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Lois Thomson Bowersock's avatar

I remember travel without a cell phone. It was an adventure with a map or an atlas and it required some advanced planning. It really wasn't long ago, either. Times and technology have changed so fast.

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Justin S. Bailey's avatar

“It made travel slower, and forced us to learn more about the places we were visiting.”

This speaks to something I’ve also reflected on in my writing and there is some pang of regret on how technology has impacted the way we experience time, space, and place. I can only recall a handful of childhood road trips with my family to Florida and the East Coast where we travelled before cell phones. However, while we had cell phones while backpacking the Appalachian Trail in 2014, we rarely used them and it was something that greatly enhanced our experience to be untethered and simply walk without all the distractions beaming at us from the wider world.

That said, I also view this device not so much as a singular entity, i.e., a cell phone, but rather a multi tool that can enhance or inhibit one’s travel experiences depending on how we choose to use it. While traveling I use it to record my thoughts in Notes that might form into a future Substack post, snap a few photos for the memory bank, tune into my favorite podcasts, listen to some jazz while I read, look up nearby restaurants, navigate a bewildering city, and utilize my meditation app.

This was a great read with plenty of food for thought. Thanks for composing it for us!

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