I’ve gotta draw the line.
Before I explain, let me say this: I’m a tech geek.
I’ve had a computer as long as I can remember. My most “look-how-far-technology-has-come” memory was when my Dad (an IT guy) brought home a weird, oval shaped thing with a cord and said, “Hey kids- this is called a mouse.”
See? Me = tech geek.
But last night, I was on the way home from picking up Little Roo and I heard a story on NPR about the rising popularity of wi-fi at campgrounds.
Campgrounds?
{sound of me gagging on the nasty instant coffee we make while camping}
I may be a tech geek but I’m also a purist. When I go camping for a night, I want to stare at the stars and have long chats by the fire. I want to devour gooey s’mores. I want the light in my tent to be from my headlamp not from a laptop screen.
This is what camping is about, don't ya think?
I’ll admit though. I sometimes DO wish I had Internet access out there. I can get bored as shit. Back home, my day to day operations are usually a fit of multi-tasking mastery and my mind never quits thinking about SOMETHING or making to-do lists.
But no wi-fi at campgrounds is for people like me. I don’t need the temptation of the interwebs. If you dangle it before me with a cheesy banner over the campground entry that says “WE HAVE WI-FI!” I may not be able to resist jumping on my iPhone for “just a minute.”
However, when I can truly disconnect, I open my eyes to more than Twitter hashtags, the latest news or reality TV. I hear silence instead of my fingers beating the keyboard trying to finish “one more thing” before bed. I play with REAL cards instead of virtual ones. And that cloud of chaos in my head slowly clears and I’m left with a wee bit of serenity for a change.
Sure I could just pretend there IS no wi-fi out in the wild, but who am I kidding? It’s too tempting. And even if I can resist, who wants to hear your neighboring campers watching hulu or playing World of Warcraft all night?
Keep it sacred, you campground decision-making people. Don’t tempt us.
And for those of you who can’t relate since you’ve never been camping, it’s almost as bad as allowing cell phones on airplanes. Ahhhh, NOW you get it.
What do you think? Wi-fi at campgrounds or no?
{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m with you! I think wi-fi at the campgrounds is too tempting. If I’m camping I want to be immersed in nature, not cellphones and computers.
Keri recently posted..Back in the Big D
Twitter: hawkfan5
August 6, 2010 at 9:57 am
Stopping by from 31DBBC. Great post and I totally agree. Isn’t the point of camping to get away from all of that?? Stay home if you “have” to connect to the internet. Otherwise, drop your phone, laptop, whatever and connect with nature!
Sara R-The Millennial Housewife recently posted..31 Days to a Better Blog Challenge – Day 19
Twitter: OldTweener
August 6, 2010 at 10:52 am
I’m with you….too tempting, and all four of us would be on doing something!! Campfires are great for staring into, and much more relaxing than any old Internet.
Sherri recently posted..One One Fun
Hi Melissa!
Thanks for the laugh! : “I can get bored as shit”! That’s classic : – )
Out for a hike this morning, Bumpy was just suggesting a week in a real “hutte”: no phone, electrics from tiny solar panels (and that’s just for little kitchen lights), hot water from burning wood. Get it? I love camping too, but I got the shivers thinking about not being connected these days, especially with 31DBBB!
So, I say NO to wifi at campgrounds — if I go, I really GO, with real cards as you say and real books!
Go fish!
I could not agree with you more. We need to keep some kind of link to the real world.
Bethany recently posted..Snack-ticipation
Twitter: lilmissrysmama
August 6, 2010 at 1:36 pm
Wow…I had not heard this yet. WiFi in campgrounds gets a big, fat N-O in my book! But, then again, when we go camping, we don’t go in campgrounds. We have no cell coverage, running water or even toilets when we go camping. However, that being said…I am like you. If I did in fact have cell service…I would be updating fb and tweeting about how awesome those smores I just made were.
Katherine recently posted..Out of the Zonein a BIG way!
Yep, my camping days of yore were like that too! We’ll do that again when the kids are older so we’re car campers again for a few years.
Me too re: the smores. I’d be tweeting way too much– don’t need the temptation with free wi-fi!
Twitter: myorgchaos
August 6, 2010 at 1:49 pm
I totally agree…if you need wi-fi, then you probably need to check into a hotel!! Nature is beautiful…you just have to look up from your device once and a while!! I also agree…yes, camping can get boring!!
Have a great day!
Gotta agree with you too. I see why campground owners offer it as they’re competing with hotels and other destinations for customers but from a pure camping perspective I loathe the concept. On my last trip the site next to mine had a guy on it, while chatting on his cell phone.. umm, yeah. no
Nice post.
Eric recently posted..25 Do’s and Don’ts to Family Camping
I was hoping you’d weigh in!
Yeah, I see that they are trying to stay competitive but if people really HAVE to, they can bring a couple of electronics- an MP3 player, portable DVD, etc. But wi-fi is just too much!
Twitter: keljernigan
August 6, 2010 at 2:06 pm
AHH – Is there nothing sacred anymore?? My husband is way more of a techie than me – I don’t even like cell phones & laptops to come on vacation – and even he would agree that this is too much. We also really enjoy wilderness backpacking, so if there is a Wi-Fi signal out there, we’re not out far enough, in my book!!!
I totally agree– we must be too close to civilization if there’s wi-fi!
I am with you wi-fi and camping just really shouldn’t go together! Somethings should be kept sacred. We are leaving to go camping on Thursday and I am looking forward to the tech break. I will miss it but I won’t at the sometime!
Hannah recently posted..Five Question Friday!
Twitter: AmericanSahara
August 6, 2010 at 2:33 pm
Sorry, Melissa, I disagree with you.
Americans are spending less time outdoors and a majority of our kids are not growing up with the outdoor lifestyle. This is sad and will hurt our culture in the long run.
So we need to make it easier to get outside and to remove barriers. Since we – and especially our kids – are uber-connected, let’s turn that to our advantage.
Let’s make it easy for the folks who want to try camping to share that adventure with their friends who are stuck back home in the city. Let’s enable Mom and Dad to update their Facebook pages with video of junior making his first smores right from the fireside. Let’s get the folks back home to say, “I want to do that!”
Because if we don’t encourage people to love and enjoy the outdoors, we will lose it. Without a passion for sleeping outside, we cannot expect voters to support our public lands.
Like you, I also want to unplug and get away. That is easy enough to do. I jump in my truck and head out into the backcountry, off the paved roads, deep into the national forests and on the BLM lands. Where there is no electricity, no cell phone service, and there will never be free wi-fi.
I do this because I can and I know how. And I got that ability by growing up in the outdoors, often in campgrounds in the family RV. I’m sure if I were doing that now, I would welcome free wi-fi. I might even e-mail you some smores.
cheers,
-J.
J. Brandon recently posted..A Teachable Moment
You make some very good points- truly!
BUT I still say all of that can be done without wi-fi. If kids MUST bring technology to the outdoors, bring an MP3 player or a portable DVD. And they can post all those great pics when they get back. Hopefully they wouldn’t lose the motivation.
Of course it’s hard to argue with emailed s’mores.
Twitter: Rikki
August 6, 2010 at 2:48 pm
Although I would NEVER go camping, I agree with you. Isn’t the point of it all to get away from everything and enjoy nature?
Erica recently posted..Children DO have a job!
The great outdoors with no wi fi!
I guess that’s what it would take to wean me from my bloggy/internet addiction. And it might not be a bad idea.
Ofthesea recently posted..Reason 61 – I prefer doing dishes than playing with my son
Twitter: campingblogger
August 6, 2010 at 3:23 pm
I don’t run into this, much. I think Half Moon Bay State Park might have wifi – but most of the places we go, I can’t even get a signal on my phone. Which is the way I like it, btw
Roy Scribner recently posted..Weekend Outdoor Reads for August 6th
I was hoping you’d chime in!
All I have to say is, I TOTALLY agree! Cut me off so I can truly enjoy nature.
Twitter: rachael1013
August 6, 2010 at 3:25 pm
Eh. I don’t think computers should go camping! Isn’t part of the whole point of camping to be out in the wilderness and just doing things the simple way?
Twitter: tbngville
August 6, 2010 at 4:08 pm
I agree with the whole no wi-fi at campgrounds.
Unfortunetly my husbands job sends him on vacation with a sprint card so he can update some stupid report every night. This sucks, but it’s the only way my family gets to go on vacation. So even if there’s no wi-fi, we still have to take the real world with us. I’m sure we aren’t alone.
I guess we’re at least getting our son out of the tech world for the time being. Exposure!
Twitter: mommyhoodmemos
August 6, 2010 at 5:05 pm
Yes, draw the line! Not good for people like me… we go camping to get away from the “connect”… and I’m afraid my will power would falter…
yes me too! I have no willpower when it comes to technology. I need others to force me off!
Twitter: merry120
August 6, 2010 at 11:43 pm
I can see both sides. We went camping last week and there was WiFi at the little concession stand at the beach. My husband had to do his quarterly review with his boss on our vacation b/c of a schedule crunch. He tried to use the wifi but it was so slow he had to drive 20 minutes to get to a better connection.
I was able to pretend the wifi wasn’t there & I didn’t get on Twitter or Facebook even once. I did, however, check my BlackBerry for my job.
There are those of us that have jobs that don’t allow us to completely disengage when we go on holidays. When people say “if you need wifi then maybe you just need to go to a hotel” that’s not really fair. I have responsibilities but I love camping. I shouldn’t have to give up camping b/c I have a job where I need to be available.
Twitter: Heligirl
August 7, 2010 at 12:08 am
Good God, no!!! Make it stop. If you go camping, you’re going to get away from it all. If you still need to be in touch with the world, don’t go camping. At least that’s how I try to look at it here in my little world. To each his own, but I’d be upset with this offering as my husband is bad enough checking websites on his iPhone all the time. It’s a blessing to be out of cell range – no phone ringing in the tent next door.
Heligirl recently posted..Wednesday Outing- Farrel-McWhirter Farm Park
I agree….camping should be internet-free! Just stopped by from SITS to say hi: hope you will do the same.
Eva Gallant recently posted..Wordless Wednesday
It definitely defeats the purpose of camping….and campgrounds…If I wanted wi-fi…I’d camp at my local La Quinta Inn…..so I guess wi fi should probably go along with plugs…and bathrooms…..Happy SITS SAt. sharefest!!1
Lesley recently posted..Im Invited To The BlogHer Pity Party
Oh dear my daughter published an article yesterday against taking cellphones on vacation. I am starting to get a complex now!
We got stuck outside Yosemite one spring because of heavy rains and late snow so we waited at a camp ground in an RV for about a week, I was pretty glad that they had dial-up at the time : )
Great blog btw : )
Kittie Walker recently posted..Are You Publishing Too Soon
Twitter: redmestic
August 11, 2010 at 4:08 pm
nonononononono!!!!! No wi-fi at campgrounds! Ack! I don’t know if I’ll ever convince the hubs to camp, but still, I say again, NNNNOOOOO Wi-Fi at campgrounds!
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