Off the Grid

I wasn’t actually fishing, but this captures the spirit.

From July 1st though July 8th I was off the grid. No cell phones, texts, email, no nothing.  My July 2nd post was published on auto-pilot.

I can’t remember the last time I went that long without it, though it likely goes back to the day I got my first cell phone.

And I didn’t miss it. The vast majority of vacations we take today are working vacations, meaning that no matter what we do or where we go we pick up the magic iDevice to check work emails and messages.

It felt good to be gone, not just physically, but mentally. No Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or anything else.  Just me, my family, and those in immediate proximity, who were likewise unconnected to our increasingly wired world.

It’s good for the soul.

When I finally hit a hotel with wi-fi, the hundreds of emails that accumulated poured in. I almost got carpal tunnel syndrome hitting the delete button.

But at that point it hit me that while the body was still away, the vacation of the mind had ended.