Father Takes Son For A Bike Tour Across Mongolia To Get Him Off His Phone

What is the first thing you did when you woke up in 2020? Check your phone? Well, I’m guilty of it too along with many others who really need to go on a digital detox. Phone addiction is so real that a father chopped off his son’s wrist for being on the phone constantly.

That is such a terrible way of dealing with the problem. The other way to solve the issue is by taking a productive approach. Adventurer Jamie Clarke, from Calgary, Alberta, was concerned about his son’s phone addiction after they went to a remote ski lodge for his 50th birthday celebration, reports Daily Mail. The area, that had no wi-fi and no cell reception, made his son Khobe feel ‘weird’.

Clarke, a lifelong skier, mountaineer, and trekker, felt like he was losing touch with his son. He blamed himself, partly as he enjoyed playing mobile games with his son when he was a little boy.

“If there’s an addiction that we have today as individuals and as a family, we (the parents) perpetuated it,” Clarke was quoted saying by BBC. “They’re cool devices, but we began to feel like they were controlling us and not vice versa.”

In order to reconnect with his son, Clarke who dreamt of traveling across Mongolia on a bike proposed his son to join him for the expedition. The 18-year-old, who was initially reluctant, eventually agreed and the duo made the trip in July last year. They left on 28th and over the course of the next month traveled more than 2,200 kilometers across the beautiful country on their motorbike, horse, and camel.

Although the journey was Instagrammable, they posted pictures online only after they returned from the memorable trip. Staying away from his phone posed as a challenge for Khobe, who said: “I think the whole time I was pretty consumed by missing my phone.” However, he was happy as he got to know his father a little better.

Similarly, Clarke was surprised to learn how mature his son was. “It helped me see Khobe in a new way. I saw him as a kid who kept leaving his jacket on the table, not cleaning up the dishes,” he said. “And I was able to see him step up to being a young man, and I was impressed by how well he was able to perform under pressure.”

Now that their trip is over, the father-son duo is trying to apply some of the lessons they learned in their everyday life. Kudos to the father and son for completing the journey successfully.

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