[at-l] Cell phones VS Nature - An attempt to clarify - LONG

[ellen at clinic.net (Bob C)]

No is certainly a useful option with kids, especially if used with some judicial restraint. But on a 30 day walk in the woods, my instincts say repeated nos probably would become more of a distraction to the wilderness than simply letting the phone call happen.

Weary

> ------------Original Message------------
> From: "Shane Steinkamp" <shane@theplacewithnoname.com>
> To: "Bob C" <ellen@clinic.net>, AT-L@Backcountry.net
> Date: Sun, Jul-31-2005 2:44 PM
> Subject: RE: [at-l] Cell phones VS Nature - An attempt to clarify - LONG
> 
> > When your child becomes 9 you will realize that 
> > talking to Mom is not really a choice, but a demand. 
> > The child was not a distraction but the reason for 
> > the trip. I wanted it to be a different kind of a 
> > trip than the "civilized" trips he had been 
> > on all his life -- a time with nature and mountains 
> > and woodlands. Hence no phones, and no towns.
> 
> Virginia already comes on walks with me, and while we haven't ever done 
> something so ambitious, I understand what you are saying.  Three weeks 
> ago we did 14 miles of the MRT together.  The trail is paved, so it 
> isn't exactly a wilderness.  When I had to make the call to have us picked 
> up, I got out the cell phone, turned it on, and rang my wife.  As you 
> say, she demanded to talk to momma.  
> 
> The way I handled this was very easy.  I told her, "No."  
> 
> > It worked. Our walk remains vivid in his memory. He 
> > dreams of a thru hike. He walked 800 miles with me on 
> > the AT two years later. 
> 
> I'm glad.  I hope to do the same with Virginia.
> 
> Shane
> 
> 
>