How do we Travel?
How we travel has changed immensely over the last decade. We no longer spend however long queuing in a travel agents waiting to speak to someone only to have them talk us through what we’ve already researched and trying to persuade us to spend a little extra for a “deal” they currently have going. No, we’re the generation that want instant gratification. If we want to go on holiday we can do it from our bed, in our car or while eating breakfast. We just need to go online or use an app and that’s our flight booked. We don’t even need to book a hotel anymore, we can stay in someone else’s home using resources like “airbnb” and rate each other on whether we were good tenants/they were a good host, receiving an entirely different stay.
But that’s not all that’s changed about our holidays. Nowadays, if we want to go, part of the research I mentioned usually involves using websites such as trip advisor to find ideal spots, where to go if you want to snap some pretty photos, where the closest beach might be. Then using google maps to find out how to get from point A to point B; tip, if you have to make more than 2 changes on public transport, you should probably ask a local instead. I know this might sound scary, they might send you in the wrong direction or might misunderstand you but I am going to draw on actual experience to examine some of the pros and cons of how we travel today, both when getting away from home and what we do that differs from the UK.
I’ve used Airbnb a few times, both here in the UK and when I’ve gone away. I usually end up (by chance) to choose somewhere being rented by English people so the language barrier has never been something for me to worry about. However, booking from someone who knows the area, I’ve found, means getting what feels like insider knowledge on it. They can tell you about the best places to check out and how to get somewhere. They can let you know the best times to visit an area, when alot of tourists might be about or some of the smaller things you won’t find on tripadvisor.
This leads me to my next point; exploring. I’ve found some mint little spots when travelling just from having a little explore of the area, keeping an eye of my location on google maps. I think you gain a far better sense of a place doing this, taking your trip into your own hands and not having a strict itinerary of what you’re doing and when you need to be somewhere and how long you can stay there. You enjoy what you’re doing a lot more this way. Below are a couple of basketball courts we found while staying in and around Barcelona, there are a few of these dotted about, almost like play parks for children (but for adults), so they’re not mentioned on websites to go visit but they’re really cool little spots if you’re ever in or around Barcelona.
I’ve even found that the transport is different from here in Manchester. The bus had each stop show up on a screen, as did the trains, when visiting Barcelona, so you needn’t even keep an eye on your surroundings to know where you are. This was excellent as someone who doesn’t know any Spanish and so wouldn’t be able to ask someone if we were near the stop I needed to be at. One train even had all the stops with a red led turned on under the stops we had already passed. One thing I mentioned in class when talking about smart cities was how difficult traveling in the UK can be. Had English not been my first language I know for a fact I would have gotten lost. Any time road works were being done I was always stressed about where I was going to end up, what route the bus was going to take to get me home. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to sometimes just getting off the bus when I saw a mass of students get off and following the general crowd. Also, cable cars. I’ve not seen alot of the UK i’ll admit, i’m a girl from Northern Ireland who’s seen very little of England but we need to get cable cars in. Going on one allows you to really take in the whole city, to see it all at once. It’s a great thing to do at the start of a trip et a better grasp of how large (or small) a city you’re in.
I typically like to avoid crowds, so this means I naturally avoid anything that is too touristy. Not because I’m not interested but just because I don’t like paying a lot of money to feel uncomfortable and squashed. But that cable car was worth the 11 euro, especially after the small hike to get to it.
__________________________________________________________________
I think my favourite thing about this module was being in a class with students that weren’t all studying the same course as me. It was interesting to hear their perspectives and thoughts, and seeing where their ideas were coming from. This was a gentle reminder to be think larger than what I may previously have been, to not just think about people as individuals but to think about the world and how we can all affect it together; what we can do to help it instead of always being focused on how to make ourselves more comfortable.
I remember through the module learning about adverts and technology in the home being things that stood out for me. I felt like I learned about a lot of smaller technologies that I wouldn’t have paid much attention to if it wasn’t for others pointing out some of the possible drawbacks, and what could go wrong f technology was to end up in the wrong hands. It was interesting hearing about other peoples’ thought on the tv show Black Mirror but coming up with more real scenarios from it, based on how our technology is moving. It’s made me think a lot more critically when I hear about something new.
This helped me achieve on of my goals with this module which was to write better blog posts. I knew we were graded with blog posts but I think they discussions in class are what helped the most. I was made to think outside the box on topics I wouldn’t usually touch and feel I can now bring a lot more to the table as someone who would like to go into marketing and content creation.
