Using Reality to Escape the Internet

Late last summer I was standing in my backyard in Beach Haven, New Jersey. I was barefoot on our back porch, holding a plastic cup of something cold while smoke rolled off a grill (it had been mine; I put it by the curb and now it was in a neighbor’s back yard… he collected it, refurbished it and was now using it!).

The grill was loaded with burgers and hot dogs. There were people talking, laughing, and arguing about whether the Phillies were cursed.

Nobody was on their phone.

I watched, transfixed, and for one glorious afternoon, the internet simply didn’t exist.

I had this strange realization: we used to use the internet to escape reality. Now we’re using reality to escape the internet.

Funny how quickly the script flipped.

Remember when “going online” felt like stepping into another world? You’d disappear into chat rooms, forums, and later that monster we call “social media,” happily trading the stress of real life for the glow of a screen. The internet was the great escape pod.

Fast forward a couple of years to Long Beach Island, New Jersey, and that escape pod has become the prison.

We now live in a world of endless notifications, political rage, curated perfection, and the quiet dread that everyone else’s life looks better than ours.

Our phones have become high-resolution anxiety machines. And suddenly, the most rebellious, radical thing you can do is put that expensive thing down and go stand around a smoky grill with actual human beings.

That’s exactly what I watched happen next door in Beach Haven.

There’s something sacred about a proper summer barbecue in a shore town. The smell of grill tops and onions. Kids running through a sprinkler. Someone burning the first batch of burgers while swearing they’ve “got this.”

Cold beer in a cooler, corn on the cob, and that one uncle who always brings the same questionable pasta salad.

Nobody’s curating the moment. Nobody’s posting it. They’re just living it.

This particular afternoon was memorable BECAUSE NOBODY WAS TAKING SELFIES!!!

I’ve performed in every kind of summer getaway there is: outdoor arenas, on trailers in barns, in clubs and in little bars and nice theaters in summer tourist towns over the years, but there is something special about the Jersey Shore in summer.

People come here specifically to disconnect. They drive down the parkway, find a place to park the car, and for one blessed week or weekend or day they let the tide and the smells of the ocean and the bay wash the digital world off like dry dust from an abandoned lot.

You can feel it.

When people gather around food, friends and family and music, at the beach or in the little restaurant or bar, something ancient inside us wakes up. We are social creatures. We did not evolve to stare at glowing rectangles - we evolved to tell stories around campfires.

A summer barbecue is just a modern version of that same instinct. It’s connection without a screen. Fun without having to record it in a photo. And… wait for it… I’m just gonna say it: joy without an algorithm.

I’m not suggesting we burn our phones. I’m as addicted to mine as anyone, full disclosure… I’m saying we’ve reached a point where choosing to be fully present has become a radical act of self-care.

After the barbecue at the neighbor’s house last summer, I watched a group of teenagers play a pickup game of basketball on our street instead of scrolling.

There were grown adults having actual conversations without checking their watches. I watched people genuinely listening to each other - not just waiting for their turn to speak.

It was weird.

It was beautiful.

And it made me wonder: What if the real luxury experience of the future isn’t another luxury cruise or high-end resort?

What if the new luxury is simply driving down to Long Beach Island, sitting on the beach for a couple of hours with NOTHING to do but read a book or talk with family and friends, then grabbing a slice of pizza on your way home?

Maybe for one glorious, relaxing, enjoyable afternoon or weekend or week or month you find the most exclusive vacation you can take is one where nobody can contact you?

Pass me the chips. Did I ever tell you the story about how I got a tractor stuck in a ditch at my grandmother’s house? Wait… let me turn this thing off…

Thanks for reading!

Taylor

TAYLOR MASON will appear at the SURFLIGHT THEATER in Beach Haven New Jersey on Monday, August 10th. Don’t try to reach him by text or phone that day - he won’t have his cell phone available.

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