View Full Version : Blog Writing/Internet Access on the AT
Hey all! I'm thinking of writing a blog for the duration of the AT-- nothing too complicated, just a check-in for my friends/family on wordpress. I'm wondering if other hikers who have kept up blogs could let me know how easy it was to get internet access for a longish periods of time/how often you all posted, and especially how you all managed to upload photos. Thank you! Happy hiking!
Carry-On
02-17-2013, 17:12
I did a daily blog and was constantly behind, sometimes up to a month by the end of my thruhike. There were sections of several days at a time where I did not have service on my phone. I could write the blog on my phone (Droid X) and save it as a draft and upload it when I got service or in town. When my phone camera worked I was able to upload the pictures onto my blog or facebook. I had issues with the app I used to write my blog and it got totally messed up for a while, though I luckily didn't lose any entries.
Facebook was the easiest for real time updates, like to tell my family and friends I was okay during Hurricane Sandy.
I did all of that through my phone. When the phone camera stopped working I kept taking pictures with my "real" camera but never found the time or computer access to upload while I was in town. I was always trying to catch up on the writing anyway. Some places don't have internet or an available computer even in town, but most do. You still have to wait in line for your turn. I went to libraries sometimes for the internet, too.
I'm currently moving my blog from it's original address and editing and adding the pictures I never added before. I love that I have those memories even though it was a lot of work.
How manageable do you think uploading photos would be without an internet phone?
How manageable do you think uploading photos would be without an internet phone?
SCRUB HIKER
02-17-2013, 18:35
I hiked in the busy season NOBO without a smartphone, computer, tablet, Kindle--anything to use the internet--and I had no problem accessing the internet in town. Places that I can remember having access to computers:
1) town libraries
2) some motels and hostels
3) some outfitters
4) some other random establishments (Mojo's coffeeshop in Damascus, VA; the Chamber of Commerce in Bethel, ME.
That said, there is a time limit on using computers at most of those places ... it's either enforced, or it's just the polite thing to do not to hog the computer. Uploading pictures and writing out entries takes a long time. There's also the other stuff you would want the computer for, like reading/writing e-mails, reading the news, checking Wikipedia to answer that one argument you were having with someone yesterday about whether it was James Buchanan or William Henry Harrison who was the only bachelor president of the U.S. (all things I did on the internet in towns on the trail). There's also your other town tasks in general to worry about ... blogging from computers in towns seems like a huge time drain to me.
I would never bother with keeping a blog if I wasn't doing it from my own phone. Something you could do if you have a dumbphone (i.e. no internet capabilities) is text updates and picture messages to a friend, who will then post them to a blog, facebook page, whatever. You can do this multiple times a day for a lot of the trail if you're up for it. I had a friend who was doing this from Georgia to Maine via his flip-phone (https://www.facebook.com/atbronza).
yellowsirocco
02-17-2013, 18:56
And some of the remote places (Dutch Haus, Woods Hole) have internet through satellite. They have very limited bandwidth so uploading pictures is not allowed. Then there are places with old computers or just plain slow connections that are not good for much beyond a weather report.
HooKooDooKu
02-18-2013, 00:00
Many years ago (after the invention of the internet, but before the word 'blog' was added to our lexicon), I read about a through hiker that each night wrote a "blog" on a set of index cards. When he would get to town, he would mail the cards home where his SO would type a "blog" for him from the index cards.
hikerbee
02-18-2013, 02:07
Last year on the trail I kept a "blog" on trailjournals.com. I hand wrote all my entries and then transcribed them when I found a computer with internet (about once a week, sometimes more). Someone here described blogging in town as a "time drain". I have to agree, it took a lot of time (it kind of turned into a chore) and many hikers gave up on blogging because of this. I could be on the computer for well over an hour and sometimes not be caught up on all my entries that I had already written. It was frustrating at times, but I thought it was worth it. I have a detailed account of my hike and I got to share my journey with friends and family while I was doing it.
I ended up using flickr for photos (trailjournals is awful for that), but only ended up posting pictures about 5 times in big batches because it took so long. A couple of libraries let me spend lots of time on the computer, as well as a few hostels. Blogging using random internet points on the trail is do-able, but you have to be flexible and motivated to get it done. Good luck!
Prime Time
02-18-2013, 10:01
I think I'm just going to use the notes feature on my iPhone to make journal entries each day. Then, whenever I "connect" by turning off airplane mode to make a call, the notes entries will upload to the cloud, which I have enabled, automatically. That way if something happens to my phone, I won't lose my journal.
"Someone here described blogging in town as a "time drain". I have to agree, it took a lot of time (it kind of turned into a chore) and many hikers gave up on blogging because of this. I could be on the computer for well over an hour and sometimes not be caught up on all my entries that I had already written."
This is why I do the blogging on the trail itself. That, and because it's still fresh in my mind at the end of each day, whereas if I waited for trail towns I wouldn't write at all the same thing; details would get lost, jumbled, and in general I'd write something different.
Photos, however, I pretty much always do from trail towns, and photos alone can be a time sink. So my approach was generally to get text-only blog updates up as soon as possible, and then on at least a long Nero or better a Zero (even better a rare double Zero) go through and pick out at least one photo for each day, sometimes compress the photos for faster uploading, and then get them up there. After I got good at it it wasn't bad; having the right tools to browse, select, and compress the photos helped. But always a bit of a PITA. You can defer uploading the photos indefinitely; for me the much bigger issue was just keeping the blog text current so that my family and friends knew what was up with me.
KingGator and Sons
02-19-2013, 02:04
I intend on keeping a video journal along the way. Does anyone here have any experience with that?
King Gator - that (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxqFlzmB5pE) guy did it. I'm sure he could give you tips!
88BlueGT
02-20-2013, 13:29
I don't have any experience with blogs (especially while on the trail)... but if I am every lucky enough to thru-hike I would love to attempt to capture my hike in great detail. I feel like the best way to do this would be to write daily. I would most likely do this on my iPhone. I feel like that would be the best way to go about it.