Working on an airplane
Amber Naslund writes about taking a vacation and taking technology along for the ride.
When I’m on vacation, the freedom isn’t in being unplugged. It’s that I get to follow my own whims, my own schedule, and connect as much or as little as I want to because the mood strikes me… The relief is in taking back a little control over my own schedule and dictating my own interruptions, following my muses more freely perhaps, but it’s got nothing to do with being digital or not.
I know what she means.
I returned yesterday from a 4-day family vacation in Utah. While I brought my laptop–the first time I traveled on an airplane with it–with the expectation to keep busy, I quickly realized there were limited wireless signals in the mountain resort village of Eden where we stayed and relaxed. For this and other reasons, I rarely plugged in my laptop. I had faster signals with my Verizon Wireless-powered BlackBerry, on which I emailed and twittered infrequently.
Technology should not be viewed as a tool of work, but as a tool of life. Technology helps us define ourselves and our relationships, as Amber writes:
…My friendships aren’t bound by geography and time zones anymore. My digital connections are often what helps me keep in touch with the people that matter most to me since I don’t have the good fortune to see them often in person.
This happens a lot to me.
Over Monday night dinner at the Red Rock Brewery, I met Darin Bernstson, Jesse Stay, and Ryan Miller–three guys living in metro-Salt Lake City who I’d befriended in recent months over Twitter and other social networking sites.
Not unlike an impromptu gathering with Erika Napoletano, Kit Seeborg, Allen Koslowski, and about 20 other tweeps at a Denver bar in January, if you walked into Red Rock and passed by the table with me, Darin, Jesse, and Ryan, you might think our familiarity was representative of co-workers getting together for after-work drinks–not four guys who’d never been in the same room before. Darin and Ryan had each met Jesse before, but Darin and Ryan hadn’t met each other until my arrival and desire to meet like-minded Utahns enabled connections.
The next time you need to get away, don’t worry about unplugging from the web or not bringing a laptop or cellphone with you. Life will go on without you. The question you need to ask yourself is whether you can use technology on your own schedule–or if it will control you.
Photo credit: Magitisa
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Ari Herzog is an online media strategist and Newburyport City Councilor-Elect.
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Honestly, it’s good to read a reassuring article like this. As a technophile (even one for my age), I get criticize & made fun of sometimes for bringing my laptop with me on a vacation, or even just regular trips sometimes.
I imagine it was the same way for people with cell phones 10 years ago, when they were small enough but the majority of people hadn’t caught onto them yet. When I was in college, I studied abroad quite a bit and it was an amazing feeling to just let go of it all: no cell phones, no laptops, no Internet, no connectivity. But, that doesn’t mean I didn’t still check my email at least once a week.
And you’re completely right: anyone that lets their technology rule over them will have trouble whether or not they bring it all along with them wherever they go.
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Ultimately, you need to do what you need to do. Does it matter what someone else thinks? And– what’s your age got to do with it?
I agree.
Oh, and the age thing. I’m 23. And I’m a technophile. Say a 43-year old equivalent technophile was chatting away on Facebook, checking his LinkedIn, and tweeting during his vacation in China. Which would someone be more willing to accept as “normal?” Me or the 43-year old? Me, of course, because my generation grew up with that stuff, so it’s more comfortable for most people to see someone my age doing all that than someone my parents’ age. That’s all I was getting it.
Also, Ari, it’s weird that your posts in your comments aren’t included in the e-mail notifications when I subscribe to an entry. Like, I saw Danny’s posts, but not yours.
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Shouldn’t it be that way all the time though, regardless of whether you’re on vacation or not?
Yes, work will get in the and dictate daytime connections, but in your free time it’s up to you how and who you connect with (or not). That’s no different from vacation time, except that I like my vacation to be exactly that – away from the normality of all the day-to-day interactions, personal and professional.
Otherwise, why even bother with a vacation?
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Intriguing, Danny. Has the concept of a vacation changed in an era when more people are telecommuting?
Possibly. There’s potentially less “need” to get away as more people use their home as a base office. Yet the need to recharge is always going to be there, telecommute or desk-bound downtown, and I think it’s nice to completely unwind away from everything that makes up part of your normal work day, wherever it might be.
New from Danny Brown: Why Being Yourself is the Only Thing That Matters
I have had the hardest time separating work from personal life since my business I run is so technologically involved and trying to balance a family as well. Good post
Aren’t there some airlines that offer wifi now so you can use your laptop efficiently now? Btw, what part of Utah did you visit? (It’s where I live currently)
My cousins are in SLC, but at the time I also visited a canyon community east of Ogden.