DISQUS

Antiques · 1 year ago

Dont get me wrong, I rely on my internet for everything and when on vacation i am lost without it. But when you are away, you are supposed to AWAY! To live a different lifestyle, learning first hand different cultures. We all know that seeing/learning something through experience sometimes works better than sitting back and clicking. The internet prevents us from experiencing things first hand.

BUT if the argument is that internet isolates us from eachother, i would like to know what you think about ipods and mp3's. Don't they isolate us as well from each other? Comments welcomed!

Christine · 1 year ago

Antiques: I think the internet, MP3s and iPods-- even books and hiding in our hotel rooms ordering room servce... can all isolate us from each other.

My point is exactly that: let's not throw the baby out with the bath water.

There are tons of great things about the internet, just use it well.

Jorge Cabaleiro · 1 year ago

Like everything by itself it isn't good or bad, but how you use it.

I think it can be a very good tool for a small research on the journey and enjoy it much more: special places, reserve rooms. Why not to use it?

Nomadicmatt · 1 year ago

excellent article! I use the internet a lot. I use it for most of my research, plans, and communication. Actually, I don't know how I lived without it.

Another benefit is that it is much more up to date with information than guidebooks!

Julie · 1 year ago

Christine-

Great, astute observations, as usual.

Just today, I had a lengthy conversation with a travel writer with both print and online experience, and we agreed that online travel writing is FAR more exciting that most print pieces... mainly because of what you identified: online publications allow for a conversation and blogging platforms don't typically require the rubber stamp, which is usually reserved for pieces that are predictable and fall into a certain mold.

I'd also add that the online platforms allow for quick retrievability. Although we're bombarded with more information than ever, we also have the ability to access something we read a month ago or a year ago and bring it back to our consciousness in a way that we can't do so easily with the print version of a magazine or a newspaper. This feature not only serves as a handy travel planning tool; it permits us to get perspective on the depth and breadth of a place with ease.

Julies last blog post..Too Darn Hot!

Anthony · 1 year ago

In trying to plan my route around Argentina, I've gone to realize that the internet isn't that useful. Argentina is huge, and trying to get info on distances isn't as easy as I'm sure it will be once I'm there. But getting overall info on a country, I'll take the internet for that. Otherwise, I'd be even more lost going to a land I've only seen on a map. And getting to keep a blog to inform others of your trip is awesome.

Anthonys last blog post..Soñar

Will · 1 year ago

So this stirs up a lot in me.

For starters, I think that the line between many people's work and leisure time is becoming obscured to the point of being non-existent. If I'm not at a job, I tend to be working for myself...generating income...and I use the Internet for that heavily. Ruined travel? ...That depends on one's viewpoint of travel. If travel is thought of more as "vacation" - an escape, then by all means - leave work behind, ditch the mobile phone and enjoy your time away from it all, but if travel is a lifestyle...then live! If part of your lifestyle is using the Internet for...whatever...then don't get too caught up in trying to fit within the boundaries of some external definition.

If one were to believe that the Internet is ruining or has ruined travel, the same thing could just as easily be said for any number of technological advances and various forms of dissemination of information. Anything from newspaper and magazine articles, guide books, telephones...mobile and land based, tour guides, tour buses...It's pretty easy to avoid any of the things you don't want as part of your travel experience.

You really sucked me in with the Antarctic references. I'll tell you what, I'm at the South Pole at this very moment. Friday June 20th (Local - we run on New Zealand time) is our annual mid-winter dinner celebrating...well, half way through the winter and a short three months until we see the sun again. We have internet here...only for 10 or 11 hours/day...but apparently in somebody's opinion this means this isn't a remote location. Anyone who has read this is invited to join me for mid-winter dinner. It's on me! Just show up to this non-remote location for a wonderful meal!

O.K....sorry for the article within an article.

Chad @ Sentient Money · 1 year ago

If you notice, both of the writers you mention were in their profession well before the internet existed. Davies is over 70. Not sure about Burkett, but her photos suggest mid-40's to mid-50's (I'm terrible judging age). They sound biased towards the internet because of when they grew up.

Travelers/explorers who grew up before the telephone probably thought the same thing about the telephone when it went into widespread use.

Chad @ Sentient Moneys last blog post..NO BONDS!

Kirsty · 1 year ago

I love the internet. But I despair when I walk into a hostel common room and everyone has a laptop propped on their lap. I suppose it's the same as having your nose in a book but there's something more uninterruptable about a laptop. Then what do I do? Get mine and do the same. Hrm.

But then again it can make it very easy to connect with more people, too. Couchsurfing, people you meet through your blog etc etc.

Nice article!

Kirstys last blog post..People on Message Boards Can Be Scary

Theresa · 1 year ago

I understand that many articles are written to stir up a response, thus they take an extreme position. No one ever got readers by being moderate and walking the line, but I really hate it when I read articles like the Times Online article you quoted. Internet is not ruining travel. Money is not evil. A candy bar every now and then isn't going to kill you. As with anything in life, it's about how you use it. To me this article totally smelled of the "good ol' day" phenomenon when we all look back longingly at how we trudged uphill both ways to school through snow 10 feet high. And then we have a moment of lucidity and remember that it either actually wasn't like that at all or if it was, it wasn't actually that good of a time. Bleh. If you want to get off the grid, then do it. If you'd rather not, fine. There's no one right way to travel. Do what makes you happy.

Theresas last blog post..Useful Things Learned Hiking

Jenny · 1 year ago

I don't know how I'd live without the internet, communication and information are its sole purpose.

Jennys last blog post..MyDriveHoliday Links Directory