Writer who gave up modern technology and lives in cabin in Galway with…

posted by titlis April 6, 2019 Technology

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A WRITER who gave up modern technology three years ago has told how the experience taught him how to be ‘more human’.

Mark Boyle lives off the grid in a Galway cabin with no electricity or running water.

Mark Boyle lives without modern technology off grid in Galway

The 39-year-old survives by eating roadkill, home-grown fruit and veg and fish from the local lake.

And the writer believes he’s living his best life — with no modern technology to distract him.

Donegal man Mark said: “I don’t have any electricity, I don’t have internet, I don’t have a mobile phone.

“When we bring all of these technologies into our lives, we’re rejecting life.”

I MISS MATCH OF THE DAY

Mark admits giving up his mobile phone was one of the most difficult things to do as it cuts him off from family in Donegal. They now rely on hand-written letters to communicate.

Another luxury he misses is watching football on the telly. He said: “There is a romantic element to it but it’s not overly romantic.

“I do miss Match of the Day sometimes but I have an English friend who lives up the road and he’ll come up the odd time and give me a bit of grief over Manchester United losing.”

Mark rose to fame in 2008 when he decided to live without money. Now, he still lives a frugal life but he does use some cash to get by.

He used the money he made from his first book, The Moneyless Man, to buy himself a rustic cabin in rural Galway. And he still affords himself some small luxuries — including a weekly pint.

Speaking on The Ryan Tubridy Show on RTE Radio 1, Mark said: “When I had finished up living without money, I had written a book in that time about my experience. The book had become very popular, which I didn’t really know — so there was a power of cash at the end of it.”

Mark has now written a new book about going cold turkey on tech called The Way Home, Tales From A life Without Technology.

And he insists he has no regrets on cutting himself off from the outside world.

He said: “You do pick up stuff as you go along, like you’ll hear Kim Kardashian, and Brexit but I find it distracts me from the here and now and the things that are around me.”