
Most of the time Wilderness travel and spending time in nature are good opportunities to leave your cell phone at home, unplug, and get away from the stresses that come with always being connected. However, for Amy and me sharing our experiences during A Year in the Wilderness is an important part of our journey. Because of this we have some cameras and other electronics with us, which would usually be left at home when we head out into the Wilderness. People often ask us how we can keep our satellite phone and other electronics charged. Well, we carry a couple of small, portable solar panels and battery packs made by GoalZero. When the sun is out we lay these on top of our canoe to collect energy from the sun. We do not have an unlimited supply of power, so we have to be very conscious of our power consumption. We usually use a journal to organize our thoughts and write a first draft with pen and paper. Then we turn on our ipad, type the final draft, add a photo, send our entry to the internet, and turn off our electronics. Then it’s back to enjoying all the wonders that the Wilderness has to offer. We don’t want to miss something because we had our nose glued to the screen. Spending time in the Wilderness has helped us understand how important it is to unplug and spend time outside in nature. We hope that you can set aside a little time each day to spend outside, with your electronics turned off, observing and enjoying nature. #BWCA #bwcaw #boundarywaters #wildernessyear #savethebwca #solarpower #wilderness