Taking a Break

This post by Dana Boyd on her upcoming 'Email Sabbatical' is pretty interesting. I really like the idea as I'm pretty bad about constantly being online, with at least two email accounts open at any one time in addition to (during my 'down-time') Facebook and Twitter.

This summer on my visit to France, I was pretty good about checking these things only at night, and being offline during the day. I hope I'll do a bit better during my upcoming trip to Japan over the winter holidays. This will likely be helped by the lack of a data plan for my phone while I'm abroad, and hopefully I will be able to at least refrain from checking my work email daily. :) On the other hand, I'll take my netbook so I can keep in touch with family and friends over Skype (and wish them a Happy New Year remotely).

Still it's interesting - we've only recently had the ability to continue our 'constant' online presence while traveling. It used to be that a postcard was the best you could do, or a telegram in emergencies. Now we can constantly email, chat, IM, and even make free phone calls over the internet. One has to wonder how this changes (in some ways detracting, in others enhancing) the traveler's experience.