In praise of new technology

[AlanSykes]

I'm a bit of a luddite and manage most of my life without being umbilically attached to my cell 'phone or laptop. And I quite understand that for some people, the camino is a rare chance to get away from all that.

But for me, modest use (and even more modest understanding of) smart 'phones has genuinely improved my experience of the camino. In 2010, I carried two heavyweight (in every sense) books that I hoped would last me much of the journey, Moby Dick and the longest Anthony Trollope. Because of my liking of the less traveled ways in the less traveled seasons, I'd finished both within days.

Now, thanks to the miracle of kindle, I can carry everything Trollope and Melville ever wrote multiplied by 100 and throw in Cervantes and Dickens as well. I can also skype or text with my family, and it doesn't stop me chatting with any rare fellow pilgrims I encounter, or any locals happy to put up with my execrable accent and grammar. And wonderful wikiloc's maps and routes make me far less likely to get lost, or at least help me back to the path if I am.

I quite understand that it may be sad to see people only interacting with their technology when they have the opportunity to enjoy immediate human company, but it really can be a great crutch for those of us with 4-5 hours alone most days in our albergues. Eliot and Thackeray this autumn, I think.

 

[Purple Backpack]

"When I walk with you, I feel as though I have a flower in my buttonhole."
~William Makepeace Thackeray

 

[jo webber]

My phone is my email, skype, journal, travel tickets, camera, 2 guide books, translator, inside flash light, budget keeper. Oh, and a phone.

 

[intrepidtraveler]

My phone is my email, skype, journal, travel tickets, camera, 2 guide books, translator, inside flash light, budget keeper. Oh, and a phone.

Which is the same reason I bring a phone - it can cover so many functions without adding a lot of extra weight.

 

[Waka]

Ah the dreaded phone. having said that I wouldn't be without it on a camino or meandering journey at home.

 

[KinkyOne]

I agree with Alan although I still bring my paperback books with me Walking Camino Frances without these gadgets would be really nice nowadays but having at least one (preferably smart phone) is so much easier on less walked routes. Many albergues are polideportivo type and also for municipals which are more or less unattended it's wise to call a day or two ahead. That puts a lot of stress away as you know there will be someone waiting with the key after long day walking usually in scorching heat.

 

[Bradypus]

Walking Camino Frances without these gadgets would be really nice nowadays but having at least one (preferably smart phone) is so much easier on less walked routes.

I have walked the Camino Frances from St Jean to Santiago without carrying a mobile phone or using the internet at all. I have also walked the same route with a smartphone in my pocket and using it once or twice each day to keep in contact with friends and news. I do not see myself as a tech addict and walking for a day or two without internet access or phone signal does not worry me. I would not deliberately cut myself off from technology when I walk the caminos these days: it would feel like a melodramatic and self-righteous gesture.

 

[Jim Michie]

Personally I didn't miss my smart phone. I walked the Camino Frances in 2015 and the Norte in 2016 with only the simplest of phones for texting my wife as to my location each evening. You know the type of phone, to text you must hit the number 2 three times for the letter C. When I spent the night at an albergue I found the pilgrims to be very friendly and no need for electronic entertainment. The evenings I found myself alone, which was quite often on the Norte, watching the very hospitable people play cards at the local "bar"or the walking around the small towns observing a completely different lifestyle than mine in the US.
I did see a need for a smart phone for navigation, particularly for finding my out of the major cities. However, I learned to get a map and local knowledge from the tourist office the evening before to solve the issue.
Many of the albergues on the Frances have internet access via coin operated computers, not so on the Norte where I didn't check emails for four weeks. Didn't miss them a bit.
Most people on the Caminos carried smart phone, personally I am very happy without..

Jim Michie
Nashville, TN

 

[J F Gregory]

I only use mine for the camera. On maximum power saving I still have use of my camera, Kindle, emergency phone and down loaded music. When powered to 100% battery life is 40 hours.

 

[jsalt]

I quite understand that it may be sad to see people only interacting with their technology when they have the opportunity to enjoy immediate human company, but it really can be a great crutch for those of us with 4-5 hours alone most days in our albergues. Eliot and Thackeray this autumn, I think.

There have been many, many days when I have been walking parallel with others, and as soon as we get to a wifi hotspot, one is checking their emails . . . another their whatsapps . . . another their recent photos . . . another the maps for the next section.

I have ordered my coffee, beer, juice, wine, whatever, ready to chat about anything. But instead every other person sitting at my table is looking at their device.

Usually I just sit there politely, glad for a rest, sipping my coffee, beer, juice, wine, whatever.

But you know what, next time, I think I might just move to another table, nobody will notice, get out my smart phone, and read my favourite book, "Jane Eyre". I mean, who cares?
Jill
P.S. I’ve also usually got a paperback with me.

 

[Kanga]

Gosh I think that is sad @jsalt. I agree; giving priority to face to face human interactions is so important.

In defence of the smartphone, I'm a reader, and, as Alan says, having an electronic library is much better than carting heavy books. My children will tell you I'm just as capable of ignoring people with my head in a paper-book as an electronic one!

 

[Jeff Crawley]

I'm a bit of a luddite and manage most of my life without being umbilically attached to my cell 'phone or laptop. And I quite understand that for some people, the camino is a rare chance to get away from all that.

But for me, modest use (and even more modest understanding of) smart 'phones has genuinely improved my experience of the camino. In 2010, I carried two heavyweight (in every sense) books that I hoped would last me much of the journey, Moby Dick and the longest Anthony Trollope. Because of my liking of the less traveled ways in the less traveled seasons, I'd finished both within days.

Now, thanks to the miracle of kindle, I can carry everything Trollope and Melville ever wrote multiplied by 100 and throw in Cervantes and Dickens as well. I can also skype or text with my family, and it doesn't stop me chatting with any rare fellow pilgrims I encounter, or any locals happy to put up with my execrable accent and grammar. And wonderful wikiloc's maps and routes make me far less likely to get lost, or at least help me back to the path if I am.

I quite understand that it may be sad to see people only interacting with their technology when they have the opportunity to enjoy immediate human company, but it really can be a great crutch for those of us with 4-5 hours alone most days in our albergues. Eliot and Thackeray this autumn, I think.

Ah Trollope! As Sir John Major is reputed to have said "You can't beat a good Trollope"

 

[tpmchugh]

I'm a bit of a luddite and manage most of my life without being umbilically attached to my cell 'phone or laptop. And I quite understand that for some people, the camino is a rare chance to get away from all that.

But for me, modest use (and even more modest understanding of) smart 'phones has genuinely improved my experience of the camino. In 2010, I carried two heavyweight (in every sense) books that I hoped would last me much of the journey, Moby Dick and the longest Anthony Trollope. Because of my liking of the less traveled ways in the less traveled seasons, I'd finished both within days.

Now, thanks to the miracle of kindle, I can carry everything Trollope and Melville ever wrote multiplied by 100 and throw in Cervantes and Dickens as well. I can also skype or text with my family, and it doesn't stop me chatting with any rare fellow pilgrims I encounter, or any locals happy to put up with my execrable accent and grammar. And wonderful wikiloc's maps and routes make me far less likely to get lost, or at least help me back to the path if I am.

I quite understand that it may be sad to see people only interacting with their technology when they have the opportunity to enjoy immediate human company, but it really can be a great crutch for those of us with 4-5 hours alone most days in our albergues. Eliot and Thackeray this autumn, I think.

I carried a kindle with me in 2015. First open Correos I came to, I posted it home. The kindle app on my phone did the job, not that I used it much. Posted home an action camera at the same time. Just another thing to get in the way. Once again, my phone did the job. Did keep a small pocket camera for the times the phone was out of battery

 

[MileHighPair]

@alansykes specifically mentions that part of the reason he enjoys the technology is his choice of walking less travelled Camino routes. I agree with this 100%. On the VdlP, I found my tablet very useful; as a file cabinet for my maps, guide books, reading books for when I was alone, GPS, etc. On the Camino Frances it seemed that the smart phones, etc. were mostly an obstacle to face-to-face interaction. This was just my observation, and I know like so many other topics, others will have another point of view.