Always on
This project successfully funded on 8th July 2025, you can still support them with a donation.
I am publishing my book about travelling offline
Brighton, , United Kingdom
Aim: In return for a copy on paperback, I would like interested people to give at least £10 to contribute to the costs of editing and printing.
I‘m thrilled to say I’ve finished my second book.
As I self-publish this, I’ve set up this crowdfunder to put towards the costs of editing, printing, and distributing my book before it is released in a few months time. Anyone who contributes will get a physical copy when it comes back from the printers.
I was a digital native and having that in my life - the all encompassing pull, thrill, of and drug-like relationship every day, anywhere, and everywhere - poisoned my head, heart and life. In August, 2016, I made the decision to drop all devices and put my reliance on that world away for good.
My first book, Against the Current, Living Offline in an Online World, was published in May, 2023. I admit the subject matter seemed fantastic - a curio, almost a novelty I guess.
The response was pretty overwhelming. To be honest, I was unprepared for the love it got from people who wanted to understand. Everyone from BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Sussex, and Talk Radio Europe, welcomed me on not just to talk about the book itself but also the wider conversation around online life and mental well-being - especially for young minds growing up in the digital age.
I could use my voice to shed light on and give advice to those who are needing support with handling their habits with interactive media.
It’s not something that‘s really talked about enough, but I’m grateful that education is working to catch up with the recent designs that impact lives.
My new book is about a new adventure in my life as I continue to navigate it by my rules - a travel book, detailing a journey I undertook across Europe in 2022, travelling offline in an online world. A synopsis of the new book is below.
It would be brilliant if you could make a pledge and share the link for this page to anyone who may be interested in this story.
It is a huge thing to put something on a digital platform and I’m lucky to have people around me to do this - I’ll be read out any questions and messages to answer them (Thanks team!)
I’ll just end this bit by saying thanks for your support and that I hope that it’s something you want to explore.
Luke
For more information about my work, here is an episode of the I Got Back Up podcast, where I talk about my transition from being a digital native to an online minimalist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N60vh6cGz6M
Brief synopsis:
This book is a personal account of a journey, made by an individual who doesn’t carry a smartphone or any other online device, to help them navigate through life. Six years after making the emergency decision to drop all devices to recover from a disastrous relationship with online services, one former digital native, learning to better handle this practical challenge, pushes himself to his absolute limit by embarking on a six-week trip from Barcelona to Istanbul. Armed with paper maps and handwritten train times, the route runs mostly on land across a string of European cities. With no digital tools to help navigate through the experience of exploring new places and meeting new people, this outsider gains a new level of understanding of what it means to break all the rules for the sake of his own mental health. And it is the loss of all the obvious benefits that these services provide that contribute to the overall character of this adventure in the modern world.