A much needed internet break

Remember aworld without internet? If you’re a millennial, forget about it— we might aswell reminisce about the telegraph.

Even baby boomerswould be hardpressed to turn back the clock. The internet is embedded in our lives, and for the most part it’s the greatest technological advancement of the last 100 years.

But everyone deserves a vacation to clear their minds of the endlessweb of noise.

Unfortunately, we’re headed in the opposite direction. The out of office alert is no longer enough— even on a family tripwe’re glued to our smartphones like addicts, responding to occasionalwork emails because, of course, no one ever took vacations in the pre-internet days. You can even use your phones in other countries nowand the rates keep dropping.

So whenmy family and I decided to rent a cabin— or chalet as those fancy pants call it in French Canada— andwe found one without internet or TV, we said, to heck with it, let’s live like Lewis and Clark, if they had electricity, a rental car and shelter.

So after five nights inMontreal, we embarked on four nights in a secluded chalet in the LaurentianMountains.

What happened when our phones flashed “no service?” I’ll admit, itwas a bit of a shocker at first. I had no idea if friends were likingmy Instagram photos of poutine. To make sure there reallywasn’t any internet around, I checked for other Wi-Fi connections in the area. Crickets. No cell phone service either.

After a quick adjustment period, I realized howfortunate wewere. We had books to read, wine and beer to drink, a dock to sit on surrounded by a lake and mountains.

Donald Trump tweeted his usual barrage of morning insults and propaganda andwe didn’t knowabout it instantly. Not only didwe survive, itwas liberating.

The sun didn’t set until after 9 p.m., and by10 Iwas ready for bed. Therewas no glowing stream of information to stimulatemy brain and keep me up past midnight— just the fresh mountain air and a load of mosquitoes. The bugswere about the only similarity between Florida and Quebec.

We also had time to absorb Canada, a country that for generationswas brushed off as America-lite.

The Canadians are a proud bunch these days. When Canada celebrated its centennial in 1967, the nation lacked a true identity. Theywere known as a chilly nation with vast amounts of openness and natural beauty.

That’s all true today, but as Canada celebrated its 150th anniversary this month, the people have embraced a community spirit that they feel makes them stand out inNorth America.

When I balked at Quebec’s 15 percent sales tax rate, one person told me “yeah, butwe have high quality health care for everyone.”

I can’t imagine paying 15 cents for every dollar I spend, and there’s plenty of griping by Canadians. It hits them especially hard on large purchases like cars— and if they cross the border to buy one, they still have to pay the taxes on theway back in. I also heard complaints that the government takes their money and they still have crummy roads to showfor it.

But the prevailing attitude is acceptance and the notion that they’re part of something greater. The cities have quality public transportation. Day care is mostly covered, a crucial step toward closing the gender income gap. The environment is a top priority. And all of this is defining Canadianism.

When you don’t have the internet to distract you, there’s plenty of time to ponder. Americans will never go for a 15 percent tax rate. But is Florida’s 6 percent sales tax serving the greater good?

Broward County tried to raise it by a penny last year, but it’s haphazard plan rightfully failed. Palm Beach County persuaded its voters to raise the rate to 7 percent to fund school building improvements.

Florida’s schools aren’t the best, our public transportation is awful and our infrastructure is crumbling.

Ifwe had a real plan in place that truly benefited the people and not politicians and their buddies, I’d pay a few more cents on the dollar.

The only downside: it could lead to an increase in public Wi-Fi hotspots, and thenwe’ll never get off our phones.

ContactAndrewAbramson at aabramson@sunsentinel.com. Twitter@AbramsonFL.