Third World (Wide Web)

There is no doubt that the internet has changed travel.  Wireless networks and internet cafes can be found everywhere we've been so far and if they are not free, the cost is unsubstantial.  We have booked many rooms and all of our flights online.  We have been able to stay in touch with the goings-on of home and relay our experiences.  We can research a city and read reviews on places to go and things to do. 

There's no overstating the convenience of having a hostel to direct the taxi driver to when arriving at a bus station, checking in early to a flight, or looking up transit schedules to avoid long waits at a terminal.  It's priceless to have the opinions of thousands of fellow travelers at virtually any time and on just about every topic from places to stay and countries and cities to visit. 

I have been traveling fairly seriously for over 10 years and have seen this revolution that has changed so much of our daily lives-from working to shopping-alter the experience of the road forever.  In 2001, when I spent two months wandering Greece, the internet was a way to check email.  In 2002, from Spain, I was able to follow a Giants game through the slow pitch by pitch diagram.  In 2006, Jason and I would  occasionally pop into a hotel parking lot to access their wireless networks to book a room while passing through about 40 states.  In 2008, Uwey booked a room in New Orleans on her phone while we traveled Highway 10 from Baton Rouge.  Right now I am typing this blog on our netbook at a cafe in Phnom Penh with free WIFI. 

But as I expound upon the benefits that this global revolution has conferred on my generation-X life, I think about what I have lost as well.  There is no doubt that I want to know what time our bus leaves tomorrow but can't say that I don't look back fondly on the time I played guitar for 6 hours while waiting for my train to Corinth to Athens.  When Adam and I searched for hours for a hostel in Barcelona in 90 degree heat it was miserable but I smile when I think of it.  Jason and I drove past exhaustion in New Mexico in 2000 only to pass out in a hotel parking lot where we experienced an act of kindness that changed us both.  With smart phones, we would have likely been in one of that hotel's bed. 

I have made countless wrong turns on the road, an act that is possibly preventable now, and have gained from many, if not most of them.  It is true that Uwey and I could sell our netbooks on the streets, we could drop letters in the mail and feel our way by foot.  I'm sure many still travel this way but it is no longer for us.  I said that the internet has changed travel but we have to acknowledge that we were changed before we hit foreign shores, it is a foolish notion to move backwards.  There is a balance, as with all things, and we will find it.  Already we have seen hostels, not available online, better than ours.  The internet is a powerful tool but so is our instincts and our judgement. G-chat anyone?