Camping On Vancouver Island - Unplugging From The Net
There's nothing like shutting off the computer and staring at a campfire for a few days.
Sure, we did more than that but not much. No computers, no TV or radio. We walked on the beach, read, and took a few photos. What bliss!
Across the water, you can see the mainland of British Columbia.
The campground is hidden in the trees and along this side the beach is rocky. There is another section which is all sand - I'll show you that later in the post.
We walked along this shoreline for hours!
An Alaska cruise ship heads up the coast at twilight. This was shot at 300mm and cropped. I imagine the ship must be ten miles away.
The woods are full of noisy birds. This woodpecker was directly above our campsite.
There was a summer camp for kids in the park on the sandy side of the beach. School's out for the summer!
On the way home, we stopped by this calm pond to reflect on the journey... roughly one more hour to reach home from here.
Now that we're back home I'm fully plugged-in and back online. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. I wonder if I'm allowed to build a campfire in the backyard?
Thanks for stopping by my friends. I hope you all had a great weekend!
Thanks very much @pixresteemer!
Oh!! your pics are awesome! Unplugging every now and then is essential.
Have a good week, Keith
Thanks so much, Helena, you too!
Awesome photos Keith! It was nice to get away from the electronic world. I was away also for a few days but still connected it still was nice in the north country.
Thanks very much @waterfordguy!
I am so envious! Gorgeous photos! Go build your backyard campfire. I'll bet that would be the quickest way to find out if it's allowed or not!
Yeah, I'm sure it's ok this time of year. Probably not in the middle of summer when we get fire bans due to forest fire danger!
Definitely not a good idea during fire bans!
love the 2nd shot, these are great. It looks like you found a really good camping spot👍👍
Thanks so much @doitvoluntarily! Yes, it's a great spot, we really like it there!
Have you recovered this picture ...?...
Very beautiful.. 😍
Thank you, I'm glad you liked it.
That is indeed how I would describe “Bliss” Keith. What an idyllic place to camp and I’m so pleased to hear you had a very relaxing and enjoyable break. The shoreline looks so picturesque with the beauty of nature all around you. Welcome back! But I’d definitely toast some marshmallows over an open fire 🔥 in the back yard (if allowed) to have mini breaks from technology etc. every now and then. Getting back to basics is such a healthy thing to do. 😊 (U & R)
Thank you Trudee. I'm having trouble getting started again after my time off. I'm not sure that I'll be doing this any more. Is it worth it?
Hello my dear friend. I have been trying not to read between the lines but I have to admit to not being surprised by your thoughts at this stage. So many of us are re-evaluating our commitment to steemit in light of the decline in our accounts, low votes and general negativity as a result. I understand completely about the difficulty you face to get re-motivated after spending quality time away from the internet, with the people who mean the most to you. Even after a couple of days away, I go through exactly the same thing.
What keeps me coming back is not steemit necessarily as that is only the means with which I can derive more pleasure from my hobby, be inspired, encourage and be encouraged and keep in touch with my friends here. You and I both know how easy it is to slip into our self protective cocoons when life doesn't reward us for our efforts or when, what we have hoped for in certain areas appears to slip from our grasp.
The thing with steemit and cryptocurrency (which I still haven't got a handle on) is...….most of it is out of our control. And this is a real key as to whether or not we hang in here hoping for things to improve. As for me, I've adopted the attitude that I haven't put a cent into steemit. I've put a ton of hours and effort into my blogs and yes, I have taken trips for photography opportunities but as getting out and about amongst nature is something that gives me great pleasure, it has been most definitely worth it. I haven't a clue any more as to what our realistic or unrealistic goals should be for steemit, but I've stopped sweating those details.
You have to do what is right and healthy for you to do Keith and only you know what that is. I mentioned that we don't have much control over the outcome of cryptocurrency or steemit but what we do have control over is building our SP levels in the event that things turn around in the not too distant future. And I know I would regret pulling out when that happens. I can do a lot more with the money when that happens than with the small amount I have in my account at the moment. (Although a cruise sounds pretty cruisy right now) (lol)
Initially I was motivated by seeing how people have been able to make significant improvements to their financial situations. There is not a lot I can do to boost my financial situation but I still have a vision that steemit maybe a way to provide more financial freedom and I am not giving up on that dream. In recent weeks I stopped focusing on the monetary factors and have concentrated on getting my SP to 500. Anything else is a bonus.
The last few weeks have given me a sense of Deja Vu after what happened with Tsu. I ask myself, "What would I be doing with my time if I wasn't involved with steemit?" Lots of enjoyable things, for sure. But what I also realise is, that we all have creative urges within us and if we are able to cultivate and grow these passions, we are content...…..and fulfilled to a large degree.
Photography is not just about taking photos. It is appreciating the finer detail, striving to improve techniques, (of which I had very little when I joined Tsu) getting out of the house, interacting with like minded people, keeping my brain active and stimulated and enjoying the friendship of others who have invested time and energy into helping me keep my creative fires burning.
My advice to you, is to not stop doing what you have a tremendous talent for. If doing so daily is not enjoyable or taking you away from other priorities, post every 3 or 4 days...…..once a week or a fortnight if that suits you. Don't put yourself under any pressure or feel you have to interact more than what is comfortable for you.
Keep your creative passions alive my friend but do it your way. I will be very sad to see you go but ask yourself this question. "What have I got to loose by leaving?" (apart from some hard earned dollars.) Take them and put them to good use and don't feel bad about it. Do your camping trips...…..but please call in and share your amazing work with us from time to time.
Posting my work on FB does not inspire me. So, whatever happens here in Steemit, and despite the many setbacks I've endured in my life, I'll continue to do what inspires me for my personal growth and well being and I really hope you will do the same.
I send you friendly hugs and blessings and whatever you decide, I know we will keep in touch...….even if we have to do via (Choke, Cough, Splutter) FB. (lol)
I appreciate you taking the time to reply Trudee. Let me say this: I'm here for the money.
I know many people would say they are here to be sociable and that is a huge component of the experience here without question.
I also do not like Facebook. I have not posted once, not a single word on Facebook since the day I became active here - roughly five months ago.
With that said.... there is not a single person on Steemit who I have met in person, or who I know "in real life". By comparison, virtually everyone I know in real life is on Facebook. All of my family. All of my friends. Everyone I ever worked with. Probably every person I interact with here also has an account on Facebook whether they use it much or not.
So.... time will tell, but I am here for the money. If that goes away, so do I. I hope things work out here, but I am not particularly optimistic at this point. I think when Dan starts up his new version of Steemit on the EOS blockchain, this will be over.
Interesting comments Keith and it just shows how much I know. I’ve heard the name Dan mentioned before but I don’t know who he is and I’ve not heard anything about a new version of Steemit. I would however be interested to hear more. I’ve been tying to stay optimistic in the hope that things will turn around and of course that has everything to do with the money because as much as I enjoy photography and keeping in touch with friends I would like to know that my efforts will pay off in the long run.
Dan and Ned are the two founders of Steemit. Dan is considered the tech genius behind Steemit and also Bitshares. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Larimer
Ned Scott is the CEO of Steemit
Dan and Ned had a public falling out months ago - probably before I started here. (All this is public info being on the blockchain, but I don't have dates or references handy - you can look all this up if interested.)
Dan left Steemit to found the new EOS blockchain which launched a couple of weeks ago after the biggest ICO in history - raising something like four billion dollars.
Dan has publically announced plans to start a new social network on EOS which he hopes will address many of the problems currently happening on Steemit. I don't believe a time frame has been mentioned.
The price of the EOS coin is crashing along with all the other cryptos... so that four billion valuation is waaaay down now, and I'm not aware of any applications running on EOS yet.
Let's see.... what else? Oh yes, Ned powered down half his stake in Steemit a few days ago.
Look up @ dan and @ ned. l'm giving you my interpretation of current events based on stuff I read here.
Check out the trending page sometimes and read what the witnesses have to say. I have seen public spats where one witness unvotes other witnesses for talking too much about EOS...
I have no financial advice to offer except that in general if you want to have a million worth of crypto you should invest two million and wait about a week. Steem has dropped consistently from the day I got involved (with a little rally in April/May). Trying to build any value in my account has been very much like pouring water into a leaky pail.
I am currently powering down everything but NOT selling - I want to have liquid steem so that I can react to whatever happens. My current 100% vote is worth about 0.03 - meaning "it's only the thought that counts" when I give an upvote. I don't imagine anyone will care much if my vote becomes 0.02 or 0.01.
If things turn around here I will sell my massive BTC and EOS holdings and power up here! :)
Daniel Larimer
Daniel Larimer is a software programmer. Larimer created the cryptocurrency platform BitShares (2014), was co-founder of the blockchain social platform Steemit (2016), and is CTO of EOS, with the company block.one (2017). Daniel Larimer was also the creator of the DPOS ( Delegated Proof of Stake Algorithm ) consensus algorithm and Graphene technology. In February 2018, Forbes estimated Larimer's net worth between $600 to $700 million.
Why thank you - what a helpful little bot you are... check it out @trudeehunter :)
Many thanks for the info Keith. Nothing is certain with cryptocurrency except speculation by the sound of things. I will continue to do what I have been doing in the hope that things will improve.
I'm certainly not trying to convince you to do anything else Trudee.
what a beautiful spot and yes I agree its good to take at least one break a year for a few days and completely off the internet and relax and remember what is really important
Thank you! Yes, at least one break probably a lot more would be good.
Beautiful photos Keith. Backyard campfire sounds nice..have you got marshmallows? The woodpecker looks a bit different than the ones here.
Thanks very much! I don't know what type of woodpecker that is. It's quite large, and there was a pair of them, but it was difficult to get a shot through all the tree branches.
A heavenly place! That's very good for your health, disconnect from time to time it takes all of us! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you very much. Yes, that's a favourite place of ours for camping :)