How to Disconnect from Home on an International Journey

How to Disconnect from Home on an International Journey

By Susan Gerle

I recently spoke with a friend of mine who has done small group international tours for many years.  The last couple of years she has been running into an issue she has never had to deal with before.

First of all, many of her fellow travelers are in their 70s and 80s.  They have grown up without the benefit of iphones, ipads, pcs, laptops, or androids.  They learned to communicate face to face.  The only affordable technology at their fingertips was the telephone.  Privacy was often an issue though, with many people being on party lines, so they still met with friends over a cup of coffee.

Over the last 20 years internet cafes sprung up worldwide but in many countries they were still few and far between.  It wasn’t easy to stay in touch with friends and family back home.  The cost of making an international call was prohibitive and often very challenging with the language barriers.  They would just have to wait until they returned home to share their experiences.

Gradually though, staying in touch got easier.  Companies began selling phone cards, which were fine as long as one read the small print.  Standing on a street corner at a pay phone at 5 AM in the morning halfway across the world was bad enough.  Inserting a card that supposedly had $20 worth of time and a 100 minutes calling time internationally was not always to be believed.  After inserting the card which automatically charged a huge user fee, the time left was often about 10 minutes.  It could definitely be an expensive conversation!

                                                                                 

Jump forward to the present day.  International travelers now have the means for instant gratification by texting or skyping their children, grandchildren, and friends halfway around the world.  They insist on staying in a hotel with wifi so they can spend their free time catching up with everyone they know.  Even some of the busses and vans they travel in are now equipped with wifi.  No longer does one hear the comment, “Wow, will you look at that?” as a Vespa passes by with 4 people sitting on it.  They are too busy checking out the weather at home and sharing that information instead!

Sharing Transportation

The travelers are still communicating, but what is the cost to the complete travel experience?

One of the things that was an important daily ritual to my friend was the cocktail hour where her group of travelers would get together and share their day.  She looked forward to hearing what everyone experienced.  The observations each person had of the same destination often differed.  They would laugh about their cultural ineptitudes when they had fumbled their way through a conversation with a local.  They would share poignant moments of children begging for a few coins so their family could eat that day.  They would compare shopping and food and the open-air markets and all they had seen and done.

After a cup or glass of the local beverage, they relaxed and were ready to carry on their face to face conversations over dinner.

Recently the cocktail hour has been replaced by the need to connect with family back home.  They may use an excuse “Oh, I don’t drink” so they can hide away in their room until dinner time, getting their fix with whatever electronic device they carry.  When they finally go down to dinner, they talk about how their family at home is doing, not more about the wonderful sites and smells and people they experienced that day.

Maybe my friend will have to add a note in preparation for her international tours from now on.  If they want to go with her, their electronic devices have to remain turned off, except for picture taking.  And, at the end of the day, everyone will get back to communicating the old fashioned way!