I arrived here via the Afar piece on one-euro homes in Sicily ("Maybe the slower pace was not a flaw that would eventually be overcome, but instead a feature").
The writer of any travel guide writes about *two* places .. the city/ country that is the subject of the guide, and the context that the writer grew up in. A guide to Italy written by a French person is different from one written by an English person.
Reading the feedback so far, my idea of the concept of an unplugged traveller is going to be similarly different / alien/ revealing. My 'eyes' are from a pre-smartphone era, and were formed pre-internet and web. Way back in 1980, post-University, we did a Grand Tour .. an open-ended, 'at a venture' [(dated) at random, without application of due thought, haphazardly or recklessly], journey across Europe. We started in Athens (after a three-day coach journey from London) and zig-zagged our way around Greece, up Italy, through Austria into Germany and then the Netherlands .. We chose destinations by which trains came in first, posted occasional letters of our diaries home, camped or youth-hostelled or used cheap hotels, ate out or cooked for ourselves.
Some digital natives will be challenged in imagining such an offline world, where the letter is a main means of comunication. Travelling implies a measure of separation, and though phone calls would have been possible, the general idea of having that degree of closeness was not automatic. We would occasionally publish our next transfers between cities for poste-restante mail (look it up :) and unfortunately we told my parents that we would be be in Bologna on 2 August 1980. Our train departed just a few hours before the far-right station bombing that killed 85 and injured 200 more. We did not know that this had happened, and would not discover it until two weeks later as we were not reading the Italian papers. My parents did not know what had happened to us. *That* is being offline.
There were also huge positives. So many people wanted to help -- so many passengers making sure we didn't miss the youth hostel stop on the bus in Florence, the Danish family that we met on the slopes of Vesuvius that invited us to stay with them if we came their way, free slices of melon from the harvesters as we toiled past them in the hot sun...
So, could you repeat this now? could you 'unplug' and have the same kind of experience?
I think not. And for reasons related perhaps to those raised in that second para .. a travel writer may be writing about two places, but the locals (the people that provide so much of your experience) have also changed. Perhaps I am being overly cynical, but we are all less likely to talk to strangers around us who may be in need of directions/ advice/ help. The ubiquity of smartphones is part of this shift -- our openness, our habit of speaking to strangers has been diminished.
Our way of looking, and of seeing, has changed. As people raised in rural environments will see different things to those raised in urban ones, people raised in digital environments willl see things through those eyes. Can you unplug? Not restaurant review ratings, but observing the numbers and makeup of the clientele (is it popular, are they local)? [Back in the age of books, I would read a variety of the various guides to a place that I was thinking of visiting. Frommers would tell me where the Americans would be, the Rough Guide where the other anglophones would be, the Guide Routard where the francophones favour..) But .. where were the locals? where are the SlowFood people?]
The past is indeed a different country.
Caould you recapture it by unplugging in this day and age and environment?
I am intrigued and look forward to following this Substack ...
Hi Mike, It sounds like our early travel experiences were fairly similar; I too have very clear memories of waiting in the Poste Restante line at the post office and greedily devouring the letters that arrived on that thin blue paper on the steps outside. But your Bologna story gave me goosebumps; and served as a good reminder that nostalgia is probably best tempered with a healthy appreciation for the benefits of change. Thanks for reading, and for your support!
Love this idea! I'm not quite brave enough to put the phone all the way down but I'll be looking for tips and inspiration for letting serendipity take a stronger role in my travels! I'm heading to Europe for 3 months starting in June, maybe our paths will cross. I've seen your articles in Afar Mag and really enjoy your writing!
Thanks so much for the kind words, Angie, and for letting me know about your own travels. I look forward to reading about your adventures--and will keep an eye out for you when I'm on the road!
What a great idea! Not one that i have the courage to explore personally, but I look forward to living vicariously through your posts. I travel for work and I try to explore wherever I end up. I rely heavily on my maps app to not only get to the location, but also to get around new places. i am way too much f a planner to wing it like you plan to do. Thank you for sharing this idea and writing this! I just subscribed.
Thanks so much for your support, Mike! I used to travel a lot for work, and would plan a lot too, so I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out. Hopefully, I'll get some good stories out of it.
Laurie and I just got back from France and Portugal, so I can totally relate from having very fresh experiences in both countries. Often times I feel overwhelmed with how much dependence we have on our phones and their connectivity to everything. It def can water down the experience even though we think it is enhancing. Being a photographer and loving exploration I like to be unplugged. Those are the times when I really feel like I’m experiencing a place. I’m not staring at my phone following directions, but just enjoying what unfolds in front of me. I’m looking forward to reading about your journeys.
I arrived here via the Afar piece on one-euro homes in Sicily ("Maybe the slower pace was not a flaw that would eventually be overcome, but instead a feature").
The writer of any travel guide writes about *two* places .. the city/ country that is the subject of the guide, and the context that the writer grew up in. A guide to Italy written by a French person is different from one written by an English person.
Reading the feedback so far, my idea of the concept of an unplugged traveller is going to be similarly different / alien/ revealing. My 'eyes' are from a pre-smartphone era, and were formed pre-internet and web. Way back in 1980, post-University, we did a Grand Tour .. an open-ended, 'at a venture' [(dated) at random, without application of due thought, haphazardly or recklessly], journey across Europe. We started in Athens (after a three-day coach journey from London) and zig-zagged our way around Greece, up Italy, through Austria into Germany and then the Netherlands .. We chose destinations by which trains came in first, posted occasional letters of our diaries home, camped or youth-hostelled or used cheap hotels, ate out or cooked for ourselves.
Some digital natives will be challenged in imagining such an offline world, where the letter is a main means of comunication. Travelling implies a measure of separation, and though phone calls would have been possible, the general idea of having that degree of closeness was not automatic. We would occasionally publish our next transfers between cities for poste-restante mail (look it up :) and unfortunately we told my parents that we would be be in Bologna on 2 August 1980. Our train departed just a few hours before the far-right station bombing that killed 85 and injured 200 more. We did not know that this had happened, and would not discover it until two weeks later as we were not reading the Italian papers. My parents did not know what had happened to us. *That* is being offline.
There were also huge positives. So many people wanted to help -- so many passengers making sure we didn't miss the youth hostel stop on the bus in Florence, the Danish family that we met on the slopes of Vesuvius that invited us to stay with them if we came their way, free slices of melon from the harvesters as we toiled past them in the hot sun...
So, could you repeat this now? could you 'unplug' and have the same kind of experience?
I think not. And for reasons related perhaps to those raised in that second para .. a travel writer may be writing about two places, but the locals (the people that provide so much of your experience) have also changed. Perhaps I am being overly cynical, but we are all less likely to talk to strangers around us who may be in need of directions/ advice/ help. The ubiquity of smartphones is part of this shift -- our openness, our habit of speaking to strangers has been diminished.
Our way of looking, and of seeing, has changed. As people raised in rural environments will see different things to those raised in urban ones, people raised in digital environments willl see things through those eyes. Can you unplug? Not restaurant review ratings, but observing the numbers and makeup of the clientele (is it popular, are they local)? [Back in the age of books, I would read a variety of the various guides to a place that I was thinking of visiting. Frommers would tell me where the Americans would be, the Rough Guide where the other anglophones would be, the Guide Routard where the francophones favour..) But .. where were the locals? where are the SlowFood people?]
The past is indeed a different country.
Caould you recapture it by unplugging in this day and age and environment?
I am intrigued and look forward to following this Substack ...
Let the journey commence!
Hi Mike, It sounds like our early travel experiences were fairly similar; I too have very clear memories of waiting in the Poste Restante line at the post office and greedily devouring the letters that arrived on that thin blue paper on the steps outside. But your Bologna story gave me goosebumps; and served as a good reminder that nostalgia is probably best tempered with a healthy appreciation for the benefits of change. Thanks for reading, and for your support!
Love this idea! I'm not quite brave enough to put the phone all the way down but I'll be looking for tips and inspiration for letting serendipity take a stronger role in my travels! I'm heading to Europe for 3 months starting in June, maybe our paths will cross. I've seen your articles in Afar Mag and really enjoy your writing!
Thanks so much for the kind words, Angie, and for letting me know about your own travels. I look forward to reading about your adventures--and will keep an eye out for you when I'm on the road!
What a great idea! Not one that i have the courage to explore personally, but I look forward to living vicariously through your posts. I travel for work and I try to explore wherever I end up. I rely heavily on my maps app to not only get to the location, but also to get around new places. i am way too much f a planner to wing it like you plan to do. Thank you for sharing this idea and writing this! I just subscribed.
Thanks so much for your support, Mike! I used to travel a lot for work, and would plan a lot too, so I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out. Hopefully, I'll get some good stories out of it.
What a great idea! Can't wait to see what you get up to.
Thank you, Elizabeth!
Hi Lisa,
Laurie and I just got back from France and Portugal, so I can totally relate from having very fresh experiences in both countries. Often times I feel overwhelmed with how much dependence we have on our phones and their connectivity to everything. It def can water down the experience even though we think it is enhancing. Being a photographer and loving exploration I like to be unplugged. Those are the times when I really feel like I’m experiencing a place. I’m not staring at my phone following directions, but just enjoying what unfolds in front of me. I’m looking forward to reading about your journeys.
We have a lot in common, Rob. Thanks for the support!
Great idea! If you’ll need somebody who can read maps just ping me!
You are a man of many talents, my friend
I can't wait to hear about your adventures!
I’ve been following you “forever” and look forward to continuing with your new adventure.
Brilliant, brilliant idea. Can’t wait to read about all of these adventures. Tx
Thank you, guapa. Perhaps I can persuade you to give up your phone some weekend, and come with me?
Sold!!!
Love this and can’t wait to read the journeys that lie ahead, Lisa!!
Thank you, Marissa. And right back atcha!
I love this idea! Do you intend to travel solo for all of them?
Thank you so much, Emily! And not necessarily, so long as any potential travel companions agree to abide by the offline rules!