My time travel for whales and dolphins
Pamela Styles is one of our brilliant volunteers, giving talks in schools about whales and dolphins. She wanted to raise money to help our efforts to stop whaling and came up with the fabulous idea of a sponsored time travel.
Here she tell her story of the week she went back to the '80s....
My time travel involved giving up anything that was invented, or became commonly available in people’s homes, after my era of choice. I decided on the 1980s, the birth decade of both myself and Whale and Dolphin Conservation, which meant I would be giving up my mobile phone, laptop, internet, and all but the four TV channels available in the 80s. I had a week off work planned at Easter, so this seemed like a good time to do it.
People asked me if I would be donning fluorescent leg warmers, jackets with shoulder pads and acid wash jeans, but I didn’t want to buy anything new, so I allowed myself to use the modern equivalent of things that existed in the 80s – including clothes!
The night before, I put a torch and a clock on my bedside table, put away my laptop and switched off my phone (for the first time in months!), tucking it away in a drawer, knowing next time I woke up I wouldn’t be able to touch it. At first, every time I left a room my hand reached out to pick up my phantom phone, but I was surprised how quickly I adjusted to my new way of life. The weather was great, so I spent a lot of time sitting in the garden reading, and got through books that have been stacked on my bookshelf for ages. I watched the frogs and newts in my garden pond, and saw the first damselfly of the year arrive looking for a mate.
If you want to fundraise to help whales and dolphins, we'll support you every step of the way.
The week actually went by much quicker than I expected. My mind became quieter, I felt much more relaxed, got more sleep, and fell asleep quickly both when I went to bed and whenever I woke up in the night. Without the internet to help me plan things for the future (like what books to read next, what plants to get for the garden, or how to do a new craft project), I focused on what I had, what I already knew, and what was right in front of me. There was only one thing I really missed, and that was being able to easily connect with people. When I’d originally planned my time travel, my friends and I had planned to meet up, and I’d intended to take a trip out somewhere without my phone to see how I got on. With the lockdown in place, I wasn’t able to go out or meet anyone and so felt a bit lonely at first, but after a few days my friends and family started phoning me on the landline at home, and it was great to sit down and have a proper conversation. My parents are house hunting and found somewhere they really liked, and it was hard to just settle for a description on the phone without them being able to email over the photos!
I’m so thrilled to have raised £275 for whales and dolphins, and would definitely recommend doing a sponsored time travel, especially if like me, you aren’t as able to do something more physical. Apart from getting lots of reading done I can’t say I was more productive, but I did spend a lot more time sitting quietly watching wildlife, which I’m sure most of us could do with more of in our lives.
Inspired by Pamela?
Why not do your own time travel - which era do you fancy?
[shariff]
The views and opinions expressed by our guest bloggers are those of the author, and do not necessarily represent those of WDC.
This is awesome and was fun to watch and read! Thank you, Pamela! 🙂 Best regards, Bianca (from the German WDC-Team)