Where Does Your Road Lead in Second Life?

 

I am much inclined to live from my rucksack, and let my trousers fray as they like. 

Herman Hesse

  

          Winter draws nigh where I live. 

          The long nights with their deepening shadows tend to make me somewhat more introspective than usual.  (Significant Other’s eyebrow arches on the words “than usual.”)

This time I take to wondering where do all the other wanderers in Second Life (SL) head off to in their journeys. 

          I know my reasons for wandering inworld.

          Wandering in Real Life (RL) is no longer practical or desirable.  (Significant Other nods approvingly.  Sometimes I get it right!)  But, I do love the journey for the sake of the j

ourney and I enjoy scribbling about my travels.  (I even have three loyal readers who enjoy reading them too!) The lure of new places, new friends, and new experiences is always there for me.

          Ergo, I wander inworld!

          Of late, I’ve begun to wonder about the others who travel the highways and byways of the Grid never calling one place home, never leaving anything behind but memories of themselves.  Are their reasons for journeying similar to mine, are they different, why?     

          Wandering in SL is a very solitary occupation.  Yes, you meet others as you travel about but generally they tend to stay where you find them.  As in RL, they have commitments that keep them tethered in one place.

          The people of whom I write are not those who come to build, or role play, or join a community but those who yearn for the open road like I do.

          So, I’m going to ask those who travel across the Grid like I do to write me with their stories about why they wander, or meet up with me inworld. Better yet, why not come with me for part of my journey.  (I still need a crew for a voyage across the seas of SL after my

last crew jumped ship on me!)   

          As I wander across the Grid, the old saying, “Not all who wander are lost.” Always comes back to me.  While different from RL, SL still gives me that experience of wandering without a map.  (I ignore Significant Other’s comments about knowing that experience as well.)  Many of the people whom we would meet in our RL travels are already here inworld.

          Why not come out and join us?  

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.

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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!

 

Travel in Second Life

 The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.

Saint Augustine               

                This past week, in Real Life (RL), I took an unexpected trip to Europe for business purposes.  (And, no, for those jokers out there, I was neither deported nor running from Significant Other.  Although, maybe my boss was getting me out of the way.)  Preparing for this trip and taking it got me thinking about travel in Second Life (SL) and what it means to me. 

          Why did I start thinking about travel in SL?

          Well, maybe it had something to with the multiple time zones I had to go through to get to Central Europe.  Or, maybe the packing, hassling through traffic to get to the airport, get checked in, and then wait for my flight.  Oh, did I mention the fun of going through security with the TSA? (Please note that I support security for air travel that doesn’t mean I have to enjoy it.  It’s like a relative who once told me that World War II had to be fought, he just wanted to know why he was the guy stuck in a plane and sent somewhere he never even knew existed to be shot at.) 

          For reasons which seemed beyond my control, like most things in my life, (Significant Other posits that I was a really horrible person somewhere in past life.) I ended up last week hurtling across the Atlantic to arrive in Central Europe (Place names are being withheld to protect the reputation of those countries kind enough to receive me.)  Since I don’t sleep well on aircraft, there is something unnatural about the whole experience, and I had to make a connection to arrive at my destination, I arrived at my hotel just in time for a 93°F heat wave.  (In case you didn’t know, air conditioning is not yet pervasive in some former Warsaw Pact Countries.  Not because of fifty years of Communism as my local friends told me, and yes I can make friends in RL, but after a couple of millennia of more or less accurate weather reports courtesy of some local monks, nobody thought it was a worthwhile investment.  Yeah, they said the same thing about lifeboats on the Titanic.) 

          By now, you may be starting to see why I’m thinking about travel inworld versus RL.  But, it’s more than the vicissitudes of actually moving around.  RL travel makes me realize how much like a kaleidoscope SL is when it comes to travel.  Language and customs come together.  I can stand in a sim and be talking with people from all ends of the world at the same time.  We talk about our respective lives and communities.  We sometimes misunderstand one another. (OK, I’ll admit it, I misunderstand them.)

          How different is this from my standing in a coffee shop, not Starbucks, too far to walk in the heat, in a foreign city talking with people kind enough to speak to me in English because I couldn’t speak theirs?  (I’m American, remember?  We don’t recognize any languages other than American.  L'Académie française has my face on posters in its offices due to my efforts to use their language.) 

          But, we do bring our real lives into SL.  We take our world views, biases, prejudices, and preferences.  These are not always negative but serve as baseline for where many of us begin when we first come inworld.  We experiment in SL where we wouldn’t in RL.  (Don’t worry, I was neither nude while wandering around Central Europe this week nor did I visit any BDSM clubs.) 

          SL is certainly more convenient to visit than many RL locations.  Some may argue that more can be seen or done inworld than in RL.  It’s certainly cheaper.  And, it’s safer.  (Excluding griefing, phishing, and other privacy concerns.) 

          So, as I wrap up, it’s great to be home in RL with Significant Other.  RL is very important but sometimes it can take us away from loved ones and familiar places in a way that SL can’t. 

          As in most things, balance is everything.  RL and SL can both get out of whack.  I’ve seen RL ruin their lives because they spent too much time away from home.  Likewise, people have had their real lives fall apart because of their involvement with SL. 

          Travel gives me time to be alone and think.  (Think long flights in the middle of the night where there is only one overhead light is on in an otherwise dark cabin.)  I pulled these thoughts together while on my journey.  At times like this, I tend to let my mind wander.  (Significant Other cringes at the thought.)  Hopefully, I’ve given you something to think about yourself. 

 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. 

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.