Vacation Ready?

In just a few days we leave on vacation. We’re headed to the mountains in North Carolina. Plenty of people have told me that it’s beautiful there. I’ve never seen that part of the state. I lived in North Carolina for three years and never made it to the mountains. I’m very excited about being at an elevation other than sea level for a change.

We have a week of as much or as little as we want to do. The prime activities will be photography and fishing. However, since rain is predicted the first few days I have packed some back-up material. I’m bringing two novels that I haven’t read yet. There’s nothing like curling up with a book on a rainy day. But am I too ambitious by packing two books? I usually fly through a book when I’m relaxed. I will also bring my knitting. That’s something I can do in the car as well as on the deck at night in front of the fireplace.

There is one aspect of our trip that my husband is ecstatic about but I have yet to reach a decision on. No cell phone service. My Sweetie is thrilled because he will finally be able to put his Blackberry down for more than a few minutes without the fear that it will blow up. If we do need to make a call, all we need to do is go to the lookout on the mountain where we can see the cell tower on the next mountain. Of course, that’s in addition to the land line in the house.

Supposedly, there is internet access. But that would mean that I would have to steal one of the guys’ laptops in order to get online. It will be interesting to see how the kids fare on their vacation from texting. Will they supplement their lack of texting with Facebooking? Or will they completely shrug off social media for a week?

The more I think about it the idea of a vacation from technology seems very appealing. But will I miss that connected feeling? Will I find myself hiking up to the lookout to get a cell signal so I can check my email on my phone and send a few quick texts? Will I miss all of my bloggy buddies? That’s an easy one, absolutely!

But I’ve got to wonder about blogging itself. The actual writing. I’ve gotten in the habit of writing almost every day. Truly, it’s something that I associate completely with the computer. But should I take a journal or notebook along to jot down thoughts or perhaps write essays if I go completely without technology for a week?

In a week from now I will hopefully have all of my questions answered, a boatload of photographs to show for my absence from the virtual world, and a very relaxed husband.

Would you embrace a tech-free vacation or go through withdrawal?
Would you write down ideas for potential posts in longhand?

Photo: Wikipedia Commons