It was exactly one year ago today that Anne and I started this Eriba touring adventure......
It has been a bit of a steep learning curve even though I have spent most of my life tent camping.... There were lots of things about caravan touring that we have needed to get up to speed with.
One year of non stop caravan living has taught us a lot and we are still as enthusiastic about the whole thing as when we started.
Looking forward to our second year is just as exciting as it was a year ago looking forward to our first year.....
It is surprising how little a person really needs in order to live their life and be happy....
One thing that I have really taken on board is how refreshing it can be to step outside of the constant gadget upgrade pressure that people in modern society feel the need to comply with.....
We have a couple of smart phones that are both a couple of years old and also a small notebook computer.... currently they all work well and do the job that we require of them and we have no plans to replace them until they actually start to fail,,,,
The same applies to my bike computer/GPS which must be five years old now but does everything that I need... My cameras are the same....
By choosing to adopt a slightly alternative lifestyle for a while it has enabled us to take a step back and see the stupidity of a lot of modern society.....
I now tend to turn my phone to silent most of the time.... When we are out and about in the countryside the last thing that is needed is the sound of a mobile phone interrupting the birdsong....
Don't get me wrong....I am not against modern gadgets, but I do think that people should keep it all under control. Many times we have visited a pub or restaurant and there is a whole family at another table all staring at the screens of their personal gadgets.... No conversation just looking at a screen. It all seems pretty crazy to me....
When I was a kid I was brought up by my parents not to read at the table.... pity that in these so called modern times the same rules don't apply to phones..tablets...etc...
A number of people have asked us why we decided to start touring full time at our age..... well the image below answers that pretty well I think...which route would you take?
Oh..by the way.... we hit the road again moving to another location on Monday....
It has been a bit of a steep learning curve even though I have spent most of my life tent camping.... There were lots of things about caravan touring that we have needed to get up to speed with.
One year of non stop caravan living has taught us a lot and we are still as enthusiastic about the whole thing as when we started.
Looking forward to our second year is just as exciting as it was a year ago looking forward to our first year.....
It is surprising how little a person really needs in order to live their life and be happy....
One thing that I have really taken on board is how refreshing it can be to step outside of the constant gadget upgrade pressure that people in modern society feel the need to comply with.....
We have a couple of smart phones that are both a couple of years old and also a small notebook computer.... currently they all work well and do the job that we require of them and we have no plans to replace them until they actually start to fail,,,,
The same applies to my bike computer/GPS which must be five years old now but does everything that I need... My cameras are the same....
By choosing to adopt a slightly alternative lifestyle for a while it has enabled us to take a step back and see the stupidity of a lot of modern society.....
I now tend to turn my phone to silent most of the time.... When we are out and about in the countryside the last thing that is needed is the sound of a mobile phone interrupting the birdsong....
Don't get me wrong....I am not against modern gadgets, but I do think that people should keep it all under control. Many times we have visited a pub or restaurant and there is a whole family at another table all staring at the screens of their personal gadgets.... No conversation just looking at a screen. It all seems pretty crazy to me....
When I was a kid I was brought up by my parents not to read at the table.... pity that in these so called modern times the same rules don't apply to phones..tablets...etc...
A number of people have asked us why we decided to start touring full time at our age..... well the image below answers that pretty well I think...which route would you take?
 |
| Which route? A no brainer in my book. |
5 comments:
One evening last year, as Husband and I were sitting in a pub completely ignoring each other, engrossed in our respective mobile phones, I did comment that everyone around us must have thought us incredibly ignorant. What they didn't know, however, was that we were on a backpacking trip and that this was our first time indoors and with internet access during that week. Moreover, we'd spent every moment of the preceding week in each other's company, making an hour of being engrossed in a screen acceptable to us - even if other people must have thought us sad or disfunctional.
Alas, I don't think that the majority of phone-absorbed diners have the same backstory.
*Gayle*
Ha..Ha...There must obviously be exceptions to my sweeping statement on phone use Gayle....
Yours is obviously one such case.
I too remember various times when backpacking trips or long distance cycle rides spending the evening 'catching up with the outside world' whilst sitting with friends in a bar or restaurant and in those exceptional situations acceptable I would say.....
However as you point out the majority of phone absorbed diners rarely have the same backstory......
I am the same way when it comes to replacing things. I say that about my phone...it is 6 years old, and our TV, which I don't watch, still has the big fat thing on the back. I figure if it was good enough when it was new, it still is good enough. On another note, I haven't been blogging getting involved for about a year. I do miss it and may make a return someday.
Great choice and I am happy for you both, Trevor & Ann.
Congratulations on one awesome year which you just completed and wish you many more years of awesomeness.
Have a Happy Day!
Peace :)
*rlove2bike*
Yeah...I've missed your posts... I will lookout for your blogging return..
*Chandra@GreenComotion*
Thanks Chandra.... It's been good sharing our first year with everyone....
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