The Sunday Getaway - 04 12 2022 - Screens

Back on the road after a while, ready to take off for Zurich (writes?Dimitris Kossyfas). It’s a balmy Friday afternoon as I enter the El.Venizelos airport of Athens when the usual decadent airport scent hits me. It's good to be back I'm thinking.?I make my way to the check-in desk for a quick formality which also serves as a nice reminder of how things were when screens were not messing with our life.

I join the queue and within moments I’m being welcomed by the polite staff, amongst numerous travellers looking to skip the queue in whatever shape or form. A young girl is carrying a small Maltese dog, a worried daughter checks-in her elderly mom and a young chap is traveling with a 15kg bike - and this is just 3mins in. Wow, tense.

As I whisk through the lounge and on-board the A321 I can see an Italian entrepreneur sorting out his calendar on his phone while talking loud on his phone, a few dressed up North Europeans (look like German) having an impromptu meeting over an iPad?and a Greek celebrity singer taking selfies with her fans.

The A3 852 Aegean Airlines flight seems busy enough with most travellers trying to log on the Wi-Fi. A lady next to me asks for help, only to disappoint her?with my off-putting response. "Luckily, there is no Wi-Fi service on this flight". Luckily for me that is, as I had noticed that when checking in on my phone. And I had packed my magazine and newspaper stack accordingly.

As we breeze over the Adriatic?and zig-zagging the Alps, it's only a short 2h30m route before we touch down to ZRH. And I'm so lucky to have won this much time, away from any screen however productive or entertaining that claims to be. So with newly-found time in my hands, I get to read about the story of a dog and his impact on people's lives, some new restaurant openings across Europe and above all pick up a friendly chat with my co-passengers. Actually research shows that engaging as such positively impacts happiness while also boosts mental sharpness.

So now I've landed in the dry cold Swiss capital. And as I walk on Langstrasse towards my hotel, I'd rather wing it with no map. Start paying attention to the Christmas-lit markets, the dressed-up stores and the happy faces along the way. In fact, I'll ditch the phone altogether for this weekend in lieu of some proper exploring. More on that, next week.

Happy Sunday! You can now turn your phone down.

Travel On.

?? The Sunday Getaway / a curated list of moments that count. Delivered every Sunday to your inbox ?? sign up?here.

#sundaygetaway?#zurich?#tfp