode on ✈️

Having left the UK and switched my previous mobile phone contract off, I landed in Toronto without a Canadian number and a handset that could only connect to wifi. This meant between hotspots I was effectively off the grid... no emails, not text messages, no Instagram, no WhatsApp ...nothing. This was surprisingly refreshing, but I was forced to be savvy.

Arriving at the airport with three suitcases and a rucksack meant that public transport was out of the question, so Uber or Lyft was my best bet. Lyft was cheaper so I decided to give it a go. Unlike Uber, Lyft isn't available in the UK, so none of my payment or personal details were populated in the app. So I connected to the free airport wifi and started to input my details -First Name, Last Name, email address- but then I got stuck on the mobile number box. I tried to enter my UK number, but the 13-digit number (including +44) was never going to fit in the 10-digit space. I dropped the +44 and started with 7 to see if that worked - unsurprisingly it didn't! By this time I had spent more than an hour and a half getting through passport control, being issued my work permit and collecting my luggage plus a further 25 minutes faffing around with the inner settings of Lyft trying to hack the system. My body clock was now registering 00:20 having left the UK at about 14:35. I then remembered Uber was already set up and I had used it abroad many times without needing a local number!!

I quickly ordered an Uber and waited for the confirmation about my driver before pushing my haphazardly stacked trolley outside to beyond the wifi connectivity zone. I waited until the time my Uber was due to arrive, squinting at the number plate of every car that went by to see if it was a match to the one on my app (for reference the UK'S luminous yellow with big bold text is significantly easier to read from a distance than number plates here in Canada). Three minutes after the time my Uber was supposed to have arrived I started to wonder if it had been cancelled. I manoeuvred my trolley back inside to reconnect to the wifi only to realise that I had been standing in the wrong place. Uber and Lyft had a dedicated collection area that was different to the area for "Licensed Ride Share Providers" (although I fail to see why they don't fit under that classification too). I sprinted from Door Q to back to Door A with a flurry of messages from my Uber driver saying "I've arrived" and "Where are you" - I click the pre-populated answer "On my way" while trying not to drop anything or topple a suitcase off the trolley. Thank you Uber for nailing the UX design, which meant all of this was possible while running through the airport pushing a heavily stacked trolley. If I hadn't been so tired it would have probably been comical.

I arrived at the Uber, frantically apologising, desperately trying to explain why I had made him wait. I was breathing heavily through my double layer of masks due to my short but unexpected sprint. By the the time I was able to collapse on the bed in my temporary apartment 46 minutes later I was very grateful I had the sense to pack my toothbrush and PJs in my rucksack.

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Okay, so I was very ever so slightly affected by being disconnected! But only when I first arrived, after that it was a breeze. I had wifi in my apartment (here it's called a Condo) and at work so it was only when I was out and about that I was off-grid. I downloaded the offline version of Toronto's Google Map so I could find my way from A to B, but the rest of the time my phone used a fraction of its functions. It was a camera, a map, a clock and a notebook. I didn't message anyone about where I was or what I was doing, I didn't listen to music or to podcasts, instead I was truly in the moment, looking at and absorbing everything. I spent my time looking up at towering skyscrapers, or talking to strangers to get local tips and directions, I even had to ask for paper menus in restaurants (something that seems to be a thing of the past due to Covid-19, now you have to access everything through a QR code and link).

Here are a few things that came about because I was disconnected:

1. I was forced to learn how to navigate around Downtown Toronto much faster than I would have otherwise (offline Google Maps is a little unreliable when you have zero mobile data).

2. I talked to people (anyone who looked friendly and unthreatening that is): from bar tenders and waitresses and strangers sharing the lift with me. I got some funny looks, but mostly people were friendly and chatted back.

3. I really looked at my surroundings, reading street signs and shop names, jotting down places to come back to at a later date (quirky looking coffee shops or interesting restaurants).

One month later I have finally received my Canadian mobile number, and since switching it on I have had weird messages and phone calls obviously intended for the previous owner of my number. From what I can decipher they may have been called Benji, do not speak English (or French for that matter) and have a young child who was absent from Primary School last Tuesday.