(cross-posted on JustWanderlust)

One of the great things about taking a trip to the West is the peaceful serenity of the plains, prairies, buttes, and mountains. Everyone needs to disconnect from the grid occasionally and reflect on our amazing planet and the beauty that surrounds us, typically missed because his nose is buried in a cell display sending a text or checking status updates. At that point, even a 21st century man feels a connection to his ancestors who roamed this country on horseback, their newest ‘gadget’ the carbine rifle.

But then, even a nature-loving man like myself begins to miss a few things about the Internet, discovering firsthand the withdrawal induced when a beer falls over in the tent and quickly transforms a high-tech mobile gadget into a tent stake hammer.

Here are the top 5 things I miss now that I no longer have on-the-go mobile Internet access:

1. Can’t send mobile updates to this blog!
I had set up a couple methods to post in addition to the normal web interface, namely Jott and email-to-post. (Note: I haven’t found a way to post to Wordpress.com from email, just self-hosted Wordpress.)
I’m setting up Shauna’s phone now so we can hopefully Jott to the blog from it instead.

2. No more GPS
I used my LG Voyager not only as a mobile phone, texting machine, and Internet device, but also as a GPS navigator. This is not a good function to lose on a cross-country trip, as it’s one of the most useful features! It’s valuable for many reasons: get directions, find your current location, search for local businesses, and see how long it will take to get somewhere.

3. No mobile campground searching
It turns out it’s difficult to find a comprehensive, printed listing of campgrounds — at least one that’s not the size of a phonebook. I miss being able to search sites like Woodalls for campgrounds in a given radius.

4. No instant online photos
Until my camera adds a cell phone, I’m getting by with the cell with added camera. It doesn’t provide great photos, or even a flash, but it does the job of getting a photo from capture to sharing across the world in less than a minute.

5. No more phone
I thought I was done after #4, but then I realized that I do occasionally use my cell as a phone. I am so 2007…