Tweeting from the summit of Everest

Often while traveling, it seems that there’s no place immune from a wireless connection. Hotels, cafés—even buses allow you to connect with the world using your cell phone, laptop, or notebook.

It’s been many years since I’ve heard someone make a call from an airplane using those seat-back phones: “Hey, you’ll never guess where I’m calling you from.” I suppose that’s part of the allure for calling or tweeting from remote places. Recently, mountaineer Kenton Cool tweeted from Everest’s summit, and then called his wife. If you thought Everest was one of the few places that were immune from social networking, you can cross it off your list now.

Only a few years ago, I was completely off the grid when I visited my home in Honduras. I’d have to take a boat ride for an hour to use the telephone—when it worked. Cell service was nonexistent. Now, I can email from my place while looking at three cell phone towers on the nearby mountains.

Lamenting the days of getting off the map and away from technology is a waste of time. Ultimately, it’s all under your control. Want to get away from email, Facebook and Twitter? Don’t use it. You don’t even have to leave your gear at home. Just determine when you want to connect and when you don’t. This week, I’m in Colombia and will be in the jungle part of the time. I’m relishing the ability to shut everything off and ignore my electronic leash.

How about you? Do you yearn to shout from the social network mountaintop when you’re connected in a remote place, or would you rather just enjoy and talk about it later?