A dead harddrive.

On the road my Macbook laptop is a photo editor, video assistant, digital databank, my global communication link to the world, and the only way I can call me mom.

Two weeks ago. My little computer shut off and never turned back on.

I will spare you the convoluted story of repairing a dead computer in a foreign country, to share with you what the experience has taught me…

Technology is central to my life (I justify it to myself by calling it a tool) and I’m certain it’s the same for you (Demonstrated by the fact that most of you who are able to read this blog probably can’t go more than a few hours without itching to check your email). Being thousands and thousands of miles from home, often in unfamiliar places, technology like email, Skype, access to online hometown newspapers or a simple internet video-call home makes me feel nary a few miles away some days. Technology is a blessing because it keeps us connected and it makes taking larger and larger steps from our homes less daunting.

But being computer-less and unconnected for the last few weeks I also see that this lifeline of communication technology also serves as a leash. (This demonstrated by the chaos caused by the Blackberry outage in the US a few months back). Technology now allows us to be nearly any place on the planet in less than 24 hours and technology also gives us the ability to communicate instantly. Though this is fantastic at times, it becomes a problem when instead of experiencing our lives where we are and in what we are doing, we are more concerned about the stock prices in Asia, the unsolicited email from a friend, the latest Hollywood gossip, or even the ‘Breaking News’ near our homes. The technology lifeline for many, has become a technology leash.

In traveling, I see tourists (myself included at times) who, having paid thousands of dollars to travel to the other side of the globe to visit one of the many astonishing natural wonders of the world, collectively spend more time looking at it through the viewfinder of their point-and-shoot camera, then they actually spend looking at its splendor with just their own eyes. I see many people (myself included at times) who collectively spend more time looking at their world over an Internet connection than they do actually living in it. It took the death of my computer, the loss of every part of the ‘digital me,’ to realize that.

And though I am not naïve nor purist to think we should cut our digital leashes (as there are many great benefits, like having a lot of great people able to come with me on a trip around the world) I realize how much life and parts of my travels I may have actually missed in my past because of the leash, and am dedicated to rethinking my life and travels a bit as we head down the road.

This doesn’t mean my posts here will be less frequent, or I’ll be putting less effort into them, it just means that those of you sending emails (which I absolutely love!) may have to wait a bit longer for a response, if you Skype me I may not always be around, and also, it’s less likely I’ll be able to quote you the latest stock price of Apple, if you run into me on the road.

Needless to say, I’m back online (with a new found technological clarity), I’m back in my blogging seat, thanks for sticking with me, I promise you the adventures I have to share have only just begun. 9 months in to a trip around-the-world, halfway around the globe, and 15 months and few more continents to go…