View Full Version : Long Distance Hiking and Family
joedannajr
09-25-2006, 07:55
I am thinking about a thru hike sometime in the near future. I am in my mid fifties with a young family. :-? The big question that I have is how folks deal with keeping in touch with family while on thier personel adventure.
Hammock Hanger
09-25-2006, 08:03
I am thinking about a thru hike sometime in the near future. I am in my mid fifties with a young family. :-? The big question that I have is how folks deal with keeping in touch with family while on their personal adventure.
telepathically - phone calls - pocketmail - email - journals
hopefulhiker
09-25-2006, 08:12
I found that using pocket mail helped me keep in touch with family and friends. It weighs about a half a pound. I send my journal entries out via pocket mail when I got to a pay phone and my wife would post the entries on trail journals..With pocket mail you can pick up lots of emails from people and send them out with just one 800 phone call.
Footslogger
09-25-2006, 08:55
I am thinking about a thru hike sometime in the near future. I am in my mid fifties with a young family. :-? The big question that I have is how folks deal with keeping in touch with family while on thier personel adventure.
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I didn't have the "young family" situation and my wife is a distance hiker herself ...so my circumstances were different. That said, I carried a phone card with me in 2003 and called my wife just about every time I passed a pay phone. Probably ended up calling her at least once a week.
With the gradual disappearance of pay phones though, I think I would now carry a cell phone, with an extra battery and small charger. The phone would stay in my pack on the trail, other than in an emergency, but would really come in handy when I hit a town for re-supply.
'Slogger
I too had a family at home when I thru-hiked. I was able to call home at least once a week and sometimes more. I also up-dated friends by e-mail sent from hostles and libraries along the way. I had few problems keeping connected with those in the "real world".
I found that using pocket mail helped me keep in touch with family and friends. It weighs about a half a pound. I send my journal entries out via pocket mail when I got to a pay phone and my wife would post the entries on trail journals..With pocket mail you can pick up lots of emails from people and send them out with just one 800 phone call.
I am quite interested in hearing your review of this pocketmail device-both pros & cons> I usually handwrite a journal while hiking but prefer the editing capabilities of some computer and as much as anything I want it for that. So, any helpful comments would be appreciated.
hammock engineer
09-25-2006, 09:55
I am quite interested in hearing your review of this pocketmail device-both pros & cons> I usually handwrite a journal while hiking but prefer the editing capabilities of some computer and as much as anything I want it for that. So, any helpful comments would be appreciated.
I was thinking the same thing. I am working on what I am going to take. Whether it is a cell phone, pocketmail, both, or neither. Can anyone post what there experience was with battery life and charging of the pocketmail? Mainly how long does it take to recharge, how often did they need to, and how hard was it to find places to charge. I would rather stay in a hostle or hotel because I wanted to and not because I needed to charge my batteries.
Another point of view I have is that the less ties you have with the "real world" the more you can consentrate on your hike and not be bothered by things away from the trail.
Some folks come out to do a thru-hike but they don't want to leave anything behind. What I mean is they feel that they must be in contact at all times. In 2000 I met a guy from Ohio. He was the owner of several Wendey's resturants and was planning to stay in contact with his managers, by cell phone, from the trail. He lasted as far as Dicks Creek Gap. He could not get cell reception so he called his wife to pick him up and he went home.
I did not take a cell phone. I did not do frequent mail drops or use a bounce box. I very seldom watched T. V. or read a news paper. Except after 9-11.
I wanted to be in the world of the AT and not attached to the "real world".
It worked well for me. You, and others, may have a whole different view of doing a thru, so like you will hear many times from many different hikers. "Hike your own hike."
Happy trails. Grampie-N->2001:cool:
My pocketmail weighs 12 oz. and the batteries (2AA) lasted over 2 months with daily entries, some quite long and frequent use of the backlight. The keyboard is small enough that I went to a 2 thumbs method of typing instead of using all digits. The 2 thumbs slowed me down but was doable. If you use Pocketmail be sure to ask for the extra 800 number that will work with payphones. The two #s on the back of my device would not always work with payphones.
I took a cell phone with as well, only turning it on when I was alone and ready to make a call. I rarely had a problem with a low battery (only when I failed to turn it off) and was able to use my charger while in town. No one I talked with was ever denied plugging in the charger while in town, even while eating ice cream at a convenience store then heading back onto the trail. I did not carry an extra phone battery, there is a limit to everything.
Hope this helps.
I like the AA battery aspect. That is an amazing amout of time on it, too. And, since I am a four-finger typer the small keyboard MAY not be much a hindrance to me, but I dont know. But, handwriting in a journal without a desk and chair is somewhat uncomfortable, too.
How comfortable is it to use it?
How about editing capability? Is it simple?
Is the program similar to using Word?
How many pages can you input before you run out of memory?
Thanks
The big question that I have is how folks deal with keeping in touch with family while on thier personel adventure.
Telephone calls and letters. Letter writing is a lost art form. A letter means more to someone than an email or call however.
Good luck.
Hammock Hanger
09-27-2006, 11:10
Telephone calls and letters. Letter writing is a lost art form. A letter means more to someone than an email or call however.
Good luck.
I went to a Catholic School where penmanship was stressed. I came away with beautiful handwriting. Now after years of using a keyboard for work and on my own PC I find my hand actually cramps if I write too much. Not to mention that with each paragraph my writing gets sloppier and sloppier until it is barely legible.
A letter maybe nice but I'll stick with my keyboard.
I will say that before my hike I went to the card store and found some really nice cards that said a lot of the things I feel for my husband. I tuck some of these away in my bounce box and would write short notes on them and send them to him at various/random places along the trail. -- You can buy cards along the way at some of the larger grocery stores and pharmacies as well when not doing the bounce box thing.
Just some thoughts. :sun
How comfortable is it to use it?
The uncomfortable part is how long are you going to be sitting up/lying down while typing. It can be tiring depending upon the length of your message.
How about editing capability? Is it simple?
This unit is easy to use. Backspace, highlight, delete, etc.
Is the program similar to using Word?
A pared down version. What do you want to do? It will type letters and I'm told insert photos (on the web) but all I needed was to type.
How many pages can you input before you run out of memory?
I typed for over 2 months and still had over half the memory left. I don't know that there are pages to count.
Hope this helps. www.pocketmail.com
Thanks for the response. I have looked at their website but nothing beats some first-hand info from someone, such as yourself, who has actually used it.
I was less interested in it for being able to download email text with it than to use it as a journal...or both, now
thanks