I spent two weeks off the net this summer. The first was car camping. Every day I hiked, swam, kayaked, read, and journaled in addition to the everyday chores o

I spent two weeks off the net this summer. The first was car camping. Every day I hiked, swam, kayaked, read, and journaled in addition to the everyday chores of camping with kids and long slow conversations with my wife. The second week I was backpacking solo. I had a little notebook to write in, some questions I had prepared to ponder, and a couple things I wanted to try memorizing. I sang, I talked to myself, I talked to the trees and the squirrels. I was sore, tired, hungry and blistered. I spent entire days intensely focused on a single physical task: getting up or down a mountain. I didn't have any grand epiphanies or clarity, but I felt a wholeness that I struggle to describe. And naps. Don't underestimate how wonderful naps are.