We live in a world where technology is everywhere. Developments in technology has made certain aspects of life much easier, and that includes travel.

We live in a smaller world now, with journeys not taking anywhere near as long as they originally did. This means that more and more people each year decide to travel to all different parts of the world for an enjoyable holiday. This ever increasing popularity in holidaying far and wide means that technology has been developed around these facts.

A lot more people travel a lot further for work or leisure, so the focus in technology has been around making these journeys easier.

Planning

Technology has completely changed the way that we plan any holidays and our long term travel plans.

Originally, you would have to go to a travel agency to find out about a location, to book your and accommodation. In modern times, we have simply cut out all human interaction. We can simply do this on our own accord with a simple touch of a touchscreen.

With the use of the internet and locations having their own websites, you can get all the information about a location by looking at a screen. There are also websites which you can check out that have written pieces from tourists that have visited the specific location, but we’ll get into more detail about that later.

Backpacking used to be a popular thing to do when going on holiday. You would simply go to a location with very few plans and work from a travel book to figure out where your next destination would be. You would often have to speak to the locals as well. In modern times, you can easily find out where the most popular spots are to check out and eat at, as well as being able to skip out on less than favourable locations.

If you are visiting a location and the website is in a different language, the majority of modern browsers will translate the page to your native language. Originally you would have had to use a translation book to try and understand the language.

Lost in Translation

Let’s go to when we didn’t have as much technological development as we do today.

If you took a few wrong turns then you could find yourself completely lost. This may sound like a terrifying process, but it couldn’t have been further from the truth. You may not know where you are, but you can discover some of the most interesting locations down a side street that you didn’t know existed.

In modern times, as long as you have a smartphone and an internet connection then it’s impossible to get lost. With a touch of a screen, you can have Google Maps up, showing exactly where you are.

Google Maps is an incredibly useful tool, with it being able to direct you to a specific location. Type in two addresses and a voice will tell you to turn left, right or straight on so you can get to the destination in good time. You can use this feature both in a vehicle or when on foot. It will also tell you how long a journey will take, meaning that you can time your day to a good approximate.

Keep in Contact

Back before any of the recent technological breakthroughs, keeping in contact was an incredibly hard task.

If you wanted to get in contact with someone far away, you would need a good landline. This may not be so bad if you find yourself in your own country, but it was a tough task when you were abroad. When abroad, landlines were normally hard to come by, and if by some miracle you managed to find one, they would be expensive to use.

The only other choice would be to send a letter or postcard. It was a cheap way of contact with the rest of the world, but it wasn’t without flaw. It isn’t unusual for a letter to go missing, and if you have people that are expecting one, it can cause worry. Letters and postcards could also take a long time to arrive at a destination, especially if it was overseas. More often than you would find that you were home before the letter or postcode was!

In modern times, these problems are way back in the past. With mobile phones that use antennas to connect phone signals together, no matter where you are in the world you can be in contact with people.

There are applications for smart phones that are completely free to use, as long as you have an internet connection. Skype not only allows you to call people no matter where they are in the world, but it also allows you to do a video call if you are missing that person.

Reviews

Back in the past, the only reviews you had to go off was word of mouth, and that isn’t always reliable. It wouldn’t be strange to see a newspaper article where a travel agent has said that a place is luxurious, and the customers get there and the building hasn’t even been fully built.

We have come a lot further since these times. You can go on a website that is for the location you will be visiting and find customer reviews and overall scores that can give you a clear idea on a destination. Tripadvisor is a website which allows people to review destinations they have gone to. People can then say if they feel the review is reliable, meaning that you can be sure if a review is genuine or not.

Google Map also has a street view feature. This feature, as the name gives away, lets you see a street level panoramic view of an address you input. This way, you can get a feel for the atmosphere of a destination, as well as seeing if the destination is as marketed.

What do you think of this blog? Are there any other technological innovations that you would include? Leave a comment below letting us know!

Author: This blog was written by Rachel Jensen on behalf of Cruise Nation, an independent cruise holiday provider.

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