The month of July often calls for some type of a trip. Itâs summertime (almost everywhere) with options, say, for a seaside strolls, hiking, birdwatching, or reading a book by the river. After exams, after finishing a semester at the university, ask your studentsâdo you want to spend your time with your screen or do you want to go somewhere outside (preferably without screens)? By outside, we mean not only raw nature with forest bathing or camping, but also a road trip, a day trip, walks in the city, visits of exhibitions and fairs? What would they prefer? Do our students need to disconnect, to have âdigital detoxâ?
Pre-digital era
Iâm from this era and also am interestingly lucky to have a choice to compare, to see how the past connects with the present through me and then transforms to the future, to my students. Itâs such a fascinating thing: what I experienced physically in the 1990s, nowadays young people in 2025, experience digitally, including phones (landline), TV, cameras, tamagotchi, or SEGA. Itâs nostalgia for me and a new-retro experience for them. Those years are now retro, analog, and trendy. I still have that SONY video camera somewhere in my closet and my students are hunting for those, trying to record videos with a real (!) analog camera, to hold it in their hands, to have that VHS retro vibe, to digitise and post it on social media. A time machine.
Digital era
Some people say, âWhy travel if I can see everything online?â A deeper value of travelling, beyond simply watching something online, is the opportunity for many inspiring experiences. Why only see and hear whatâs being transmitted to you from the screen? What about touch and smell? Wouldnât it be a shame not to feel it if you can? Travel offers a unique, immersive experience that cannot be replicated online. Even if we donât want to go, move, or take a step and sort of imagine what to expect from the place (letâs be realâimagining is not really the same as experiencing), our experiences might surprise us in a very positive way!
I would also add connection with people. Donât underestimate or devalue a simple small talk with a stranger at a bookstore or at pâtisserie. Such things canât be captured online. Beauty, history, culture, atmosphere are only a glimpse when experienced online.
After autumn returns, our students will resume their studies. I hope they will be well rested, with some type of personal growth and discoveries. I also hope that they will tell us more analog experiences they had during summer. Perhaps, such experiences will be transformed into an intriguing digital project! Why not ignite this spark in them in July?
Happy summer!