Back from Bali and redefining connected

OK, after the full on week last week where I think combined I may have had 10 hours of sleep. Bali was the perfect place for me.

85 plus degrees (30ish Celsius) and a tropical climate was just what the doctor ordered. Relax, walk, shop, read and relax some more is basically what we did all week. Lay by the pool, lie on the beach, have some wonderful food…and then do it all over again the next day.

It’s good to disconnect once in awhile even when I really don’t want too. But I’m finding that disconnected for me means something completely different than before.

Disconnected use to mean no Internet access what so ever, but more and more it means disconnecting from my network of reading, writing, watching, chatting, skyping, and listening.

On this vacation I was disconnected, but still managed to check my e-mail three times, look up some information on wikipedia, and tried to convince my Mother-In-Law that Google is god and is all knowing. 🙂

I wasn’t connected to my network, but was connected for reasons of survival. I had to check my e-mail to stay in contact with the person watching our cats, I did a live chat session with my bank because our Visa card got blocked (happens quit often actually) and e-mailed friends of ours that went with up but to a different part of the Island. We stayed in contact via e-mail and made sure we knew where each other was in case something was to happen.

The Internet and the ease in which it allows us to communicate are changing my definition of being connected. I don’t call this being connected any more than I would having a phone in my room. It just ‘is’ and we need it and rely on it just like we do did the telephone in the 20th century.

Do we have to use these new ways to communicate? No, but we use them and incorporate them into our lives without thinking about it. When we left Shanghai we didn’t give our friend the number of the hotel we were staying at in case there was an emergency, instead we said “e-mail us”. When we couldn’t get money from the ATM machine I didn’t make an expensive long distance phone call to my bank. I did a live chat session. When we needed information on a stomach bug I got, we didn’t go to the local doctor, we went to the web and wikipedia for answers.

Being disconnected is brining on a whole new meaning for me. It no longer means not having access, it just means not accessing my personal network. Not checked all 6 e-mails and blogs, but only my personal e-mail. Not interacting with information but rather just reading and gathering when needed the information I want. I guess this is what happens when we have ubiquitous access.

As for Bali….please enjoy my “100 pictures of Bali” Flickr slideshow!

[tags]Bali, connected[/tags]

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