Day 7 - 54 -- Staying close

Dan Rather's post today got me thinking about staying in touch when geographically separated. I'm building on his ideas here. Staying connected in such situations can be challenging, especially with flaky technology connections or loss of battery power. On more recent trips overseas, I've checked in with folks back home while traveling. With earlier trips, I had to rely on leaving an itinerary and sending the occasional post card. At that time, even telephone calls became a major production. Often hotels did not allow direct dial to an operator back home. I recall sitting in a small windowless room with a counter, chair, and an ancient metal phone, while trying to make the local operator understand the number I was trying to call. I shared this room with an enormous beetle who seemed as lost as I was. After many failed attempts, we gave up. the operator never did reach a north american operator. Access to wifi in a hotel room has made the process of updating people at home much easier -- as long as the signal held and was strong enough to send the messages.

I've found it comforting at times to know what people are doing throughout their days. Imagining them at work or doing errands can make me feel a bit closer. Luckily current electronic platforms can help with sharing our daily plans with others, which facilitates knowing where they are at specific times during the day -- not stalker-ish, just a feeling of closeness when not really close at all. <smile>

The song suggested by Dan Rather in his post is shared here today, and it is the version he stated was his favourite. Lyrics relate to a serviceman away during WWII when global communication was much less agile. Even now when traveling in parts of the world with sporadic or non-existent access to the internet, the solution noted in the lyrics might help people feel closer together. Enjoy!

Each night at nine -- Willie Nelson