Before I had
an iphone,
three email accounts,
a laptop,
a facebook account,
a blog,
a digital camera,
a ravelry account,
a work computer I could access remotely,
a flickr account,
another blog,
a twitter account,
a tumbler account,
and a network of friends and family I connect with almost exclusively through bits and bytes,
before any of these things, we went on a trip.
I packed a camera. A few rolls of film. We drove from San Francisco to Bellingham, Washington camping along the way. We listened to cassette tapes in the car and on our walkmans. Made pictures. Read books. Knit. Sent postcards. Explored. Lived in the present tense, in the present place, with those in our presence.
Tonight, as I packed our bags for a family trip, I found two rolls of undeveloped film. One was from that trip. It was a sign. All week the notion of unplugging completely during our upcoming time away has been gnawing at me. As I look through the photos from the trip we took thirteen years ago, I see a slowness that I haven’t experienced in a long time. One that I realize I need now more than ever.
And so, I’m taking a vacation from all of the modern technological trappings, excepting the digital camera and a phone for limited logistics. I really look forward to revisiting the pre-technology pace in the new places we’ll visit, with people I love. I will try to keep my eyes open for photographs, and will ask my sidekick to do the same…
May the next few weeks treat you well, my friends.
cassette Adaptors
bellingham washington, cassette tapes, family trip, time one, tumbler, work computer