Mobile phones have killed backpacking culture

mrcheez

I did 18 months around the world solo in 2003. Travelling solo meant you were compelled to talk to strangers rather than sit idly by staring at a menu or something .

I'm now in Indonesia , 15 years since I was last here backpacking and I'm amazed how the dynamic has changed . the people sitting on their own are more likely to be staring at their phones rather than striking up conversations.

Its really sad. I've been chatting away to locals while a bunch of backpackers are sitting on their own staring at their phones .

****ing disappointing . I guess I'm an old man but hell travel was a lot better in the ol days.

** and yes I get the irony of posting this on the interwebs using my phone, but I'm back getting an early night after a full night of meeting with non-phone-zombies.

duffman13

mrcheez wrote: »

I did 18 months around the world solo in 2003. Travelling solo meant you were compelled to talk to strangers rather than sit idly by staring at a menu or something .

I'm now in Indonesia , 15 years since I was last here backpacking and I'm amazed how the dynamic has changed . the people sitting on their own are more likely to be staring at their phones rather than striking up conversations.

Its really sad. I've been chatting away to locals while a bunch of backpackers are sitting on their own staring at their phones .

****ing disappointing . I guess I'm an old man but hell travel was a lot better in the ol days.

Where abouts are you? I found it an issue in certain places while travelling but meet a lot of great people in hostels etc who weren't like that. I first went travelling in 2011 and then in 2015 for 18 months. Definite change even in 5 years but still met some great people

mrcheez

Java, heading Lombok soon. Good to know I'm not the only one.

Sound of twitter notifications has replaced the sound of banter

dennyk

Hey, even in 2003 us introverts still had books to keep us from having to engage in conversation with random strangers. :pac:

Alpha_zero

Come on man there are still loads of ways to meet people travelling, if you go on a day tour or some excursions you will have plenty of drinking buddies that night.

Mrs OBumble

Email killed it before that. Back in the 90s people went off and their family didnt hear from them for six months.

OldMrBrennan83

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poteen

I totally agree with the OP. Everywhere I've been in the past few years I see this. But it's not just the backpackers. 'Locals' are zombies too for the phones.

MysticMonk

Australians seem to be the worst..they will park themselves in a place with free WiFi for hours and buy nothing.
Last time I was in a hostel in Athens the same bunch of Aussies never left the reception area where they sat staring at their phones for the entire day.
The place had banned WiFi from the bar to stop it filling up with non paying internet junkies.

Fred Swanson

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mosstin

mrcheez wrote: »

I did 18 months around the world solo in 2003. Travelling solo meant you were compelled to talk to strangers rather than sit idly by staring at a menu or something .

I'm now in Indonesia , 15 years since I was last here backpacking and I'm amazed how the dynamic has changed . the people sitting on their own are more likely to be staring at their phones rather than striking up conversations.

Its really sad. I've been chatting away to locals while a bunch of backpackers are sitting on their own staring at their phones .

****ing disappointing . I guess I'm an old man but hell travel was a lot better in the ol days.

** and yes I get the irony of posting this on the interwebs using my phone, but I'm back getting an early night after a full night of meeting with non-phone-zombies.

Really hard to argue. Did a RTW trip in 2010 and even then it wasn't as ubiquitous as it is now. It definitely kills the need/desire to converse. First question for most checking in to hostels now is a request for the wifi code. Each to their own I guess.
One pet hate of mine is looking at reviews of hostels and frequently seeing poor wifi coverage as a complaint. I genuinely don't get it.

FTA69

I was in Kathmandu once and witnessed a load of people getting ratty with the staff constantly demanding when the wifi would be back on and could they charge their phone off a generator.

It's Nepal for f*ck's sake, the cities often get power cuts for hours. It's one of the poorest countries in the world.

Having the Internet while travelling is doghandy like. I can speak to my missus at home, find out where to go next, research travel options and get maps as well as having gps on the phone.

However, I often go to my room/dorm and then do what I need to do. There is definitely a tendency for some people to zombify themselves in their phones and tablets but to each their own. To be honest the type of person who's unable to tear themselves off Facebook while supposedly having an "adventure" is probably someone you wouldn't want to talk to anyway.

milehip

MysticMonk wrote: »

Australians seem to be the worst..they will park themselves in a place with free WiFi for hours and buy nothing.
Last time I was in a hostel in Athens the same bunch of Aussies never left the reception area where they sat staring at their phones for the entire day.
The place had banned WiFi from the bar to stop it filling up with non paying internet junkies.

Was at a bar in Thailand 2 years ago,there was signs up all over the place in various languages commanding people to interact.

"No WiFi here get drunk and talk to each other".

Great bar.

4068ac1elhodqr

A coffee chain called e.g. 'Coffee Jam' would be a great business model.
Jammers (licensed) to block all GSM/Wifi/G345 and EMFs, no gluten nor casein neither.
Strictly no selfies - this blocking part hasn't been invented as yet.

mrcheez

Fred Swanson wrote: »

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Ah there's nothing like the freedom a backpack offers vs lugging a wheelie case everywhere.

Be it navigating narrow lanes in Delhi or wandering along the beach to the next hut in the Gilis, nothing beats a backpack. You can't always rely on having a porter around

CelticRambler

"Travel" just isn't what it used to be. I'm still old-school, insofar as planning is concerned - fix a departure date and time, and know roughly where I'm headed. After that, go with whatever's flowing and enjoy the ride. But most of the people I know (including just about all of my family and friends) and most of those who cross my paths have researched and planned every hour and kilometre of their trip.

Never mind the mobiles, you rarely see any hitch-hikers on the roads these days. I picked up a couple of German lads last week (backpacking!) and was thinking that the last time I even saw anyone hitching a lift was January 2016. Three girls, Germans again (with backpacks), soaked to the skin and aiming for somewhere that wasn't on my route, but hey, what's a 200km diversion between friends ... :pac:

However, I must declare a conflict of hypocrisy, because I do love being able to include my "nearest and dearest" in my solo hiking up a mountain or tramping down dark alleys, thanks to WhatsApp. Sure, many times it'd be better to share the experience in real life, but when they just cannot be there, it's a decent compromise.

4068ac1elhodqr

mrcheez wrote: »

Ah there's nothing like the freedom a backpack offers vs lugging a wheelie case everywhere.

There's a few brands out there that do the best of both worlds, from memory Eagle Creek did a light wheeled backpack, with bits that zip off and on. Not the cheapest but should last forever.

mrcheez

Wells Agreeable Cinnamon wrote: »

There's a few brands out there that do the best of both worlds, from memory Eagle Creek did a light wheeled backpack, with bits that zip off and on. Not the cheapest but should last forever.

That's still just a backpack though . I believe the other poster was suggesting a suitcase was the way to go, which frankly is the domain of inexperienced Chinese travellers on this particular trip. Its amusing to watch as they wade in the water trying to carry their suitcases onto the waiting boats .

cooker3

There is an element of truth I'd imagine, although I never really backpacked solo pre-smart phone, but it's way OTT to say it's killed it. You can still talk to people in common areas, bars etc.
There are ways where it is helped you can argue it's helped with couchsurfing events, tinder etc...

I will add this I have stayed in a few hostels where electronic devices were banned in the common areas and as someone who definitely overuses my phone it's actually kinda nice as it does force you to talk more than you probably would.

mrcheez

I'm back from the trip and thankfully found that as I got to more remote locations where data reception was lacking people became more sociable, so wasn't all bad

Now we just need to sort out the selfie-stick epidemic :P

Fred Swanson

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mrcheez

While at Borobudur temple I was stopped every 2mins in order that the kids or groups of Chinese could take a selfie with me. Fun at first, after 3 hours somewhat less thrilling. Don't think I ever saw anyone taking a non-selfie photo bar those with SLRs!

cooker3

mrcheez wrote: »

While at Borobudur temple I was stopped every 2mins in order that the kids or groups of Chinese could take a selfie with me. Fun at first, after 3 hours somewhat less thrilling. Don't think I ever saw anyone taking a non-selfie photo bar those with SLRs!

Heh. I was there in 2012 and don't think 1 person asked for a selfie with me.

mrcheez

cooker3 wrote: »

Heh. I was there in 2012 and don't think 1 person asked for a selfie with me.

Weird, every westerner at the temple was suffering the same fate as I, so it wasn't down to my dashing looks

Maybe compulsive selfie-taking is an even newer phenomenon. Looking at the list of selfie-related deaths they seemed to start around 2013:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_selfie-related_injuries_and_deaths

.

cooker3

mrcheez wrote: »

Weird, every westerner at the temple was suffering the same fate as I, so it wasn't down to my dashing looks

Maybe compulsive selfie-taking is an even newer phenomenon. Looking at the list of selfie-related deaths they seemed to start around 2013:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_selfie-related_injuries_and_deaths

.

Perhaps but I visited in 2012 and India and 2011 and at times I felt like a pop star I was getting asked so much on occasion.