The phrase “nothing is permanent except change” is the center of the teachings of the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus, but it still fits in the modern world. Everything is indeed in constant flux, ever moving forward. Technology is the very definition of the phase. It is ever-changing, improving and innovating. It affects all aspects of our lives in the way we travel around.

According to statistics, every year around 760 million people travel around the globe, to see places, experience culture, and gain experience. Steadily, the number of people traveling has been increasing in the last decade. Around 2 billion international trips are expected to occur by the year 2030. There are several factors that played a role in how we ended up at this number. One factor is that we have changed the way we travel. Technology is in the center of these changes. It made things fairly easy.

Whether you are going to travel for the purpose of a relaxing vacation or a serious business meeting, you should know how technology changed the way we travel.

Affordability

Technology paved the way to make travel more affordable than ever. Before, preparations for traveling came with a lot of expenses and planning tasks. You no longer need a travel agent to book your flight, hotel, and other travel details. Now you can go to a website, choose a flight and hotel, both with ratings and reviews, all on your own. This will also cut your expenses because you can check the prices for different times and even different dates.

Convenience

Some people avoided travelling because of all of the stress of the unknown, but because technology has evolved so much, everything else can be done conveniently. Booking a hotel can be done in seconds. Flights can be check-in without running around the airport. Paying for your items requires nothing but your fingerprints. Going to places for the first time does not get overshadowed by that fact that you might get lost, rather all you need to do is follow a GPS-powered map or download an app.

Connected

Traveling is about going places, away from home. Going on a flight means you are going to create distance between you and your loved ones physically. But due to technology, we have become more connected more than ever – at least virtually connected. Social media is a good example of how technology made it possible for us to reconnect with people whom we have gotten out of touch, whether it is through time or distance. It allowed us to stay in touch with our family even though we are thousands of miles away from them.

Apart from being connected, technology allowed us to stay current and up-to-date with things we are interested in, like TV series we follow. Through the use of internet, VPN or TV connected device, you can still feel like you are home and not missing out on anything.

Capture Moments

Pictures are probably the best souvenir a traveler can have. Before, people had limits on how many pictures they could take and the photo quality could be a bit iffy. Taking photos of your travel destination nowadays is as simple as breathing, thanks to technology. There are even cameras features on phones where you don't even have to press a button. You can turn on the “cheese” feature and the camera will capture it any time someone says “cheese”. It doesn't get easier than that.


More Green
Technology made our world a little better by making us go green. The need for printing your tickets, boarding pass, hotel reservation or any other traveling ticket has passed, if not totally gone. E-tickets are now the new norm. IATA or International Air Transport Association has stopped supplying airports with papers. Not only does it prevent thousands of trees to be cut down, but it is also convenient to know that you do not need to hold a piece of paper while getting lost in the airport.