Even though the COVID-19 pandemic severely curtailed nearly all international discretionary air travel, there are signs of a rebound. Perhaps even a massive rebound that may catch airlines unprepared.
Recently The B.C. Catholic spoke with a subscriber and inveterate traveller who enjoys spending part of Canadian winters in warmer climes far to the south. We’ll refer to him as Eric W. Specifically Mr. W had some interesting insights into the technology he takes with him on these extended stays out of the country.
He hopes to be able to resume such trips this coming winter, and he is particularly keen to see some form of vaccination passport to simplify border crossings and aircraft travel. He expects that such a passport will be digital in nature and that he will be able to have it on his phone.
“When my wife and I first began travelling I realized my technology needed to be relatively up to date. We were experiencing failures from the laptop in order to be able to run Netflix, Skype, and YouTube. Video demands sometimes caused the streams to fail.”
Having worked in the tech sector, Mr. W couldn’t help but observe many travelling seniors were typically dependent on their children for technology hand-me-downs. Such devices, he noted, often struggle with the latest video requirements. In Eric’s case, his determination to travel only with recent technology meant that his adult children were sometimes recipients of hand-me-down technology.
Changes in technology were impacting Eric’s experience while travelling, and a breakdown in a charging pin on his wife’s travel tablet computer led to a technology plan built on redundancy. That breakdown occurred on another jaunt, in Spain, and although he was in a city known for its technology conferences, he was unable to get a replacement part.
Another experience, in Mexico, in which a faulty battery replacement in a mobile phone led to the battery swelling and cracking the screen, convinced Eric to become completely self-reliant when it came to his travel technology.
Eric’s current travel package consists of quite an arsenal of gear: a Microsoft Windows operating system laptop as the primary machine for productivity work (banking, email, all personal management), a Samsung tablet, mainly used by Eric’s wife, a Microsoft Surface Pro 4 and Surface Pro 7, which are basically backup devices in case of cabling or other failures, and of course cell phones (iPhones).
The cell phones are indispensable, Eric notes. Upon arrival in the foreign destination he immediately purchases a local SIM card for the phones. Besides communicating with family back home, the phones are key to the use of ride-sharing services such as Uber, his primary mode of transportation in foreign destinations.
Eric also lugs along a Nikon L340, a digital camera with a high magnification. Although not a piece of recent technology, it is ideal for his needs when he needs high zoom for a shot beyond the capabilities of his iPhone.
Eric is very keen on the move to USB C ports on the Surface Pro lineup. Specifically, he brings along a USB C to HDMI cable so that he can be sure any Netflix or YouTube content can be fed to the TV screen in his accommodation if the other devices have any difficulties in that regard.
As for the recent-model Apple Watches (bought as refurbished units for around $200 apiece) that he and his wife wear, Eric reports that they have become indispensable. They are used for exercise data, texts, emails, and for safety. In particular, Eric and his wife want the automated notification that goes out to emergency services should either fall. He fondly refers to his watch as a walking cardiac doctor.
Mr. W came to the conclusion that not only did he need reasonably up-to-date gear, but he was determined to not have to depend on local outlets should there be a cable or device failure of one sort or another. Finding repair facilities in foreign locations may be difficult, and the outcome may be uncertain, as he experienced with the battery replacement.
On his last extended trip he used the technology lineup described in this column. He had no snafus and he expects on his first post-COVID-19 trip to make use of the same gear he was using just before the pandemic declaration.
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