Creating Space in the Company of Others

Laura wearing her noise canceling headphones.

It's two days before departing for home after nine glorious weeks in the RV.  A Wednesday of working remotely has both of us are looking forward to spending some time together in the afternoon.  Living and working in the 300 square feet of our Safari Sahara motorhome is easy for us because we worked up to it gradually.  My first work-related phone conference while on a "work-vacation" occurred in 2006 when RVing meant trips in our Coleman tent trailer.

Our 1996 Safari Sahara 3530 motorhome versus the 1993 Coleman Pioneer Chesapeake tent trailer it replaced in 2014.

While the size and comfort of our mobile office have improved over time, the challenge of two sharing a space when one is on the phone in conferences remains.  Early efforts had me typically moving to our Honda Oydessey van that towed our tent trailer when I needed to get on a conference call.  As the RV's and the boats got bigger, Laura and I found we could be in separate cabins or rooms with a door providing some level of sound isolation. What we wanted was a solution that allowed us to be in the same space together.

Wireless Noise-Canceling Over-Ear Headphones

Sony WH-CH700N

Technology has a wonderful way of solving problems when it isn't creating new ones.  We purchased Laura a rechargeable, Bluetooth wireless set of headphones with noise-canceling technology.  The headphones mask my talking so Laura can be in the same room watching TV or listening to music. They work so well, that I typically have to tap Laura on the shoulder if I want to get her attention.

Laura has come to enjoy the sound quality of the headphones so much, that she'll frequently switch to them when listening to audio from the Internet.  Being Bluetooth enabled, she can pair the headphones with her computer or with her phone.  The earlier photo of Laura at the grill with the headphones on is an example of the beauty of Bluetooth.  Prior to popping up to check the status of dinner, Laura was sitting in her zero gravity chair listening to a podcast on her phone which is connected to the Fidalgo Bay RV Resort's Wi-Fi, and thus has Laura connect to the Internet.  Isn't technology wonderful.

Live well, Laugh often, Love much