6 ms·

When I was a kid and would go off on boy scout camping trips of 1–2 weeks, I always imagined returning from the trips to discover some big important thing had h

by dhosek 7y ago

When I was a kid and would go off on boy scout camping trips of 1–2 weeks, I always imagined returning from the trips to discover some big important thing had happened while we were cut off from civilization. It never had. It'll be strange coming to the surface from this mission.

arethuza 7y ago
That reminds me of the excellent novel Earth Abides https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Abides https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Abides
- ASlave2Gravity 7y ago
  What struck me most with this book was the rats! Most humans die due to a virus and cities are left 99% empty. There reaches a point where all the rats flee the city (having eaten all the food they can) and arrive in endless waves at the protagonist's home.
grecy 7y ago
We do that often when we drive up the Dempster Highway into the Arctic Circle. No Cell, no radio, just a couple of weeks exploring the wilderness. One of the massive perks to living the Yukon for sure. I personally need that kind of "off time" from the constant connectivity, and I thoroughly enjoy it. Photos here if anyone is interested http://theroadchoseme.com/the-dempster-highway-fall http://theroadchoseme.com/the-dempster-highway-fall http://theroadchoseme.com/the-dempster-highway http://theroadchoseme.com/the-dempster-highway
war1025 7y ago
There was an article a couple weeks ago about a group that went on a rafting trip and experienced just this. The guy scheduled to pick them up tried telling them about it on the ride home, but no one believed him until they saw it on the news.
lb1lf 7y ago
-I have found that the news cycle (for anything but the largest of events) is so short that several times when I've worked offshore, something happened back home - some celebrity died, some place burned down &c - but by the time I get back home, it is old news. Hence I am blissfully unaware until the topic comes up, perhaps months later. "Oh, so that is why Wenche Foss hasn't been in the news lately..."
WorldMaker 7y ago
I remember a similar feeling as a kid. As an adult I've been taking week long cruises where I force myself to almost entirely disconnect. They've been "well" timed the last few years that world seems stranger (and probably worse) almost every time I return, and I'm not sure I'd recommend that sort of strange to kid me. One year a lot of staff at my employer (including myself) were laid off and returned to a lot of recruiter emails. Another a close relative was deeply sick. Last year included the drama of returning to hectic airports due to the 737 MAX crisis. This year we were the last ship out before Quarantine and the last ship back, FLL was even more of a mess than after the 737 MAX crisis because it was still full of spring breakers and people who had expected to leave on cruise ships with now canceled vacation plans, few places to stay, and a lot of new unplanned headaches. We had some warning: they added temperature checks prior to departure, and we were on High levels of handwashing and sanitizing, reminiscent (if not worse) than the one year we sailed during the middle of the cruise ship Noravirus panic or the couple years of increased Zika concern. But still, you don't expect things to escalate in a week anywhere nearly as quick as they did. Not all of us take the excuse to entirely disconnect so we weren't entirely isolated from news like a submarine might be either, but even the difference between reading random NYT headlines versus your personal FB timeline is huge these days.
munificent 7y ago
I can't recall if it was a friend of a friend or something I read online, but I vaguely remember an anecdote from someone who was out camping without contact on 9/11. I cannot imagine coming back home after that.
jvm_ 7y ago
There were people kayaking the Columbia river through the Grand Canyon for 25 days heading into when everything shutdown. They had the same thoughts as you and thought the people telling them at the end was a joke.
- 333c 7y ago
  That would be the Colorado river. I did a trip like that two summers ago (on rafts rather than kayaks), and there's (essentially) no communication with the outside world. I did think about how I would react if there were some major world event, but I can only imagine what it feels like for them.
samkater 7y ago
I was in basic training when hurricane Katrina hit. I remember the drill instructors asking if anyone was from the Louisiana or surrounding states and they got to make a special call home. Not having any connnections there myself I didn’t realize it was way worse than a typical hurricane until over a month after it happened. Not active actively learning about the tragedy as it unfolded made learning about it later feel very disconnected. Sort of like hearing about a destructive event from history rather than a current event. I’m sure, though, this experience was very different for those who had some connections to the region and were more personally impacted by the aftermath.
hammock 7y ago
I was backpacking on 9/11. I did not hear the news until 9/12. Someone had made the effort to hike out to our camp and share the news (a day late), since one of us had a father who worked in the Pentagon. We stayed out and didn't return until several days later.
- ammon 7y ago
  The same thing happened to me! My brother and I left on a 5-day backpacking trip on the 10th. I did not learn about the attacks until the 13th (another hiker came in and told us). We thought he was probably lying, but hiked out early to check. On our way out, we passed another party and asked them. They had not heard about it either. I remember a woman saying "it sounds like someone has been pulling your leg!"
mythrwy 7y ago
Not exactly the same thing, but when I was in boy scouts I attended a massive jamboree in Florida with (I think) at least thousands of other scouts. Some friends and I went on a long hike, over an earthen dike and back into the woods for the day, well out of site of the main camp. Late afternoon coming back, we started seeing smoke from the general direction of the camp. Cresting the dike we saw a huge grass/brush fire ripping through the heart of the camp and scouts and leaders running around like ants, moving tents and vehicles, and trying to beat the fire out with towels. It did no good. Turns out someone had been playing with their campfire, it got into some dry grass, and with a high wind took off extremely fast, running right through the camp and out into the trees. We missed it all but the finale. The others at our camp had already moved our stuff to safety. (off topic I know but the event was pretty dramatic)

by dhosek 7y ago

arethuza 7y ago

That reminds me of the excellent novel Earth Abides https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Abides https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Abides

ASlave2Gravity 7y ago
What struck me most with this book was the rats! Most humans die due to a virus and cities are left 99% empty. There reaches a point where all the rats flee the city (having eaten all the food they can) and arrive in endless waves at the protagonist's home.

grecy 7y ago

We do that often when we drive up the Dempster Highway into the Arctic Circle. No Cell, no radio, just a couple of weeks exploring the wilderness. One of the massive perks to living the Yukon for sure. I personally need that kind of "off time" from the constant connectivity, and I thoroughly enjoy it. Photos here if anyone is interested http://theroadchoseme.com/the-dempster-highway-fall http://theroadchoseme.com/the-dempster-highway-fall http://theroadchoseme.com/the-dempster-highway http://theroadchoseme.com/the-dempster-highway

war1025 7y ago

There was an article a couple weeks ago about a group that went on a rafting trip and experienced just this. The guy scheduled to pick them up tried telling them about it on the ride home, but no one believed him until they saw it on the news.

lb1lf 7y ago

-I have found that the news cycle (for anything but the largest of events) is so short that several times when I've worked offshore, something happened back home - some celebrity died, some place burned down &c - but by the time I get back home, it is old news. Hence I am blissfully unaware until the topic comes up, perhaps months later. "Oh, so that is why Wenche Foss hasn't been in the news lately..."

WorldMaker 7y ago

I remember a similar feeling as a kid. As an adult I've been taking week long cruises where I force myself to almost entirely disconnect. They've been "well" timed the last few years that world seems stranger (and probably worse) almost every time I return, and I'm not sure I'd recommend that sort of strange to kid me. One year a lot of staff at my employer (including myself) were laid off and returned to a lot of recruiter emails. Another a close relative was deeply sick. Last year included the drama of returning to hectic airports due to the 737 MAX crisis. This year we were the last ship out before Quarantine and the last ship back, FLL was even more of a mess than after the 737 MAX crisis because it was still full of spring breakers and people who had expected to leave on cruise ships with now canceled vacation plans, few places to stay, and a lot of new unplanned headaches. We had some warning: they added temperature checks prior to departure, and we were on High levels of handwashing and sanitizing, reminiscent (if not worse) than the one year we sailed during the middle of the cruise ship Noravirus panic or the couple years of increased Zika concern. But still, you don't expect things to escalate in a week anywhere nearly as quick as they did. Not all of us take the excuse to entirely disconnect so we weren't entirely isolated from news like a submarine might be either, but even the difference between reading random NYT headlines versus your personal FB timeline is huge these days.

munificent 7y ago

I can't recall if it was a friend of a friend or something I read online, but I vaguely remember an anecdote from someone who was out camping without contact on 9/11. I cannot imagine coming back home after that.

jvm_ 7y ago

There were people kayaking the Columbia river through the Grand Canyon for 25 days heading into when everything shutdown. They had the same thoughts as you and thought the people telling them at the end was a joke.

333c 7y ago
That would be the Colorado river. I did a trip like that two summers ago (on rafts rather than kayaks), and there's (essentially) no communication with the outside world. I did think about how I would react if there were some major world event, but I can only imagine what it feels like for them.

samkater 7y ago

I was in basic training when hurricane Katrina hit. I remember the drill instructors asking if anyone was from the Louisiana or surrounding states and they got to make a special call home. Not having any connnections there myself I didn’t realize it was way worse than a typical hurricane until over a month after it happened. Not active actively learning about the tragedy as it unfolded made learning about it later feel very disconnected. Sort of like hearing about a destructive event from history rather than a current event. I’m sure, though, this experience was very different for those who had some connections to the region and were more personally impacted by the aftermath.

hammock 7y ago

I was backpacking on 9/11. I did not hear the news until 9/12. Someone had made the effort to hike out to our camp and share the news (a day late), since one of us had a father who worked in the Pentagon. We stayed out and didn't return until several days later.

ammon 7y ago
The same thing happened to me! My brother and I left on a 5-day backpacking trip on the 10th. I did not learn about the attacks until the 13th (another hiker came in and told us). We thought he was probably lying, but hiked out early to check. On our way out, we passed another party and asked them. They had not heard about it either. I remember a woman saying "it sounds like someone has been pulling your leg!"

mythrwy 7y ago

Not exactly the same thing, but when I was in boy scouts I attended a massive jamboree in Florida with (I think) at least thousands of other scouts. Some friends and I went on a long hike, over an earthen dike and back into the woods for the day, well out of site of the main camp. Late afternoon coming back, we started seeing smoke from the general direction of the camp. Cresting the dike we saw a huge grass/brush fire ripping through the heart of the camp and scouts and leaders running around like ants, moving tents and vehicles, and trying to beat the fire out with towels. It did no good. Turns out someone had been playing with their campfire, it got into some dry grass, and with a high wind took off extremely fast, running right through the camp and out into the trees. We missed it all but the finale. The others at our camp had already moved our stuff to safety. (off topic I know but the event was pretty dramatic)