Over-tourism
Given Jean-Paul Sartre coined the phrase “hell is other people” back in 1944,there was perhaps an inkling that tourists would become a problem. Still,you never really had to think too much about over-tourism not so long ago. You could go wherever you wanted and pay very little mind to your contribution to possible social and environmental damage in the world’s most popular locations.
This is a modern-day issue,and a serious one. Are there too many people in Kyoto,too many in Amsterdam,too many in Bali? And what do you do to alleviate it – other than just not go?
Hidden charges
Try going back in time 20 years,maybe 30,and explaining modern-day pricing structures to those travellers. You have to pay extra just to check in your luggage? And to choose your seating preference? And what the hell is priority boarding? And why did the flight I looked up a couple of days ago suddenly jump in price when I looked at it again today? And what’s an exit row?
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Bill shock
Posting a letter never cost anyone thousands of dollars. Buying an international phone card never morphed into a crippling,shocking debt. No one ever bankrupted themselves at a pay phone. Old-school travellers would be confused by this concept of bill shock.
So you would have to explain to them about mobile phones,and how we’re all connected all the time,and the way you can turn it on for a minute or two overseas and wind up with thousands of dollars of debt if you don’t have the right plan. (Oh yeah,we have “plans” now.)
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Digital detox
Relating to the above post is the fact we’re now always connected,everyone always knows what you’re up to,and there’s an expectation that you will always be there – for family,friends,even work – at the end of the phone,or even just on email,at all times,despite being on holiday halfway across the world.
Hence,travel companies have now begun offering “digital detox” tours,where you’re forced to part ways with your phone for a week or so and just concentrate on your destination and your experiences. To which old-school travellers would probably say:“Huh? Why don’t you just stop using your phone so much?”
Cities start to look the same
You might be familiar with Paul Kelly’s seminal travellers’ epic from 1997,Every F---ing City,in which his lovelorn protagonist has spent so long on the road in Europe that every city is starting to feel,sound and look the same. We’ve all been there. The thing now is that every city really is starting to look the same,thanks to the march of globalisation. There are exceptions,of course – Tokyo,La Paz,Tangier,and on and on – but it can be hard sometimes to shake the feeling that the shops are the same,the desires are the same,life is the same.
Airport security
Remember going through an airport back before September 11,2001? You and all your non-travelling well-wishers could just swan through the baggage scanners,pockets chock-full of Stanley knives and nail scissors,bags brimming with liquids and aerosols and maybe even some small electronics,clothes mercifully unswabbed in the hunt for explosives,and go all the way up to the gate for a big goodbye. And there was a time,of course,when there was no security at airports at all.
That has very much changed now,for obvious and unfortunately essential reasons.
The wanton destruction of our fragile planet
Sigh. It’s true. This is not something many of us particularly concerned ourselves with until recently. Now,however,travellers have to come to grips with – and hopefully alleviate – the damage that they are causing the planet by doing what they love. The carbon emissions from jet aircraft,the massive single-use plastic waste,the trampling on fragile historic sites,the social issues caused by a huge influx of short-term visitors,the financial inequality … first-world problems,yes,but real ones.
The Wi-Fi code
Anyone know what the Wi-Fi code is? And why is everyone staring at their phones instead of talking to me? And why can’t I get Instagram to upload any videos? Can I hotspot off someone?