I remember when we had to schlep our laptop up to the RV park’s office and plug in to their phone line in order to use dial-up to get online. Then came Wi-Fi. You could browse the Internet from the comfort of your parked RV. We even got a Datastorm Satellite dish that gave us high-speed Internet *wherever* we were parked – in the middle of the desert, or in the most remote national forest. What luxury that was. We live fulltime in our motorhome and we need to work to make our living. Our work is primarily on our website so it’s important that we be able to connect wherever we are.
Then came cellular datacards, and cellphones tethered to our laptops, we could be connected to high-speed Internet even while driving down the road! How wonderful right?
NO.
I didn’t like it. I’m a geek, but I have my limits. It’s one of my guilty pleasures to be a passenger in our RV and simply enjoy the ride while my husband does the driving. This is a time when I have permission to *not* work. I enjoy watching the scenery and daydreaming about oh so many things. When we're driving down the road in our self-contained cocoon-home, the outside world disappears. No stress. No worries. Just us and the rhythm of the road.
I don’t want to give that up. How about you?
I have to admit that the cellular connection to Internet does work great – I succumb to the dark side once in a while when I need to answer some emails, or had a deadline for some other web work. I was glad to be able to get my work done without sacrificing our planned destination.
Now, with a Smartphone in my pocket, I find myself checking my email and looking at my calendar, almost unconsciously, even while we’re driving down the road. The Smartphone is just so quick and easy. I find it to be a small intrusion into my traveling reverie, but I appreciate that it allows me to accomplish the necessary tasks without getting out a real computer. I can put it back in my pocket and return to the hypnotic hum of the wheels on the road.
What about you? Do you use a smartphone while you are the passenger in an RV? Do you appreciate the convenience? or hate the intrusion?
As a retired truck driver, I do all the driving (pulling our 30' travel trailer), and I still love it. Wifey is my map holding, direction determining co-pilot. We love looking at the scenery and constantly making comments (or, ahem, wise cracks). We have 'smart' phones and use them to create hot spots and connect our iPads or our laptop when we're parked somewhere, providing we have service. We almost exclusively boondock so many times we're 'out-of-touch' - and we LOVE that. But going down the road she rarely uses the phone unless we're looking for info on fuel prices or a place we want to camp at. Otherwise, it's windshield time unencumbered with technology.
ReplyDeleteI still have one of those 'dumb' phones and have NO plans to get a phone that is smarter than I am.
ReplyDeleteI don't work so have no need for constant connectivity. I like that.
The problem is not only passengers but drivers are using this as well, and no, I prefer to watch the landscape (as a passenger).
ReplyDeleteI find it very rude when other people ignore me and those around them while thumb-thrumming on their phone. When my adult daughter is with me in the RV, I always insist that she turn off her phone and put it in a drawer. This ensures that we both enjoy the ride, and can engage in (dare I say it?) Conversation!
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