What makes you jump up with joy?  As silly as this may seem, the stick on the hill makes us ecstatic.  Why you ask?  Because it means internet connectivity!

If someone asked you if you could disconnect from the World Wide Web could you do it?  If so, for how long?  An hour?  A day?  A week?  How about months on end with no access to anything.  

Sure you can do without “web browsing” or surfing for several days and probably not miss it.  Maybe you can even shut off Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok without much heartache.  But, can you be without contact from your family and friends (no emails, texts, chats, or messages) and no phone calls?  

It is a lot harder than you think.  Sure, it is the price we pay for being in paradise.  However, when we see that stick on the mountaintop we jump for joy!

That stick may mean we only get WhatsApp and Messenger (the low bandwidth sources), but sometimes that is enough.  Sometimes we don’t need the other connectivity.  But other times, we just want to see what’s happening in the news or social media.

So, the next time you see a stick on a hill – think of us and how happy we are to jump for joy!

Maybe Starlink will change our world with 24/7 access while at sea.  But at what cost?  So the question is to be or not to be (with internet connectivity)?

This has been our life for the past 4 years as we move across the remote islands of the Pacific.  We will continue to scream for joy when we see these wonderful sticks!