You could be sitting on a beach in Bora Bora, wandering the Champs-Elysees in Paris or in a ski lift in the Swiss Alps, but that urge to post on Instagram or check your email will follow you even on the most idyllic holidays.
Or at least that's what a recent study by Priority Pass found. It surveyed 8,500 people across 11 countries and reported one in three people experience "the fear of switching off", or foso, as the researchers refer to it.
That includes nearly half of UAE residents, a quarter of whom check their phone every 30 minutes or less while they're on holiday, which is 10 per cent more often than the global average.
While I have a little more restraint, I'm not immune to a spot of foso. I understand the compulsion to cycle through the apps on my phone on a regular basis throughout the day – and clearly, I'm not alone.
We've even figured out how to offer Wi-Fi to passengers on planes, for crying out loud.
Now I'm not that person sharing 100 Instagram Stories a day from my jaunts. You'll get one or two every few days from me – if that – but I'm a true lurker, swiping through posts almost endlessly until I finally realise what I'm doing and throw my phone down in utter boredom.
I was at a beautiful beach club in Bali earlier this year, lying on a sunbed that overlooked the ocean and there I was, resharing posts from the Great British Memes' feed. #truestory
I'm one of those people who replies to work emails while exploring a new city, too. You might find me in a sought-after restaurant we booked months in advance, in between courses frantically responding to a non-urgent question about an article that's due well after my holiday has ended.
I'd say all in all it takes me about a week to properly switch off (or as close as I'll ever be able to), which incidentally is the same amount of time UAE residents said is their ideal holiday length, according to Priority Pass.
That's an aspect of this study I cannot relate to – I must have at least two weeks, since I spend the first seven days trying to fight off the urge to constantly clear my inbox.
Or at least I did when I was in full-time employment. Now I'm a self-employed freelancer I have to live by the mantra "time is money". Annual leave, which I admittedly miss, is simply a concept for the employed.
The study also showed six in 10 people said visiting an airport lounge before their journey helped them to switch off quicker, while others went for duty-free shopping and grabbing a bite at a restaurant before they took off.
Whoever thinks eating a burger and then buying some new headphones is stopping them from picking up their messages the moment they land is living in la-la land.
Paradoxically, the same people who experience foso are probably the ones who are also prone to fomo, the fear of missing out.
They can't switch off because they want to know what everyone else is up to in case they're missing something, and yet they're letting everything happening in front of them pass them by while they flick through the latest viral videos on TikTok (an app I've successfully avoided thus far).
I'm not sure I count myself in that camp since my scrolling has more to do with sheer mindlessness than it does making sure I'm down with the kids.
Clearly, the lesson here somewhere is that we must live in the moment. Carpe diem. Stop and smell the roses. Yolo, and all that jazz.
But let's face it, it's going to take a whole lot more than an airport lounge to stop the all-pervasive universe of social media from infiltrating our holidays, unless we're somewhere in the Mongolian steppe, where they haven't quite figured out how to provide us with seamless Wi-Fi yet (or they, quite rightly, don't want to).
We can make all the self-promises we want to disconnect, but we're mostly nosy, social beings who like to know what everyone else is up to, even if we're on the trip of a lifetime.
So I shall continue to reshare Desertmemez posts that make me "lol" without feeling guilty, even if I am 30,000 feet in the air.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
TOURNAMENT INFO
Fixtures
Sunday January 5 - Oman v UAE
Monday January 6 - UAE v Namibia
Wednesday January 8 - Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 - Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid, Darius D’Silva, Karthik Meiyappan, Jonathan Figy, Vriitya Aravind, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Chirag Suri
CHELSEA SQUAD
Arrizabalaga, Bettinelli, Rudiger, Christensen, Silva, Chalobah, Sarr, Azpilicueta, James, Kenedy, Alonso, Jorginho, Kante, Kovacic, Saul, Barkley, Ziyech, Pulisic, Mount, Hudson-Odoi, Werner, Havertz, Lukaku.
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
Spider-Man%202
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDeveloper%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Insomniac%20Games%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%20Sony%20Interactive%20Entertainment%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EConsole%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPlayStation%205%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%205%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The Lowdown
Us
Director: Jordan Peele
Starring: Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke, Shahadi Wright Joseqph, Evan Alex and Elisabeth Moss
Rating: 4/5
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster who has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
Facebook | Our website | Instagram
The specs
Price, base / as tested Dh1,100,000 (est)
Engine 5.2-litre V10
Gearbox seven-speed dual clutch
Power 630bhp @ 8,000rpm
Torque 600Nm @ 6,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined 15.7L / 100km (est)
What is tokenisation?
Tokenisation refers to the issuance of a blockchain token, which represents a virtually tradable real, tangible asset. A tokenised asset is easily transferable, offers good liquidity, returns and is easily traded on the secondary markets.
TICKETS
Tickets start at Dh100 for adults, while children can enter free on the opening day. For more information, visit www.mubadalawtc.com.