I have a simple Tracfone that I take with me when I go out. Like you said, when there are no pay phones, it can be unsettling. The phone is turned off and in a bag. Only if I am gone for some time do I turn it on to check to see if there are any messages. I have all my emergency and contact numbers in that phone just in case I need them. For example, the number of my car insurance claim information, a tow truck service that I know won't gouge me, and the number of a local repair shop that I trust. Just the kind of things you wish you had when you get into an accident and don't have the time to hunt it all down. I don't need directions in real time because if I am uncertain about a location, I look it up on my computer at home before I leave. I still know how to read a map. Our smart phones make us stupid.

One of the other problems that people have to deal with when titrating themselves off their smart phone is the need to be instantaneously connected. There are very few things in life that require our absolute immediate attention. Everything else - leave a message. I refuse to jump when my electronics tell me to jump. This is a huge hurdle for people to overcome because we have been trained to immediately answer anything that beeps, buzzes, vibrates, or makes noises. The other thing I have done is to keep all business interactions on a land land that I can use to screen the calls. The number for my smart phone is only given to people that are personal contacts. I do not do any financial transactions, social media, or email on the smart phone. There is also a VPN on the device. My privacy is worth more to me than any convenience they can offer.

The moral to the story here is that we are building the very cage they plan on using to enslave us. We give up our freedoms for what we perceive as convenience. There is a very high price to pay for that so called convenience.