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Sunday 8 November 2015

Technology a two edged sword?




Is technolgy a double edged sword?  I think e-mails are wonderful and enable me to keep in touch with friends and family without needing to find paper, pen and stamp and then go to the post box and yet........ As you know the Wanderer is away in the Himalayas and in years gone by that would have meant no contact until she got home so I'd be here wondering and worrying (probably no postcards on sale in the mountains either) but with the wonders of modern technology I can receive e-mails from her even though she is so far away for it seems that there is wifi even where she is (though that might not be the case higher into the mountains).  It was wonderful to hear that although she had flown into Lukla airport which is supposed to be the most dangerous and scary airport in the world as the video above will show (if it doesn't play try clicking the bottom left corner or failing that the link instead) she was fine and really enjoying it all so far.  I slept like a log that night.

But then another e-mail arrived yesterday which said that she had been suffering from either a migraine (she used to get these a lot when a teenager but rarely since) or altitude sickness although she was feeling better now, the guide having brought her tea and soup and her trek buddy carrying a small pharmacy with him, and was hopeful that she would be able to continue the trek especially as they were to be a couple of days wherever it is they are now giving her more time to aclimatise.  You can imagine that I was concerned and worried that she might be forced to abort the trek especially as I knew just how frustrated she would be if so.  (I told you I was a good actress didnt I? I personally don't care a jot about her completing the trek of course!)

Now without modern technology I wouldn't have known about any of this and would continue in blissful ignaorance as I wouldn't have known about the airport nor the altitude sickness but neither would I have known whether she'd arrived safely either.  I have a further 3 weeks of worrying to get through till she flies home on 30th!  Yet is she actually any more likely to come to harm in the Himalayas than cycling to work in London?  Can I do anything about any of it?  She is an adult and perfectly capable of making her own decisions and dealing with whatever life throws her way so why are mothers hard-wired to worry all the time - would it be easier if I had several children or would that simply multiply my sleepless nights?





I am learning a lot from her travels though as from barely knowing where Nepal was I now know more about the country, climate, trekking and customs etc having dipped into Lonely Planet Nepal which I got from the library and also reading Michael Palin's Himalaya too.  Now from wondering why on earth anyone would want to go there I can see it might be quite interesting though the long flight from Heathrow (and the short flight from Lukla!), the physicality of trekking for hours along rugged paths, along with sleeping on thin mattresses in tea houses (I know what they are now and have Googled images to see pictures) or as seems likely later on in tents in the freezing cold mean I am unlikely to be following in her footsteps! (I doubt they would accept a 70+ year old trekker with no previous experience anyway)  I will stick with local walks I think as yesterday when I walked through the wood to the post office in the rain slithering about on the mud and needing windscreen wipers on my glasses what a change from earlier in the week when I took the above photos on an earlier trip to post a letter on Monday afternoon.  Might not see Everest on this path but there is no danger of coming face to face with a yeti not of altitude sickness hiking up the slope here!

Thanks for all your supportive comments on my previous posts - glad to know it isn't only me who worries!


16 comments:

  1. Mums always worry about their children.Both of mine are in their forties but I still worry,more about my daughter than my son.I think that is because Sarah is a Type 1 diabetic and also because we see more of her(she lives only 40minutes away) we know more about her day to day life.Matt lives in Cambridge and is a business person and very busy with work and family.

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  2. Agreeing with you all the way, Jane. Mine have gone much the same route..not actually that airfield, but some other scary places. But they are all older and wiser now with their own children to worry about. I laugh!

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  3. I'm sure she'll be fine, but I bet you'll be relieved when she returns. Personally I just worry about my cats!

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  4. This is all sounding very familiar to me Jane. Sally said the Sherpa guides were absolutely wonderful and took fAntastic care of everyone if that is any reassurance for you. Her guide carried her pack on the last very hard day so she could get to the lookout to see the sun rise on Mt Everest and even took photos of her unasked when she says she was past caring. I think they( the girls ) are crazy but apparently they love it !

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  5. I know exactly what you mean, being able to be on tap can bring you closer to far-flung family but it also means you are privy to a lot more day to day ups and downs that you hitherto were blissfully ignorant of! Yippee! More to worry about! Ah well, that's progress for you! But you can be very proud of your Wanderer, I'm sure she is having the time of her life and will bless this opportunity for years to come. Lxx

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  6. Its hard isn't it - so wonderful to be able to keep in touch with such up to the minute detail, and so working about what you then know! I'm sure she'll be fine and you'll have her home soon :-)

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  7. Technology is certainly a mixed blessing. We want to know and we don't want to know. It can be worrying to see our children go off on these wild adventures. High altitude headaches usually disappear after a time of acclimatization - I used to live at 9500 feet and visitors would often complain of them. Tea and soup would have helped hydrate her and that's a good thing.

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  8. Oh what wonders she will see, and she will make memories that will last a life time, I am sure she will remember the experience all her life, lucky her! doesn't stop you worrying though! Xxx

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  9. I agree with so many of these comments. There are things I prefer NOT to know! My son had a book delivered here about some of the mountain treks he does in the Tien Shan range, and told me I'd be really interested to read it. I wasn't and I didn't after page four. Sometimes ignorance is more blissful.
    At his age I was working in Saudi Arabia. Sometimes the post got through, more often it didn't, and telephones never worked. My parents had no idea what I was up to (and I never told them afterwards!).

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    1. I have not joined Facebook for this reason as I feel that I'd be mortified not to be accepted as a friend of my daughter but at the same time I can see there would be things I'd rather not know on there! Ignorance really is sometimes bliss!

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  10. A two edged sword indeed. I am not sure if it is worse not knowing or not hearing. I always feel like that when my husband travels with work they are not the usual places you would travel so communication is patchy!

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  11. Yes, too much information can set us thinking lots of stuff we might otherwise not give a second thought too. I remember seeing a film about Everest base camp last year and it was busier than Blackpool! Sounds like she's surrounded by useful contacts and experienced fellow travellers. Soon be home I hope to out your mind at rest!

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  12. Hello...is this the same Marigold that visits farmlass?

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    1. Hi! I tried to comment via my blog but had some glitch. Thanks so much for visiting. Where is your daughter? You are so right about the protection thing. I remember when Aja (my girl) was born and already knew she was OUT in the world and I could only do so much. It's like that umbilical cord is about a mile long and we just keep snipping at it! Hope you are well. K

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