Death of the Sociable Traveller

Wow! Only 38 postings to date and you already know us better than we know ourselves.

You must be some kind of super-shrink.

Where did you get your qualifications? Do they do correspondence courses? I'm sure many of us would be interested in studying with them. Do tell ...

Anyway, back to the subject.

It certainly feels like I used to meet more eccentric, interesting and some probably quite mad people when I was traveling than I do nowadays, but that could be down to me as well. I haven't traveled much by myself for a while. Funny, I stopped travelling for quite a while and after quite a number of years, went off feeling very much the same person that I was when I was a younger traveler...I found to my horror, that in the hostels I had suddenly become this odd middle aged bloke...not really feeling like I was fitting in with all the people 15+ years younger than me.

Regarding gadgets, i do get annoyed traveling with friends that as soon as they get to the hostel, all get their note books out and start posting on facebook or whatever...it's the same with New Years...nowadays, the clock strikes 12, and now everyone spends the next 40 minutes sending texts to everyone around the world.

I look back on the travel I did pre-Internet, and 24/7 news quite fondly....when I went traveling then, you were emmersed in the country you were in, because you had no choice....you couldn't opt out and spend the evening chatting with friends on facebook..most chose to engage with the other people around them....I remember one 5 month trip I did by myself, and think I only spent 2 to 3 days by myself the whole time.

I've met all of the above, but fortunately they are in the minority (as far as my travelling encounters go). I feel a mixture of anger with the camera thugs who push people out of the way to get a picture; disgust with tourists treating locals in developing countries as if they are imbeciles; incredulity with those who apparently don't care where they are and take no interest in what's going on around them; and absolute loathing at the whinging of pedophiles (thankfully I've only met two of those).

But the are in the minority of those I meet when travelling.

Well yes, I know I can be the "oldie" in a group,hostel etc. but it's remarkable how well you can fit in to most groups ( generally Europeans are more closed off) if you make a little effort and just be with them. Don't sell short your experience but don't push it on people either - I find people slowly come to respect your experience , even ask for it after a time.
And of course there are irritating aspects of travel,and of course they can get more irritating as your patience lessens ("grumpy " syndrome) but then you get more assertive with age too and can generally put irritators in their place more, often with just a sharp glance.
In short, another lesson learned from travel can be - I'm more adaptable, know the game a bit better now, can cut others a bit more slack now, value friendship more, lose less possessions, travel with less, know the value of rest and so on, mumble ,mumble ,mumble.....

Yeah, you guys seem to have it sussed! I know its so ironic we use the internet to convey such upset of the techno junkies we travel with..LOL
When I used to travel years ago I had days sometimes of not having someone who spoke english to speak to. Also the "chance" of making a phone call from places was totally impossible!!!
Maybe I should carry one of these "mobile blockers" in my pocket and quite happily handout with people as they frantically fumble for a signal with their iphones?? LOL
Cheers