In the good old days, you'd get on a plane, train or automobile and go on a big adventure. Only being able to send letters or postcards to loved ones back home when you had the time and opportunity. Now, we're connected. Constantly. And so has the romance of travel, as a result.
There's a lot of noise about digital detoxing at the moment. People are tiring of the smartphone addiction and all its anti-social trappings.
We sneer at groups of friends in bars or restaurants who are not talking, just scrolling through endless shit on social media.
People post pictures of their babies doing something not everyone finds interesting or their pets doing something only they perceive as funny or their dinners. The write streams of mundane updates about their boring lives or self-congratulatory peacocking posts. They use it tell their friends how happy and in love they are. Or, in recent times, force a political opinion on people.
And as you're looking at other people's stuff, you feel the pressure to post and document your every fart. I find myself using it as a sort of digital diary that I can look back on and to build a professional network. Some people might find it interesting (weirdos), but to most it's just noise.
In a lot ways, the internet has made travel easier. You can do currency conversion and translations on the spot. You can check maps and transport availability. You can look up entry requirements and health issues. And you can keep in touch with home, so people know you're still alive.
But this constant need to watch everything through a phone and post it on Instagram. This addiction to likes and shares means we're not living in the moment, we're doing everything for the benefit of everyone else.
You're not in an African school because you want to do something good, you're there because you want to post it and this, in turn, will affirm your personal brand.
We've all become marketers, but the thing we're selling is ourselves.
If we genuinely go away to "get away from it all", we should be leaving social media and email behind too. It's counterproductive to holiday on a beach or in a forest and be constantly connected to the things that stress you out.
I'm not saying leave your phone in the hotel, by all means take it with you. You should document your travels and capture those memories, but don't be a slave to it.
