Working Cell Phones – A Miracle and a Hinderance

Cell Phones

On Halloween evening in 2010, I was in Florence, Italy, trying to find the Accademia Gallery. I had tickets to see The David the next morning and I wanted to know exactly how to get there. Cell phones didn’t work internationally back then and I was using a somewhat confusing paper map as my guide. At some point, I took a very wrong turn and had no idea how to get back to the center of town.

Most likely I walked right past the Accademia and didn’t realize it. David’s home isn’t the most striking building.

I ended up wandering around the neighborhoods of Florence in the dark with the trick-or-treaters for almost two hours. I was hopelessly lost and would have been very anxious if the streets hadn’t been full of little kids. Eventually, I wound back around and found my hotel.

My legs were tired but otherwise, no harm was done.

Before Cell Phones, Being Lost Was Normal

This wasn’t my first, nor would it be my last time being completely lost and wandering around aimlessly in a foreign city. However that all changed when I signed up with T-Mobile, the first US-based cell carrier to offer worldwide cell service, a service I never want to be without. 

When I began to travel internationally, cell phones simply didn’t work outside of the United States. I’ve heard plenty of horror stories about people who turned on their phone to make a very short emergency phone call that ended up costing them hundreds of dollars in roaming charges. 

The Good Ole Days

Traveling prior to the technology boom was vastly different than it is today. On my first big trip to Rome in 2008 to carry everything you needed for the day required a bag or deep-pocketed cargo shorts. You took your unhelpful cell phone, but also an MP3 player to listen to your audio guides and a digital camera (the slimmer the better!) as well as a map and/or guidebook of the area. And lots of cash. Credit card acceptance was spotty.

The Internet Cafe: A Formerly Booming Business That Cell Phones Killed

Some hotels had computers available for guests, but the line to use them was usually very long and the internet was very S-L-O-W.

If you didn’t want to wait, you could track down an internet cafe to check in with friends and family back home. There was nowhere or way really to download your photos from your digital camera onto a computer that was used by the general public, so you’d wait until you were home to post pictures of your trip on Facebook. You might post a little blurb about what you did that day.

“Kylie is at the Coliseum!” Haha. 

Cell Phones Would Be Useful . . . In the Far Away Future

In 2008 if you told me that in a few short years you could take a picture and post it online immediately from anywhere in the world, I would have hoped that might be true one day far into the future. . . but I absolutely would not have believed you. 

I’ll never forget using the first technology that allowed you to create a map of where you planned to site-see that day AND you could use that map “offline” on your cell phone. First, you had to go to the hotel lobby and use their WIFI to create the map and then hope you downloaded the map correctly. While using the map, you had to make sure your phone remained in airplane mode . . . no surprise roaming charges!

Having a usable map on your cell phone . . .boy that was a game-changer! 

How times have changed. Today if my Google Map runs a little slow I might consider getting a new phone. 

Cell Phones are a Handy Travel Tool

There are things I hate about cell phones, but having the added safety of a working phone in my pocket is worth whatever privacy I’ve traded for the convenience. I appreciate the simplicity of being able to text and call my friends and family without visiting a dingy, dark internet cafe. 

A Note on Today’s Internet Cafe

Today, internet cafes always smell like stale cigarette smoke and are full of teenage boys playing video games. 

Get the Best Cell Phone You Can Afford

Owning an updated cell phone that works everywhere limits the number of digital do-hickeys you’ll need to carry with you. Next time you’re in the market for a cell phone, splurge a little and get one with a top-of-the-line camera. I’m not a great photographer but it’s shocking how amazing my pictures come out with almost no effort from me. 

If I’m in Europe I always use the online Rick Steves Audio Guide tours for cities they’re available in. There are lots of other companies that offer free or inexpensive online walking tours around the world.

Online tours are simple to use too. You download the app or the file onto your phone the night before, or even right when you arrive at your location, and Voila! You have a tour guide in your pocket. Be sure to use headphones, you don’t want to be that person.

Nothing shouts “tourist” like a physical guidebook. If an online version of a guidebook is available on Amazon I’ll download the guidebook onto my cell phone. When I’m studying the guidebook on my phone to determine what to do next, I don’t look like a clueless tourist scouring a guidebook. Instead, I look like one of two billion other people addicted to my cell phone.

Cell Phones Are a Hindrance

That being said your phone should ENHANCE your trip, not take it over. You’ve traveled a long way to see a new place, don’t waste precious exploring time staring at your cell phone screen. 

I’ll never forget the day we were at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi. This famous tourist trap serves a fancy afternoon tea that starts at $105 per person. As we wandered around the hotel I noticed that Every Single Person enjoying their $105 afternoon tea was staring at their cell phone. What the crap? Why would anyone spend that much money on a once-in-a-lifetime experience then stare at their phone?

Please don’t do this. Be in the present. 

Your phone should be a tool and an enhancement to your trip. Use it wisely for maps, photos, as a travel guide, as a tour guide in your ear, to research something you’re currently staring at or to help translate a foreign language. 

If you’re going to spend all your time staring at your phone, stay home. For real.

Social Media 

When traveling with others, social media should be done on your own time.

When creating your itinerary be sure to add “phone time” at either the beginning or the end of your day, especially if you or someone you’re traveling with is a heavy social media user. Be invested in your trip and be respectful to those who’ve chosen to travel with you. Those likes can wait.

It’s incredibly rude to stare at your phone during your meals and ignore those eating with you. 

I ran into a friend who told me she was about to dump her travel companion who had recently become obsessed with social media. She’d started taking hundreds of pictures everywhere they stopped. Then at lunch and dinner the friend would spend her time scrolling through the photos, critiquing them. She’d often insist they go back and take better and more perfect photos.  

This is selfish and annoying behavior. Do not be this person! You’re bad company, and if you need that many perfect photos you need to hire a photographer.

Put your phone down at mealtimes. Meals should be about enjoying a different food and having a fun discussion of your experiences, not a time to stare at your phone. 

Here’s a fun game. When out eating, pile your phones and watches in the middle of the table. The first one to look at their phone pays the bill. Problem solved.

The Exception: Professionals on a Work Trip

If you’re a professional who makes your living off of social media, then snap away. Feel free to spend your downtime sorting and editing photos. But keep in mind, you’re not on vacation, you’re working. There is a difference.

Friends don’t drag friends into their work. 

Regular sightseers like you and me are there to enjoy the sights, we’re not there to enjoy our phones. 

Be present. Put your phone down. Enjoy real life, especially while traveling.

Thanks So Much for Popping By!

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I’d love to hear about your travel experiences, good and bad. We’ll all be better travelers if we learn from one another. 

The Art of Travel (TAOT) ~ Written by Kylie, these awesome photos came from Unsplash.