Illustration by Jacob Bielanski
Take a look at this website. The text, the picture above, the pictures below, the logo - all of them represent a separate request by your computer to a server hosted somewhere else on the planet.
With each request, a packet was generated that had to find a path in myriad of trails. It is very likely that each one of these requests took a different path. And it will be a whole new set of paths and destinations when you click away from here.
In a way, technology embodies the spirit of adaptation so prevalent in travelers.
Throughout history, technology has found a home only when it can be taken for granted.
What seems like a simple act today (reading the seemingly benign musings of short, unshaven, American writer) represents the culmination of over 60 years of communications theory, practice, business, revision and exploitation.
Millions of minds, with millions of hours of training devoting millions of hours of sweat, have developed a multi-homed, self rectifying infrastructure that can link an editors, photographers, writers, and readers who may as well all be 10,000 miles from each other.
In the flood of information known as ???the Internet??? do we lose the sense of adventure that comes from discovering a destination?
We can buy book our plane, hotel, car, hostel, hotel, itinerary, museum, tour guide, bus and restaurant reservation before we even take those first tentative steps out of our comfort zone.
A plethora of sites offering pictures, reviews and personal testimonies ensure that we know exactly what??™s going to happen long before we even attempt to do it.
Yet, in the cataclysmic-yet-searchable flood of information that has become known as ???the Internet??? do we lose the sense of adventure that comes from discovering a destination?
Any Trip, At A Price
I have a confession to make: I??™ve watched “Legends of the Fall” approximately five times.
I’m always enamored with Pitt’s character, Tristan, and his mysterious travels. Riding off into the sunset on a horse, he somehow finds himself on ship at sea. The scenes flash between those anxiously awaiting his return, and his exploits as a hunter/fisherman in exotic island nations.
Googling “Pacific rim sailing boar hunting” shows me that I can have Tristan’s adventures, sans Frontier-style heartbreak, for only $3,170.
Wherever there is a desire to ???do something???, there is a business waiting to capitalize on that desire. (And they always seem to have a website).
Reservations At An Instant
run2. Type ???cmd??? (no quotes) in the box that appears3. Press enter4. Type ???tracert www.google.com??? (no quotes) into the box that appears5. Press ???enter???6. Watch as the request tells you the path it took to get to Google7. Wait a minute, then repeat
Think of each of those entries as a ???turn??? in a list of directions. Watch as the request to Google finds a new path, determined by speed, reliability and congestion.
Though it is not impossible for two packets to take the same path, they have been designed to react in the same way as humans. Just as in the real world, the two journeys to the same destination don??™t necessarily take the same route.
The line between what the internet can and cannot do for us can seem fuzzy. There are many skeptics in the realm of technology??”I should know, I??™m one of them.
It??™s hard to remember that in this forest of bits and electrons, two roads can still diverge. The road less traveled is still there, reminding us that the universe continues to operate with or without our consent.
Do we allow the internet to take us down that road that many have traveled or do we, like the data, follow the best opportunities?
Technology won??™t cheapen our travel experience. Only we will.
What do you think about the internet’s impact on travel? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Jacob Bielanski is a Technical College dropout from the boonies who drinks too much. His one-eyed cat “Spudnick”, travel-sized dog “Norm” and sexy photographer wife do most of the work. You can find his ramblings on his blog and his “real” writing at any place that ponies up the dough.
bravenewtraveler.com