TRAVELLING ON A MINIMUM TECH BUDGET
In most ways, travelling today is vastly more convenient than it has ever been before. Thanks to the help of modern technology, seeing the world is less confusing, it has lower barriers, and it’s safer than it was just a decade ago. Though tech facilitates these advantages, it can also complicate the experience in key ways. With all our different devices, we can disconnect from some travel elements that used to be unavoidable.
Looking at what we might accomplish with the minimum possible tech of just a smartphone and a pair of headphones, we want to explore what can be done, and how your experience might improve.
Drawing a Baseline
A smartphone is too important to ignore when travelling, and its benefits extend to more than just communication. For example, if you’re a fan of Slingo online games like China Shores and Day of the Dab, you’ll still be able to get the most from these titles with even an older device. These don’t require much data either, so slower overseas connection plans will still be great fits, even if something like video streaming on YouTube is a struggle. Whether you’re waiting at an airport or on a long train journey, these games can provide entertainment and help pass the time. Fun is always fun, so we don’t want to suggest abandoning smartphones entirely for a more radical approach.
We’ve chosen headphones as an addition because of their usefulness as a tool, especially when they are noise cancelling. Being stuck next to loud noises when out and about or on a flight can put you in a bad mood with zero advantages, so we recommend checking out these headphones from Mashable if you’re looking to invest. If you’re stuck at a bus stop for five hours, a little music isn’t going to hurt.
Why Reduce Your Tech Load?
If you’ve spent a lot of time travelling, then you undoubtedly would have come across somebody who spends more time setting up their tech than enjoying what’s really in front of them. Balancing up a tripod and microphone and waiting 45 minutes to record yourself walking up a hill might look great on Instagram, but it’s no way to really get lost in your travel.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with travelling like a tech god if that’s your thing, but it can add a degree of inauthenticity that takes away from your trip, as CNN explores. Without too much technology to constantly baby, we’re forced to connect more closely to what’s in front of us, and the opportunities presented. A random animal sighting or memorable incident can be lost without taking a more natural route, and this is again something we’ve witnessed others experience in person.
A big part of travel isn’t just seeing different things, it’s experiencing a way of life fundamentally different from what you see back home. While it’s perfectly okay to enjoy yourself with digital entertainment at times, we need to remember to commit ourselves to analogue approaches too.
Ultimately, there is no right way to travel for everyone, and we don’t want to encourage the elitism that can infect certain attitudes towards seeing new things. At the time same, sometimes the best memories can’t be captured with technology, instead existing as the emotions that can only be affected naturally. The days of paper maps might (thankfully) be behind us, but there’s something to be said for days disconnected from an over-reliance on technology, and it’s worth exploring even if just as an experiment.
