Sometimes, You Have to Disconnect in Order to Connect
I am currently on a train, bound for Seattle. Still getting used to life on the train, but it has been incredibly fun thus far. On this trip I am become very familiar with the idea of “disconnecting.” In today’s world of social media and cell phones, we are never really given the chance to fully disconnect from everything around us. Well, being on a train in the middle of Montana is a great way to disconnect. Why? Because there is absolutely NO phone service. For miles. Not having phone service is the prefect way to truly disconnect. You spend the first 30 minutes “refreshing” all your feeds hoping something will magically happen. It doesn’t. Once you realize that you are completely disconnected from all the people not on this train, you find time to connect with the people around you.
It started with the beautiful young girl (pictured above) who made the perfect model. I’m no photographer, but I couldn’t help taking her photo (multiple times) and she couldn’t help but smile and strike a pose! She was a lot of fun. I also connected with some other people on this trip. A had a long chat with a guy from Vermont who recently quit his job and is taking a train around the continental United States to his final stop in Atlanta, GA. He could have easily flown directly to Atlanta, but instead he is taking the scenic route, by train to get there (Seriously. NYC > CHI > PDX > SFC > LA > ATX > NO > ATL to name a few.). How cool is that? I also met a cool chick who didn’t know what exactly to call herself when I asked what she does. She told me that she has no noun to describe what she does, and that she is just living. I can respect that! Lastly, I met an incredible guy named Dustin. He was on his way back home to Oregon. He works as an electrician on an oil rig in North Dakota. We talked for about an hour about what he did, and some of the awesome places he has had the opportunity to live. He was honestly one of the most genuine people I have come across.
I’m not saying that I wouldn’t have met these people if my phone had 5 bars. I’m saying that because I wasn’t allowed to stare at my phone, refreshing the feed, I was able to have genuine conversations with the people around me.
Sometimes, “No Service” is the best service.