BLAZING PLACE, MONTANA — Three days into her latest backpacking trip, Kendra Chester is thrilled about the prospects of reaching her goal. “This is a great trip,” she says, “but I’m so ready to hit that mountain top tomorrow! It’s going to feel so good to achieve a wireless signal, I can almost taste it already.”
Ms. Chester reports that it’s been a difficult three days. “I’ve faced a lot of personal challenges on this trip. I’m used to being on Snapchat every three minutes. And my Instagram… how many fantastic pictures do I have ready to post that I can’t upload yet? And what if I’ve lost some followers? I don’t have any way to know… no LTE, not even a whiff of lousy 3G service.”
She maintains a positive attitude by focusing on how the trials of the offline trip will contribute to the satisfaction of her goal. “Tomorrow on the summit will be so sweet. I’m going to celebrate this achievement with a group text, and then maybe hit up my blog with a quick ‘hi from the summit’ or something. I love how adversity makes me a better social media personality.”
The Hiking Times 