A Day off the Grid

In my business, staying connected comes with the territory. Phone and email, plus social media, enable immediate communication.

But do we have to be linked 24/7?

A couple weekends ago, I took a break. My wife and I hit the road early, without first checking our email. Any phone we took was set to vibrate. When we arrived in Alamosa, Colorado, we checked in for our train ride and decided to window-shop – without checking any portable electronic devices.

I'd brought a mass paperback to read on the train, but I spotted a coffee shop that also sold used books. Amid the usual paperbacks I found a British naval fiction title missing from my collection. Perfect recreational reading.

Soon we boarded the train for a two-and-a-half hour trip across Colorado's San Luis Valley to the top of LaVeta pass. Even if we had wanted to check our phones, there would have been no signal.

The concert site lay even further off the grid. Accessible only by rail, the electricity came from an array of solar cells and a windmill generator. Under sunny Colorado skies clear of cell phone signals, we enjoyed an acoustic concert.

Then back to Alamosa for a dinner at a locally owned restaurant, and a return drive listening to recordings of cowboy music.

The next morning, we checked our phone messages and emails. Nothing we had to have answered the day before. And as we considered those messages, we were more relaxed.

Give it a try.