[cdt-l] Portable email question...

[jonathan at phlumf.com]

Ya... that was kind of my point too - sometimes it's good to step back and
re-evaluate what you're doing. Personally, I have mixed feelings about it.
I couldn't even deal with listening to a radio on the trail, I'd rather
just hear the wind or the birds (man, does that sound hokey or what?). I
don't know how people manage to keep focus enough to keep their on-line
journals updated - toward the end of my hikes, it was a struggle to even
write a post card... my mind was just in a different place.

On the other hand, I'm glad people do "stay connected"... I like checking
stuff like "trailjournals", etc. to see what's new - it's a nice 10 minute
diversion when you're stuck in a cubicle all day.

I guess when it comes down to it, everyone should hike their own hike, and
that's what's most important.

-Jonathan


> Personally, I like the homing pigeon idea the best... :)
>
> Sign of the times I guess, when one the main questions on all the hiking
> lists are "How do I stay connected to the outside world?"
>
> No comment good or bad (I did use a Pocketmail myself for newspaper
> articles afterall), but it is an observation.
>
> How connected does a hiker want to be?
>
> Once every 5-7 days ala Pocketmail? Once a day? More often? Do we need web
> updates and weather forecasts? Or is basic ASCII enough?
>
> It is addicting to get e-mail. Guilty as charged.
>
> I'd check my pocketmail every time I could. Getting those little "Somebody
> loves me" sounds made my day. My Mom, who has never used e-mail until this
> past year, loved how she could write me and I'd write back within a few
> days [1]
>
> OTOH, if I could check my e-mail every chance I could, would it change the
> nature of my hike? I suspect yes. I also suspect I personally would *not*
> have the discipline to stay away from 24/7 connection. Probably best, for
> me, that I do not go down that route.
>
> HYOH and all that. Just an observation that more so than even 2 or 3 years
> ago, how much of an emphasis there is on staying connected. Not just on
> the trail, but in society as a whole. Personal locator beacons were touted
> in a local paper as MUST HAVE accessory for every outdoor user. I already
> get odd looks from some people when I say I do not take a cell phone when
> hiking even on local trails. And now there are threads about how to stay
> connected on most outdoor lists.
>
> Not good. Not bad. But definitely a different focus. A focus that means
> wanting to stay unconnected is becoming the aberration  and staying
> connected is the norm for outdoor pursuits.
>
> A definite sea change in how we view the outdoors as well as society as a
> whole.
>
>
> Mags
>
> [1] She also wrote my youngest brother in Iraq. With one son walking the
> Rockies and another son working in an Air Force hospital, e-mail was a god
> send for her!
>
>
>
>
>
> ************************************************************
> The true harvest of my life is intangible.... a little stardust
> caught, a portion of the rainbow I have clutched
> --Thoreau
> http://www.pmags.com
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> cdt-l mailing list
> cdt-l at backcountry.net
> http://mailman.hack.net/mailman/listinfo/cdt-l
>