Then and Now
April 23rd
1. Everyone is nearly always on their phones. The only seats we could find in the airport terminal are situated next to the phone charging table. I am next to a man who is clicking through the apps on his phone so quickly, hardly staying on one for longer than maybe 30 seconds that it made me think about what a problem this is. I did already know this from my own irrelevant clicking and searching but now I could witness it in action very clearly and for about an hour. This guy was ignoring his family who were sitting patiently nearby and he was surfing for ‘nothing’. If he was reading the news or answering emails I would get that but he is just manically clicking and checking and then repeating. It is an addiction – he can’t help check one more time. I then look around the room and probably 80% are staring at their phones. This has been the case for most of the places we have been to. We are all doing it and this I have noticed wherever we are, and whoever we are with. Surely this is going to have major repercussions to the way we communicate and also physically to our hands and fingers.
We are now in the last stage of this trip so during my long delayed wait at Manila airport I’ve been thinking how different this has been from when I travelled in my twenties.
Here is my list of top ten changes:
1. Everyone is nearly always on their phones. The only seats we could find in the airport terminal are situated next to the phone charging table. I am next to a man who is clicking through the apps on his phone so quickly, hardly staying on one for longer than maybe 30 seconds that it made me think about what a problem this is. I did already know this from my own irrelevant clicking and searching but now I could witness it in action very clearly and for about an hour. This guy was ignoring his family who were sitting patiently nearby and he was surfing for ‘nothing’. If he was reading the news or answering emails I would get that but he is just manically clicking and checking and then repeating. It is an addiction – he can’t help check one more time. I then look around the room and probably 80% are staring at their phones. This has been the case for most of the places we have been to. We are all doing it and this I have noticed wherever we are, and whoever we are with. Surely this is going to have major repercussions to the way we communicate and also physically to our hands and fingers.
2. The plus side of phones is being able to book places in advance while on the road rather than spending a few hours each time walking from place to place checking out which place we prefer or where has a room. In my twenties I don’t remember this because the guidebook was the place for recommendations or other travellers and budget meant there were limited options. Also I think places were less booked up because without the internet people didn’t usually book ahead.
3. Being older and having more money means we can stay in more comfort, avoid the cockroaches (mostly), pay for the bigger room, change choices when we want and not spend hours haggling over an extra £1. However, when we stayed in Cambodia at the school I did enjoy our mattress on the floor, cold bucket shower and the shared bathroom with all the other twenty something backpacking volunteers. I’m not sure how long I could have done it for but it felt adventurous and also a refreshingly simple way to live without all the stuff we all require on a daily basis.
4. Travelling with Taran brings a whole new perspective to the trip. He points out and see things we never would. He definitely makes me live more in the moment rather than checking when the bus leaves the following day.
5. I don’t remember all the unpacking and packing in my twenties but maybe that’s because I took less stuff and we have three enormous suitcases!
6. Energy – definitely less.
7. I am more anxious about timetables and getting to places on time and more conscientious about keeping us all healthy. But I was sitting next to four gap year girls yesterday in a café and overheard one of them say ‘the thing I worry about most is missing a plane’. So, maybe we are all more anxious – old and young.
8. The salad is now washed in most places and street smoothies are generally safe to drink. Hooray! There are companies now that deliver clean water ice to most cafes, bars and even street sellers. In Cambodia you would see enormous blocks being hacked up (admittedly by filthy looking knives) which would then be used in all drinks they sell.
9. Half of my suitcase consists of medical aids.
10. I don’t care so much about what I’m wearing but this means that after 3 months I look a bit like an old baglady. And I haven’t worn any makeup for the whole time. Maybe that’s why a lady in the bus yesterday (who I thought looked younger than me) offered me her seat! But Taran has also reminded me that I told him about travelling around China when I was 20 in boxer shorts covered in frogs - so many lack of chic and style when travelling hasn't changed!
If anyone has any additions to this list from their travels, please post.
3. Being older and having more money means we can stay in more comfort, avoid the cockroaches (mostly), pay for the bigger room, change choices when we want and not spend hours haggling over an extra £1. However, when we stayed in Cambodia at the school I did enjoy our mattress on the floor, cold bucket shower and the shared bathroom with all the other twenty something backpacking volunteers. I’m not sure how long I could have done it for but it felt adventurous and also a refreshingly simple way to live without all the stuff we all require on a daily basis.
4. Travelling with Taran brings a whole new perspective to the trip. He points out and see things we never would. He definitely makes me live more in the moment rather than checking when the bus leaves the following day.
5. I don’t remember all the unpacking and packing in my twenties but maybe that’s because I took less stuff and we have three enormous suitcases!
6. Energy – definitely less.
7. I am more anxious about timetables and getting to places on time and more conscientious about keeping us all healthy. But I was sitting next to four gap year girls yesterday in a café and overheard one of them say ‘the thing I worry about most is missing a plane’. So, maybe we are all more anxious – old and young.
8. The salad is now washed in most places and street smoothies are generally safe to drink. Hooray! There are companies now that deliver clean water ice to most cafes, bars and even street sellers. In Cambodia you would see enormous blocks being hacked up (admittedly by filthy looking knives) which would then be used in all drinks they sell.
9. Half of my suitcase consists of medical aids.
10. I don’t care so much about what I’m wearing but this means that after 3 months I look a bit like an old baglady. And I haven’t worn any makeup for the whole time. Maybe that’s why a lady in the bus yesterday (who I thought looked younger than me) offered me her seat! But Taran has also reminded me that I told him about travelling around China when I was 20 in boxer shorts covered in frogs - so many lack of chic and style when travelling hasn't changed!
If anyone has any additions to this list from their travels, please post.
ps. We arrived in Hanoi at the end of this day and I already love it even at 5am without any sleep. Driving through from the airport the city is waking up, the conical hat wearing sellers are filling their bicycles with colourful flowers and fruits from the markets, the dusty Parisian like streets are being swept and the buzz of thousands of mopeds are starting to chaotically and erratically criss-cross around the streets. I can see there is going to be much to explore tomorrow.
What an interesting comparison to make! Then and now, say I, as I peck away on my phone commenting on your post.
ReplyDeleteI’m in the waiting room while Deke is under anesthetic with his heart stopped while a hopefully brilliant surgeon tries to squeeze a few more years out of his poor old heart. I look around and everyone is either on their phone or asleep. The only thing that brings people into the present moment are updates from the front desk or arrival of new family or friends.
What would be the difference 40 years ago?
Paperback books! There isn’t one in evidence!
And more chat between the strangers united in here by the commonality of having a loved one suspended between life and death.
No chat but that could be partly me. I don’t want to chat.
I’d MUCH rather hear about Hanoi!
I’m sure you look like a very well dressed bag lady😂😂