This Digital Content Writer Goes Analog

I love my job as a digital content marketing writer. It's been more than two and a half years, and I'm grateful every day to go to the office, dive into the work, be around brilliant coworkers, and challenge myself.

But all my work happens online: case studies, infographics, e-books. It's rare that anything gets printed. My whole day involves being inside a building and looking at a computer screen. I gaze briefly out the window at the wind rustling the trees, the waves on Puget Sound, the burning sunsets—and then return to my screen. My brain thrives on the research and writing, but my body wants to interact with something more concrete and organic.

Image from here

Friends, I'm taking a break from my regular digital world to work on a side project that involves a lot of hiking. I'm signing off for a few weeks to spent time in the Cascade mountains, be outside, quiet my mind, and thoroughly tire out my body.

Love this little dish. Thanks, Tena!

I'm looking forward to thinking about trails, plants, and wildlife instead of the typical jargon of technology marking. The only gated content I'll consider is when there is a physical gate, blocking a forest service road. My integrated solution will be mixing my packets of Via and hot chocolate. The only bandwidth I'll ponder is the thickness of my backpack straps.

I will continually optimize my strategy for navigating scree fields. My real-time data analysis will include looking around at, you know, everything I can see right there in real time. My powerful tool for improving decision-making will be checking the weather forecast. My legacy solution will be my old tent that I've been meaning to upgrade for years. My centralizing of data will be putting maps and a compass in the same Ziploc bag.

Goodbye message from coworker. Thanks, Mia!

I will be filled with glee over the intuitive and user-friendly interface of my backpack. The only dashboard view will be the one in my car. My workflow steps will involve a boot hitting a dirt trail. I will marvel at the seamless intereroperation of my pocket rocket stove and its gas canister. The only cloud storage that matters will be the amount of moisture in the ones overhead. And the only omnichannel solution I'll leverage is to capture a vista with my eyeballs, binoculars, and camera.

I'll take notes on paper, sing instead of listening to digital music player, and wake up with the sunrise instead of an alarm. I hope you have a fabulous and fun August, and do whatever feels summery and relaxing to you. Catch you on the flipside!