webspelunker - My Travels Across Second Life: Five Years in Second Life

Saturday, May 7, 2016

How Far Do You Travel in Second Life?

A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.

Lao Tzu

During recent travels in Real Life (RL), I began thinking once again about travel in Second Life (SL). What follows are some random thoughts about travel inworld.

This particular trip was a long drive for a short vacation with Significant Other. (Significant Other went willingly across state lines with me. So any wise guys out there who

are thinking of calling the FBI can forget about it!)

Along drive like this brings out all the vicissitudes of RL travel.

There’s the preparation and packing, the actual driving, traffic, the tiring nature of the drive, the expense, getting lost (another story for another time), and the elapsed time.

Once at the destination, there’s the arrival, settling in, running around, and then getting ready to do it all in reverse again. Oh, and did I mention the poor WiFi reception while there? (Just in case any of you missed me while I was away!)

Inworld, we teleport wherever we want to go or we fly. (Does anyone really walk for any considerable distance in SL?) There’re no airports and TSA! (A necessary evil but boy they sure take the fun out of flying!) The biggest advantage is that we can do all this from the comfort of our RL homes! (Significant Other nods approvingly.)

Now, don’t get me wrong!

I’m not suggesting that we all crawl inside our RL homes and never come out again!

RL travel can be fun and rewarding! (Think of all those frequent flyer miles that we

accumulate but never can use.) But, we can’t always do it. For personal reasons, I’ve had to cut back on my RL dramatically over the years. (Significant Other is still nodding approvingly.)

But, SL has a lot to offer in terms of travel destinations including foreign languages. (I’ve met more than a few people who have learned another language inworld. Sadly, not too many of these are my fellow countrymen!) After over five years of blogging about SL, I’ve seen more than my fair share of places inworld?

What about you?

I have a few questions for my readers (Hopefully, more than the three who put my blog over one million hits recently.):

How far do you travel in SL?

How frequently do you travel to new places in SL?

Why do you travel to new places in SL?

Please add your comments to this story on my blog! My other readers and I would

love to hear your replies!

Thanks in advance!

As always, I’m grateful to all inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was passing through their lives!

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker. Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

My flickr Photostream is located here.

On Skype I’m webspelunker Ghostraven.

I welcome feedback from readers, please either comment on my blog or e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com .

If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.

Open roads and kind fires!

Saturday, April 16, 2016

Five Years in Second Life

All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.

Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring

The occasion of the annual anniversary of my blogging about Second Life (SL) is also my excuse to become somewhat introspective about SL and my journeys there. (Significant Other wants to know since when do I need an excuse for navel gazing.)

Oh, for those of you who have read my SL profile and have asked why I’ve been inworld for six years and only count five years for this story, it’s because for that first year I was pretty much lost during that time as I prepared my blog. (Not because as Significant Other suggests I’d miscounted when I first started this series.)

I have several key takeaways about my time inworld especially this last year.

First, there’s family and friends.

I say family deliberately. A short while ago, Becca Kellstrom and I became siblings in SL. I feel Bec is like a sister to me, an extension of my Real Life (RL) family. She works tirelessly to help her congregation at First UCC, but still finds the time to be the wise

cracking L’il Sis who’s always ready to out her older brother in his place and knock his ego down a peg or two when needed. (I’m becoming increasingly concerned though that Bec and Significant Other are comparing notes.)

Then there are my friends.

My old friends are always there to welcome back into SL and invite to their many community events. Perry Peterson, the Mayor of Mieville and I go back aways together. The crew at Devilhand is always welcoming. First UCC always has a seat for me. Lisah Blinker Lorefield invited me to her wedding.

There are those old friends who come and go. You know who you are and I hope all is well with you in both SL and RL. May our paths cross again!

Making new friends is one of the best parts of my job inworld! This year I welcome the Casterly Rock community, my friend from Antarctica (because of whom, I’ve now met

inworld someone from every continent in RL), and the woman who showed how she lives courageously without her RL disabilities inworld. I welcome all of you and thank you for allowing me to become part of your lives in SL. (Significant Other wonders if they’re as happy to see me.)

Next, after family and friends, I’m continued to be blown away by the creativity shown by so many inworld.

The video work by Suzie Anderton of Inworld Films, the photography of Fanny Vermont, Lora Chadbourne’s incredible builds of RL and scifi scenes, Ashley Carter’s

ongoing pictorial stories, and the dance productions of Paramount Players Dance Troupe all testify to the extremes that creativity can be taken inworld. I strongly recommend seeing all the wonderful works from all these very talented people.

While third on my list of takeaways but very important to the health of SL communities is the willingness of so many residents to help others both in and out of SL. Relay for Life (RFL) raises money every year for cancer research. A good friend is seeking assistance for another condition and receiving it from their SL friends. (She still needs help and if you check here!)

Last on my list of takeaways is my continual exploration of SL whether the actual sims or their residents. I’m still exploring castles, started a dungeon crawl, and continue to explore the sexual side of life inworld with a look at shibari.

After another of exploring SL, I still enjoy SL!

Making new friends and staying close to old ones are still enjoyable pastimes for me. I’m noticing that the older, more elaborate are slowly going away. The newer ones that

replace them lack their attention to detail and complexity but do seem to have more community involvement around them. The fact that new builds are occurring at all is an encouraging sign!

SL is still going strong I’m happy to say!

Maybe SL is not the RL media darling that it once was but it does have a talented cadre of experienced builders and community organizers who are doing marvelous things!

I’ll still keep exploring and blogging!

Maybe I’ll meet you along the way in the coming year!