“There are loads of places that are tranquil. No need to book a tour operator that takes you to the North Pole.”
The 49-year-old wrote a book about his experience called “I unplugged”, after suffering from a digital burn-out that saw him so craving technology that he would sometimes check his email, blogs and Twitter at night.
“I see a lot of blogger friends who are easing off. Nearly everyone gradually takes breaks. We’re realising that at the end of the day, it (technology) doesn’t nourish us,” he said.
But Crouzet admits that as a blogger who was going to write a book about his experience, it was easier for him to disconnect than it is for thousands of people who rely on email for work.
As a result, some companies are implementing measures to try and relieve employees from being contactable 24/7.
German car maker Volkswagen, for instance, in 2011 decided to stop sending emails to thousands of employees’ Blackberrys between 6.15 pm and 7am.
And for those who just cannot resist Facebook, Twitter or Google+, the website anti-social.cc offers software that disables a list of distracting sites provided by the customer for a specified time period.
When all else fails, Internet rehabs are starting to spring up, such as reSTART, which bills itself as the first retreat centre programme in the United States.
According to its website, most of those they treat are between 18 and 28, and have checked in because they have had difficulty finishing college due to their Internet use, or establishing and maintaining off-line relationships.
The programme aims to teach participants about healthy eating, getting good sleep and how to address difficult emotions head-on rather than escape online.
The jury is out, however, as to whether those hooked on technology suffer from an actual addiction.
“I wouldn’t use the word addiction, I’d use the word dependence,” said Oudghiri.
“And it’s not the same dependence as drug dependence as you can free yourself of it more easily.”
