My Travel Man has a crazy work schedule. He’s home, he’s gone, and then he’s home again. Sometimes his trips turn around so fast it makes your head spin, and that’s no joke, for him and for me. In the last few weeks I have realized that his travel communication has taken a new turn. Whenever my Travel Guy is gone for a few days we always make sure we get in some video chatting time. This is really important for him and for me too, to have the personal connection time. Normally we chat on either Facetime or Google Hangouts. Google Hangouts usually has a fairly decent connection either domestically or internationally. We have used it in both instances, and had fairly good video success. Just a little long distance relationship advice.
Now back to my original story – the airlines (in our family meaning Southwest Airlines) have recently updated their WiFi service and it is now available on most flights across the country. What this means for my Road Warrior of a husband is that he can stay connected to home and chat with me while he is 30,000 feet above wherever he is flying to or from. It’s a great techie tool for him to stay a little more connected with me at home, and keep up on all of the latest news with the kids and grand-kids. For instance, we have recently had a rash of a certain cat in the house (who shall remain nameless) bringing in his latest catch for me to see. So I’m able to chat with my hubby and let him know we have yet another mouse or lizard in the house. I’m sure on the other end he has a little chuckle as he knows how much I hate to have anything crawling around on the floor that does not belong there.
And you know it’s more than just a little mind-boggling to realize that we can chat with each other the whole time he is in the air. I’m still completely amazed by this fact. You realize my mind-boggling won’t even register with our grand-kids. They will be growing up thinking this is “par for the course”. Nothing out of the ordinary for them.
Also there have been occasions recently where I will have the grand-kids here with me and I allow Evan to type a few chat messages to his Papa. He always takes a “Selfie” to send along too with a sweet loving message.
So here is the way my Travel Guy’s flights go these days with his new-found WiFi connection while he is in a big metal tube in the air. He has a nice tablet computer that goes along with him wherever he goes. He is normally able to watch a movie, or a TV show via the airline connection, chat with his wife, and check his email messages. That’s a ton of multi-tasking while on a travel assignment. I suppose it could be a blessing and a curse. A blessing because we are able to stay more connected than before, and a curse because he doesn’t really get any time off from his work e-mail. A fine line and a tightrope that a lot of people walk these days I’m sure.
My Travel Man really likes to geek out since he’s on the road so much, and I’m truly glad he’s got all the techie do-dads he needs to make his travels just a little bit easier. The added bonus of the WiFi in so many places makes our connection with one another all the more convenient, and we definitely like it that way. Being able to stay connected like we do is what makes the distance between us just a teenie bit more tolerable.
