When I was a teenager, I traveled, and my parents only had a general sense of where I was in the world. They knew the country, for instance, and maybe even the city, but I rarely knew where I was staying before I left, unless I was staying with a friend or family. I rarely knew which city I would be in on which day. I bought a Let’s Go guide and chose a recommended hotel from the book when I reached a new place.

I had an international calling card. It was almost a dollar a minute, so I only called every two weeks, or maybe once in the middle of a three-week trip. I never knew when people would be home, so I took my chances when I called. I wanted to call late enough that people would be home, but early enough that I felt safe because the phones were outside, on the street. It didn’t feel safe to stand on a street corner at midnight and call in the dark just to get people at 7 pm at home.

I took photos, usually bringing four rolls that held 36 images each. A luxury! I couldn’t wait to send off the film when I got home and see the pictures a week or two later.

The twins are still away on their grand adventures. They’ve met up and are traveling together this weekend. We know this because we’ve been able to speak to them almost every night. They call or FaceTime to tell us about their day. They check in with text messages during the day. Sometimes they sent pictures so we can see what they’re seeing in real time. We get credit card alerts, so we know which city they’re in via their purchases.

In many ways, it feels similar to when they’re away at college. It’s just the amount of distance that makes my stomach clench, but in actuality, we’ve been able to have the same sort of contact with them, which is 10x the contact my parents were able to have with me while in college because there was no texting, no mobile devices, no video calling, infrequent email, and expensive phone calls.

I feel silly talking about how much I miss them, but I miss them. I really really miss them. I feel so lucky that I don’t have to wait weeks to hear what they’ve been doing or see pictures. I can acknowledge that earlier generations had it harder. And I can still miss them. A lot.

My nibling’s camp allows letters — no phone calls or packages — which means we pull out the stationery every summer. I know I grew up with only letters — even phone calls were rare due to the cost — but it’s a weird sensation to write someone questions and know they will not be able to answer. Or tell them about something that won’t be important by the time they read it.

I also feel a compulsive need to confess all of my camp wrongdoings as I write them. Yes, I snuck out of my cabin at night. Yes, I made a phone call during the Harper’s Ferry trip even though it wasn’t permitted. Yes, I dumped tennis cans full of water over the top of the shower.

I am going to guess that my nibling is a better camper than I was.

*******

Stop procrastinating. Go make your backups. Don’t have regrets.

Seriously. Stop what you’re doing for a moment. It will take you fifteen minutes, tops. But you will have peace of mind for days and days. It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

And now the blogs…

*******

But first, second, helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week. To read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• “The Last Onesies” (Infertile Phoenix)

Okay, now my choices this week.

The Barreness has been taking care of her parents, and it’s turning her world upside down. She writes, “I made a promise to myself recently (in the last three weeks) that I would like to try and have a relationship with my parents and not spend my time fighting, bargaining and being run over.” She explains how this looks in practice, and I feel like it’s a good post for all to read and learn from. It’s a very heavy situation.

Lastly, Finding a Different Path deals with some picture books that came from a baby shower. It is time to give them to a child who can read them, but it’s still a heartbreaking post. She explains: “They brought to the forefront a reminder of an alternate life, a ghost life that never fleshed out. I felt it viscerally. Not because I want that life or am unhappy with my life now, but because of all the promise those books represented, and the heartbreak of a dream unrealized.” Go give her a hug.

The roundup to the Roundup: Writing letters. Your weekly backup nudge. And lots of great posts to read. So what did you find this week? Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between July 3 – July 10) and not the blog’s main URL. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week. Read the original open thread post here.

There was a part in Spalding Gray’s monologue Gray’s Anatomy, where he talks about the Bermuda Triangle of Health. The idea is that it’s the time “where the body begins to break down in alarming and humiliating ways.” In his case, a macula pucker.

The idea had always stayed with me, but I didn’t actually look back at the book to see the years he deemed the Bermuda Triangle of Health. It’s 50 – 53, if you’re curious. I saw him perform the monologue when he was 53 or 54, based on a quick peek at his birth year on his Wikipedia page. I was in college when I heard him perform the monologue, and he felt so old back then. It made complete sense that his body would be breaking down. But now that I’m here, it doesn’t feel old at all. Do college kids look at me and think that I’m impossibly old?

I thought about it this week because I’ve been dealing with sciatica pain. It’s getting better so I’m not going to see the doctor for now, but it has made me feel creaky and off for weeks. Once upon a time, 50 – 53 sounded so far away. Nothing to worry about. And now it’s here. Thanks a lot, time.

I’ve never been a big game show person, but we ended up watching old episodes of The Chase because every hotel in Ireland seemed to show hours of episodes each night. It’s a trivia show that ranges from popular culture to history and literature to sports. We started shouting out the answers along with the players. The stakes felt high. I’d go to shower and rush back into the room to ask what had happened to the team. Had they been able to beat the chaser?

Our Four in a Bed. We watched bed-and-breakfast proprietors give each other hotel advice in a friendly competition to be the best value for money. And I looked forward to it, my time with random hosts. What had gotten into me?

I’ve had a hard time returning to my regularly scheduled program. I cannot seem to shake post-travel fatigue, read intense books, or consume the news. It’s like my brain is telling me to be gentle with it. Don’t jostle it or challenge it too much. Give it a hot water bottle and let it watch game show episodes from 2009.

Would I have felt this way if I hadn’t given myself a break? I think so. I think my brain was heading this way months ago. I just gave it permission to take a break

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

*******

I have no memory of how I found this site, but it pulls up the most popular page on Wikipedia the day before. It’s interesting to try to figure out why everyone was searching for it. Sometimes it’s easy — it’s the World Cup, and it’s a football player — but other times it feels sort of random. And then strange when you see that 300,000+ people all had the same thought.

*******

Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts connected to businesses or sponsored posts.