Geeking out, at a distance

I knew going in that one of the hardest things I’d have to deal with was moving away and out of the lives of the many good friends I had back home, consequently missing out on all of the fun activities and gatherings we enjoyed.  Staying in touch and connected with someone half a world away is a tall feat, even today with the vast array of social media available to us.

One of the many things we’ve enjoy doing since we were teenagers was having LAN parties (local area network).  For the unitiatited, these are gatherings where the attendees bring their computers, connect them together and proceed to play games together until the wee hours of the morning.  Repeat for multiple days if desired.  It’s anything but healthy, but for the geeks among us, it sure is fun!

In my home life I greatly enjoyed planning and organizing these, and that’ll be on my to-do list whenever I have the opportunity to make it back.  These were great ways to spend quality side-by-side time with friends, drink in a friendly and relaxed environment, and generally unwind as guys.  I’ve lost track of the great memories and friendships forged over the games we’ve played together at these events in the past.

In any event, there was a small gathering of friends back home that got together to do just that over this last weekend.  I’ve never attended a LAN party remotely, but with the luxury of high-speed internet connections, the opportunity to join them remotely was afoot.  I grabbed a 6-pack of a tasty-looking IPA, fired up Skype to share video, joined them on voice comms, and proceeded to spend a significant chunk of the weekend playing games with them remotely.  It wasn’t quite like being there, but it’s the closest I’m likely to get for a while, and it was immensely enjoyable to see everyone, game, and trade bullshit.

It’s definitely moments like these that will allow me to stay connected in a meaningful way to my friends back home.  Not everyone will be lucky enough find an activity like this that can be done together remotely, but keeping in touch with friends and loved ones back home will be an important aspect to maintain in this new life.