It’s An Analogue Life For Me
Perhaps it was discovering the Internet in my teens. Maybe it was the fact that I started sharing my life online and accidentally becoming an influencer aged 18. Here I am, tired of digital-first all the time, in 2025, where every other person shares either everything or nothing online – there’s no in-between. One of the many commodities of life going digital-first is exactly that there’s no longer any in-between. Countries, communities, businesses, worlds: they’re more connected than ever before. We are, in fact, all permanently connected (no) thanks to the advent of WiFi.
Some months (or years) ago, I felt myself viscerally rejecting everything I’d been doing online for years. I talk about it so much that it’s a wonder I still need to! Since stepping back from oversharing on Instagram and reserving that for the little blog I began 16 years ago, it’s mostly been an analogue life for me. And I feel myself completely loving the firm, palpable swaddle of it.
An analogue life begins and ends with my beloved notebook ecosystem, of course. Right now, I’m guided by my Traveler’s Notebook system which carries my daily to-do lists, my monthly diary, my notebook and a pocket for everyday keepsakes. I’ve been a paper diary person forever; my friends rib me for it all the time. In truth, it’s the best way to keep myself organised and my head calm. There’s something so tangible and methodical about planning on paper – there, our dinner date is planned and cannot be changed. Here, is my list of items that I’ll buy at the grocery store, but will be gone by the end of another weekly menu. There, the innermost workings-out of whatever was on my mind on a random Tuesday afternoon. All of this, a mundane proof of a life well-lived. Kept digitally, I’ll only swipe past or, worse, delete it, after some time.
For several years now, books have become the de facto source of entertainment for me. I was a bookworm as a child, yet the fear of being deemed nerdy had me briefly fall out of love (or, more accurately, the rhythm) with reading after finishing university. These days, I live for the quietness of my sweet everyday. TV off (or playing ambient fireplace videos on YouTube, I do so love those), and a weighty tome in my hands, often resting on my lap. How magical that these perfectly textured paper pages and this pristinely printed ink can transport me to a thousand and more worlds, if I so wish? How completely quixotic that I can read words written a hundred or so years ago that so perfectly relate to my mood right now? We are all only one part of a whole; we are all living life for the first time. And, of course, there is nothing rarer today than an activity that solely demands your attention – no ads, no clock in the corner to remind you of where you are and must be, no colourful and shiny app to take you elsewhere. You’re right where you are supposed to be.
Wearing a watch feels like an act of defiance these days. Instead of checking my phone for the time, then losing an hour to the accidental scroll, and checking the time all over again, I have a watch that performs one task and then I continue with my day. Somewhat ironically, it’s given me plenty of time back. Plus, it makes me feel impossibly chic.
Something else my friends and colleagues love to gently roast me for is how I’m old school with noting, well, anything down. I mean, I am a notebook girlie after all. No matter the urgency, I find nothing more chic and practical than hand-writing my to-do lists and grocery lists. It lets me – or, rather, forces me – to slow down, take a beat, and consider what I’m doing. With tasks committed to paper, it feels more solid and absolute, a resolution of sorts to do the thing. Even when I am idling at home on a quiet Saturday, you can bet I’ll note little to-do’s and tasks on the battered spiral notebook in our kitchen. And, finally, but perhaps I’ve saved the best for last, I’ll always save time to handwrite cards and letters to friends, a physical memento of a special occasion, big milestone or, simply, a reminder that I love them dearly.
