For the past 10 days I’ve been on a travelling vacation, off the grid of my world and my own personal routine of chaos, away from the bed that knows me, loved ones that hug me, Tim Hortons and pizza delivery, away from internet and cellphone service and from my daily general busyness. I am in foreign lands where I must be on guard, find a bathroom, and utilize my fetal knowledge of foreign language to request beer and thank someone very much.

I was sad to be missing out on some events while away. What else was I going to miss? Would I miss out on an important piece of mail? Some witty Facebook updates? With the average lifespan of a social network page being a mere 3 hours long, certain aspects of online action would surely be rushing past my attention even more than usual! Would my grid implode without me? Am I being overdramatic? Is over dramatic redundant? Am I redundant? Am I getting carried away with rhetorical questions? That was rhetorical. Sorry.

If I’m missing something by being off my grid, I’m also gaining something from stepping away from it for awhile. It’s refreshed me. It’s given me some time to slow down and caused me to be introspective. It’s been nice to be an observer of other lives and leave most decisions to my traveling companions. At the height of my deliberations has been pastry choice. It’s not as easy as it may seem, though. Some chocolates are creamier than others and some are quite bitter! It’s been peaceful and strangely liberating to float along without a restrictive agenda, open to suggestion and adventure and another pastry with beer.

As I return to the grid of my world I feel fresh and optimistic. I anticipate more frequent stints off the grid and I intend to allow more flexibility in the grid itself to allow sustainable peace and spontaneity.