18.06.2019
Prague, Czech Republic (21 of 30)
On average Americans spend over three hours a day on their smartphone. In my lifetime I experienced how the internet became integral to modern society even though our species prospered for over 200,000 years without it. After exploring Prague for a month, it is apparent many more people can be seen reading books in public as opposed to folks in Austin. Czech bookstores are visible throughout the city and seeing someone on the tram or metro reach for a novel out of their bag is commonplace. Since most Czechs use the metro to commute where cell reception ceases underground I think it encourages locals to find activities such as reading to occupy their spare time. What good is a device without a Wi-Fi password?
When others are found staring at their iPhones I noticed a woman reading as she waited for the tram. Her eyes followed the words on the pages of her book secreted underneath a book cover as she made sure to glance at the trams passing by the stop. Despite the commotion and tram bells, she appeared to be fully engaged in the activity. Focus is something my generation appears to struggle with largely because of the dot-com boom. Everything on the internet seems to act like a casino competing for our attention, time, and money. I believe there is something to be learned from the woman reading in a place where refreshing Facebook feeds has become an oddly natural way to pass time in the 21st century. Technology should be used as a tool to enhance the quality of life, but with the exponential growth, it appears to be sucking the life out of us. So it goes.
Life is in motion 
Hi Ethan,
I’ve been enjoying your posts of your journey through Prague and the Czech Republic. Loved this one today, so true that we have created a ‘disconnect’ amongst ourselves with everyone constantly on smart phones. It’s so refreshing to see someone actually reading a book. Reminds me of an article I saw awhile back where The Netherlands was offering free train tickets for anyone reading a book instead of looking at their smart phone.
I also loved reading about your hiking adventures through the lesser populated area. Frans and I just returned from hiking in Crete, and we too love discovering countries off the beaten path.
Your stories and your vivid writing about the people, culture, and history of Prague has been a real education for me, and we have added Prague to our list of ‘must see’ cities. With your permission, I would like to print out your blog when you have finished to read again from start to finish, and also to use when we start planning our trip to Prague.
Enjoy the rest of your travels, and keep writing!
Claire Kopp (friend of your Mom)
LikeLike
Thanks a bunch Mrs. Kopp! It means a lot to me that people are seeing my photos and seeming to enjoy my short passages. I can be guilty of overusing technology too, but I do like to bring light to situations that I also personally struggle with. You for sure have my permission, thats awesome and I know yall will enjoy the city. Glad to hear about the hiking, I think it is something that used to be so important and purposeful in life that nowadays is overlooked. I will be hiking through one more place in Czech this weekend along with some of the German areas in the national park I did last weekend but with some friends this time so I am looking forward to that. Take care.
LikeLike