9 April 2018
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
Summer’s coming
You can look back to a few decades ago when travel included packing the family car or van with all the necessities you needed in heavy and bulky containers. A map was kept in the glove compartment – now replaced with Google maps to guide you on your way. Reservations for hotel rooms were made from the home landline and credit cards weren’t always required to secure. Most families packed homemade food for the trip with minimum stops to get a bite to eat. This was the standard way that people travelled prior to advancements in technology.
A new world
New technologies began to slowly change the way that people travel. Mobile phones made it possible to book flights for air travel or rooms from any location where there was a signal. This too changed when the internet offered fast and convenient ways to book rooms or flights from a laptop, smartphone or another internet-enabled device. The way that we pay for accommodation and services has also been transformed with most services offering pre-payment options via credit cards. Indeed, it’s difficult to book a hotel room without a credit card these days.
New travel options
There aren’t many estate cars on the road as they’ve been replaced by new SUVs with state of the art navigation systems. Paper maps have gone the way of the dinosaurs as people can ask their smartphone assistants or inboard car navigation systems for driving directions. There’s no need to read them because the assistant gives verbal directions so you can listen while keeping your eyes on the road. If you’re flying out of town for a few days, you can hire an Uber driver or a shuttle service to take you to and from the airport. Travelling is much easier today than it was just a few short years ago.
Choosing your destination
Have you ever travelled to a spot that was supposed to be amazing, but turned out to be a disaster? Instead of taking someone else’s word for it, you can now get online and use Google maps to get a birds-eye view of the spot you’re investigating. There’s no need to pore over travel brochures when you can see it online in a virtual tour. Countless review sites let you find out more from other people who are willing to tell you about their impressions of the destination. You can get some great ideas on travel through television series that document the features of popular destinations, through social media or by several online travel blogs.
Eating on the go
Convenience is the name of the game when it comes to fast food locations. There are thousands of them to choose from whether you’re on the road in your vehicle, or waiting in an airport for a flight. The fast-food industry is making it faster and easier to get a quick bite to eat when your time is limited. In case you’re wondering which restaurants are the best, it’s easy to find sites that offer reviews with menus and price lists.
Final thoughts
You can plan out your entire itinerary which takes the guesswork out of travel. Tech has changed travel for the better by making it easy to go with relatively few hassles. Compared with the way it was done a few decades ago, it’s like stepping out of the stone age and into a new and exciting world.
