Digital Detox Trip: City Edition in Copenhagen, Denmark

I wrote about Digital Detox Trip: Nature Edition before, now let’s talk about how we can truly act on it when travelling in the city!

How attached are you to your smartphone when you’re travelling? Are you always on your phone, busy updating your social media or chatting with your friends and family?

If yes, don’t you feel like you’re missing the point of travelling because you’re not present while travelling?

I get it. WiFi is very important because you can easily obtain directions, suggestions, etc within a click.

For me, I prefer to keep my phone in the bag unless I find free WiFi during my meal/tea time or when I return to the hotel at night.

Here are some good reasons why you should ditch the portable WiFi while travelling:

1. You won’t spend extra money on it (obviously)
2. You can find free WiFi almost everywhere now
3. You can use the computers at the hotel to go online for free
4. You get to enjoy your trip because you won’t be distracted aka being totally present
5. Unless you’re a celebrity, influencer or whoever whose income is depending on your social media update, the online world CAN WAIT
6. Unless you want to catch up with your family members, you don’t need a portable WiFi
7. If you’re a businessman and can’t be reached, if it’s truly important, that person WILL CALL/TEXT you
8. You’ll be interacting with the locals or strangers (best bar? fastest route? flirting?) – what are you, an alien??
9. You’ll make new friends
10. You’re saving your smartphone battery for urgent matters
11. If you’re single, you’ll look more approachable (less engaged with your smartphone)

For the Love of Food

Since I’m depending on free WiFi, before I embark on a trip I will research and write down the places that I want to visit.

Usually, I’ll have a long list of the best restaurants/cafes/bar with its address.

Regarding how to get there, I’ll figure it out when I’ve arrived in that city (hello Maps and Human!).

My Copenhagen trip is so memorable because I made a new friend and got to eat in one of the most famous restaurants called “Honey”.

I got my map and the address but I was still lost.

While waiting for the traffic light to turn green so I could cross the street, I looked at the guy who was standing beside me.

Since the traffic light took some time, I decided to ask him for direction. I thought he was a local, but he’s actually a British who just arrived in town!

Liam was very friendly and helpful. After we failed to find the cafe with our conventional map, he took out his phone and used GPS as direction.

I initially didn’t want to disturb him, but he insisted to help me.

We walked quite far away then… HIS PHONE WAS SUDDENLY DEAD.

It’s out of battery!!! There we were, two lost travellers!

Uh-oh! We asked a few locals but to our surprise, they didn’t know the whereabouts of Honey.

Some said we’ve already arrived yet there’s no sign of it.

We were about to give up until I saw it. The famous Scandinavian restaurant, located in the neighbourhood, has its signboard hung so high we didn’t realise that it was there!

In gratitude, I invited Liam to come inside for a drink and charge the battery of his phone.

Also read – “Digital Detox Trip: Nature Edition in Raja Ampat, Indonesia”

The Art of Hygge

I LOVE SCANDINAVIAN INTERIOR DESIGN!

It’s minimalist, modern and warm at the same time. The food in Honey is as amazing as its interior design. It’s about quality over quantity.

Hygge (read Hooga): a quality of cosiness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being (Danish culture)

Google Dictionary

If you want to get some Scandinavian interior design tips or simply want to learn to be happier like the Danish (ranked as the #1 happiest country), these two books could help.

The Joy of Making New Friends

After the meal, we walked around for a bit before departing. Did you know that Lego is from Denmark?

Isn’t it exciting to make new friends? Another experience is when I was in Russia.

People say Russians are unfriendly and it’s a dangerous country, esp St.Petersburg.

On the contrary, I found the locals very friendly – provided you smile at them and initiate the conversation.

Some of them didn’t speak English but it didn’t stop them to use Google Translate to communicate with me!

So amigos… summer is here, have you planned your next (digital detox) trip?

If you wish to experience a digital detox trip in nature, I highly recommend Raja Ampat.

Click here to read my full review of Raja Ampat!