Off grid

For the past several years there has always seemed to be a conference (or two) or major marketing push (or two) that completely occupied the summer for me.  So for five or six years in a row my family has wound up being orphaned, and has wandered off for 4 weeks or so without me.

This year I managed to get away, and spent a couple of weeks seriously off-grid. I hadn't been away from email for more than 48 hours for over a decade, so this was a real change for me.

My family has a recreational property in the middle of British Columbia, Canada - 6.5 hours driving from Vancouver. It is pretty remote, and completely unserviced. The nearest wires of any kind are about 30 minutes of really bumpy driving away - the nearest store about twice that.  Running water occurs when the wind blows the lake (10 feet from the cabin) really hard. :)

When I was growing up I spent my summers here, but it has been 18 years since I visited. It hasn't changed much.

The most interesting change, though, is that while it seems completely off-grid, it isn't really so any longer.

Rowing down the lake I noticed that a few cabins (literally 3 that I saw) have solar cells, so I guess there's the possibility now of power if you want it.  And talking with a neighbour I discover that it is possible to get cell reception from a tower 30 miles away as the crow flies by removing the stock antenna from your phone, replacing it with a Yagi somewhat larger than a dinner platter, and pointing this contraption in a specific (and unlikely) direction.

And I got thinking: solar power; cellular data (I hope); a social shift to telecommuting. Dang, I could work here. High tech marketing in a cabin built of logs felled locally and dragged to the building site.

So, you saw it here first: the future headquarters of Glen Martin Enterprises or something.

tags: telecommuting  solar cell  remote  

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