Showing the Way — Technology While Travelling

For many of you, it’s rare to go ten minutes without checking your email (or do people just jump straight into Facebook these days?), reading the latest news stories or texting a friend. Advances in technology, specifically smart phones or tablets such as iPads, place all of this and much more at our fingertips. If you’re interested in apps for travel planning, check out this list from the New York Times.

Finding the way

Having a smartphone can save you from having to print off a map or jot down directions before you travel (only to lose them!). You can easily go online and find a map for the quickest way to your hotel, the train station or any of the sites you want to see. And, although this may cut down on the adventures you can have when roaming around lost in a foreign city, there’ll be less stress and more time to see what’s actually on your itinerary, so a high five for that one!

Staying in touch

Want to stay in touch with folk back home or document your adventures abroad? Bring your iPad along and Skype or FaceTime with your friends and family while on holiday. You can make them jealous with all your adventures from abroad just as soon as they happen.

If you’d rather save all your news until you’re home, simply avoid posting pics on social media and just communicate on an as-needed basis. There’s no harm in having the option to call home at your fingertips. Whether you use it or not is up to you and the kind of trip you’d like to have.

Taking the weather with you

As any traveller knows, the weather can make or break your trip. Okay, that’s a bit drastic, but it can at least determine your activities for the day. Having a smartphone or tablet with help you to get the latest weather report so you can spend the rainy days in museums and sunny days on the beach, and not vice versa (although some people like that for some strange reason)!

Capturing it on camera

There’s also no need to bring a separate camera on holiday if you have a tablet or smartphone. Recent advances in technology means the cameras on these devices are just as good as digital cameras. They also pack flat — giving you more room in your suitcase or rucksack for souvenirs!

Keeping entertained

Finally, technology is your oyster in terms of entertainment. There’s no more being bored in the airport or on a long road trip when there’s eBooks to read, music to listen to, games to play and TV shows and films to be watched. You’ll thank yourself for this when you’re out on the road or on other long journeys.

However, if you’d rather immerse yourself completely in your local surroundings, simply turn off your smartphone or tablet. There’s nothing like experiencing the sights and smells of a new city and, for some, technology can distract from that.

So, bringing a technological device with you on holiday is mostly beneficial. However, you should decide how much you want to use it before you go. You don’t want it to dominate the trip, but merely add to the experience. Happy travelling now!

Image by jfgornet, used under Creative Commons licence.