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Are we humans or robots? With our constant obsession with technology, are we losing sight of the bigger picture?
We have become so addicted to technology that our judgement and decision-marking may risk becoming clouded by over-exposure to shiny apps and interactive games.
We also need to become more discerning consumers when it comes to lifestyle choices like choosing our holiday destinations and accommodation.
I decided to go on a digital detox for a few days and took myself away from my London urban environment ruled by a computer screen and always-on phone-based social media activity. From obsessing about how many calories I had ingested to how many miles I had walked on a daily basis for a book I am writing, and from checking the weather to checking my calendar, my waking hours and parts of my insomniac nights were filled with screen time. Something had to give.
I went to East Devon’s Jurassic Coast on a walking holiday: I wanted to walk my stress away.
To keep my carbon footprint as low as possible, I chose a holiday resort with exceptional green credentials: the multi-award winning Oakdown Park near Sidmouth, owned and managed by the Franks family.
A site owned by seven generations of farmers, Oakdown Park started off in 1856 as a farm, making the transition to holiday park from 1951.
The publication of the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 opened opportunities for independent owners to open caravan holiday parks; therefore by 1972 the Franks family turned Oakdown into a fully fledged holiday park with a fleet of 15 static caravans, electricity and running water.
The farming tradition means that there’s a culture of respecting the land. The holiday park has solar panels, plenty of recycling collection points for plastic, paper, glass and batteries, and it even deploys a clever way to recycle waste water. In fact, waste water is pumped to a reed bed that provides a filtering function and a contained environment where wildlife from butterflies to birds can thrive.
The park in its entirety hosts some 160 varieties of wild flowers attracting valuable pollinating insects and birds: it is a botanist’s dream.
I stayed in a spotless and sparkling leisure lodge and was lulled to sleep by silence and woken by songbird. Owner Doreen Franks explained what to explore in the area and she recommended to stay for at least a week to make the most of it but unfortunately I only had three days off. She has written a walker’s guide for the area and is very involved with the local community organising several charity fundraising events. Read full article.