Internet...to have or not to have?

Once upon a time people traveled without internet; without the virtual umbilical cord through which information could be sent and received from home on a daily (hourly) basis. They traveled for months without any contact with their loved ones back home, other than the occasional handwritten letter sent through the post, whose information was months old by the time it reached its intended audience.

Last week, we were without internet for seven whole days. The first three (in a Valencia apartment) we were prepared for and accepted. Its only three days, we figured, we'll survive. During the 8 hour drive back to Uzès, many of the conversations revolved around what everyone was going to do when they got back...check Facebook, Skype Dad/Papa/friends, check the zoo (Yanni's virtual zoo game) and make sure the animals were all alive, do some blog entries, check emails, etc, etc) To our horror, when we arrived and raced up the stairs to plug in the computer, we discovered that the internet was down and unlike the last time it happened, it could not be reset. There were no blinking lights. There was no power whatsoever. There had been a power outage and possible surge during the storm that was raging outside and the internet box was possibly fried. That potentially meant 6 weeks of waiting for a new box, without internet. We contemplated paying the hotel across the street for use of their wireless password...up to 100 Euro if necessary. Thankfully we didn't need to resort to that. It ended up that only the plug was fried by the surge, not the box and we were back up and running four days later.

I often wondered during this past week without internet, does being so connected enhance or detract from the traveler's experience? I remember spending summers in Greece with absolutely no contact with my friends back home. Sure I missed them, but after the first week or so I kind of forgot about them and immersed myself in my new surroundings. It was so simple. Now, with internet (and especially Facebook), there is a feeling of constant pressure to stay connected, to stay in the loop...and not just for my 13 year old, who, like all 13 year olds is obsessed with her friends' social life. I feel it too.

Don't get me wrong...it's not all bad. Having internet does allow us to phone family and friends through gmail and see their faces through Skype (for free) and that's way better than a stale letter! Plus it acts as our dictionary, encyclopedia, medical guide, translator, mapfinder, entertainment source (we have watched countless episodes of The Nanny, Corner Gas, Brady Bunch, AFV, etc during our long evenings at home), and research tool, so I won't even try to suggest that we go back to life without it. I just wonder and worry...would we have immersed ourselves even more in the local culture if this was a pre-internet time or would we have just been more lonely and miserable?

Now, I have so much to fill you in on while we were away....