A Mini-Vacation

We spent five nights in Big Bend National Park—with no cell phone signal and only minimal internet when we walked up to the Rio Grande Village store. It has been ages since we were in this situation. No blog reading. We couldn’t look something up on Google. I couldn’t check the bank accounts. Or do any other business. No youtube videos.

We were ready to move on and get back our connection to the outside world. But the enforced isolation made this into a mini vacation. That meant we did more exercise. We did more reading. We looked out the window and then went to take pictures of what we saw. We slowed down.

In our early years of RVing, before we had broadband cards for internet and before most RV parks offered free wi-fi, going on a trip meant leaving the outside world behind. Back then, we often didn’t have TV either. At Big Bend, our satellite TV worked great. So we were only sort-of cut off.

How many of you remember going to the campground office to download email from their fax line or plugging a phone cord into the side of a pay telephone? And you needed a calling card to make phone calls. Broadband, wi-fi and cell phones have changed all that and made it much easier to live full-time on the road. But once in a while it is good to take a vacation from all that connection and just relax.