Editor’s Note — Monthly Ticket is a CNN travel series that spotlights some of the most fascinating topics in the world of travel. In August, we go back in time to revisit some of the greatest retro travel experiences.
(CNN) — It’s your first time in Eastern Europe, you don’t speak the language, and you don’t have a smartphone (or even a cell phone). But you’re confident because you have a great guidebook to… Yugoslavia?
Your book is so old it’s not even a country anymore. You need to find a pay phone, but what country code is the US? And how much change does it take to make an international call?
Eight months later, you finally return home and promise never to leave your zip code again.
For those who have only known the Internet, it is easy to imagine that this is what sightseeing was like before it came along.
“The first thought people probably have is to be amazed that anyone could even travel a mile from home without Waze and Instagram,” muses Chuck Thompson, author of “To Hellholes and Back: Bribes, Lies, and the Art of Extreme Tourism.”
Yet people traveled before the Internet.
Just ask Troy Haas, president and CEO of Brownell Travel for two decades and counting.
Founded in 1887, Brownell is the oldest travel agency in North America. Their longevity is all the more remarkable because they had to survive what Haas calls “a one-two punch — the reduction of airline commissions and the arrival of online travel agencies.”
Not to mention some extra body punches from Steve Jobs. Because in 2007, Apple released the iPhone. And in 2008 they opened the App Store.
“A flood of technology was unleashed,” recalls Aron Ezra, chairman and co-founder of software company Plan A Technologies. At the time, he was still at his first startup, MacroView Labs. While today Plan A creates “complex custom software platforms and digital transformation solutions for all kinds of different organizations,” back then it was all about apps.
These included a couple that offer “geo-targeted content for the Las Vegas area,” which Ezra describes as being like “a virtual concierge.” Suddenly, a traveler had the opportunity to spend a day exploring The Strip and all the Long Island ice creams it has to offer, then pull out their phone and instantly discover they could still get Cirque du Soleil tickets.
In short: These times completely changed the way we travel. (And the way we live, period. If you had told someone in the 1980s that there would come a time when the average American spent over five hours a day on their phone, they would have said, “Five? I hang up after been on hold for two hours, tops.”)
This is how we trod the globe before the internet. It was not the most effective approach. Then again, while we get so swept up in the Wordle that we can barely bring ourselves to binge watch another season of the hottest new show, it’s also not like we’re models of productivity today.
A travel agency in Illinois in 2002.
When it was so easy to go offline
When it was so easy to go off the grid
Before the Internet, if you told someone you wanted to meet them at a certain place and time, you had to:
• Remember what the place was. See the article : Chomsky is excited about why “science is not enough” to address the current state of climate change.
• Show up roughly when you said you would.
It seems impossible, but it was real. This was our cruel world. Because when the two of you left your respective landlines, you were both unreachable until that fateful meeting.
Was it an intense way to live? Absolutely. Yet there was also a certain “que será, será” spirit. Because if something went wrong and you couldn’t make it to that meeting… We understood that it was easiest to just make a new friend.
Put yourself in the main room as we begin our travels.
The research
“I have lots of old envelopes stuffed in boxes in my basement with brochures and maps and information sheets sent to me by state parks in Wyoming, small towns in Italy, hotels in Malay islands, etc., in response to phone and email inquiries I sent them to ask for information before the trip,” says Thompson.
That’s how you found out what was out there. On the same subject : Netflix is cutting even bigger than you think (Bloom). And once you chose one of those places, you made damn sure you took its essential pamphlets with you.
It was the 1970s and Tony and Maureen Wheeler had a dream: to travel from London to Sydney overland, or at least as much as they could. They embarked on a unique journey that changed global travel forever.
Getting there
If you’ve seen the Keri Russell/Matthew Rhys series “The Americans,” you know their Russian spies have a cover career: They run Dupont Circle Travel. See the article : M Health Fairview addresses health issues through innovative solutions.
Why? Because they have to go all over the place at odd times to kill people, and in the 80s this was perfectly reasonable behavior for travel agents. (Maybe not the murders. The rest of it: normal.)
After all, if something went wrong on your trip, you didn’t have an internet to save you. You just hoped your agency had your back, be it Travel, KGB, or whoever else would accept a discount for AAA members.
Want a story about a travel agency coming through in a huge way? Haas has it: “In the 1930s, one of our agency owners, Jennie Brownell, was with a group of Americans on tour in Berlin on the day the United States declared war on Germany! She had to change trains four times to get them home safely, because every country would not let their train cross the border and leave.”
And suddenly “saved me 12 bucks on my rental car price” seems underwhelming.
Doing it on your own
Granted, not all travel agents offered Brownell’s Indiana Jones-like assistance. So how hard was it to just manage everything by yourself back then?
Ezra has some insight. Over the years, he has built other forms of travel technology, including booking engines.
He greatly appreciates this innovation: “Before, you had to call the hotel and talk through availability and prices and finally – if you found something that worked for you – read them your credit card information. All the time thinking, do I have to make more calls to see if there’s a better deal out there? Or just take it, because if I let this room go and there’s nothing else and when I call back they say, ‘Sorry, someone else booked it,’ I get a breakdown.”
Being there
Has something been lost? Absolutely. Haas puts it this way: “Some of the wonders of travel, mainly because top destinations suffer from tourism and problems like ‘selfies’.”
Thompson is more blunt: “There were fewer people around, that’s for sure, and that made things a lot easier and a lot more civil.”
They also agree that there was more of a sense of discovery, because when you visited a place, it was probably the first time you saw it in motion. (The guidebooks you lugged had pictures. Embedded videos? Not so much.)
The more things change…
Buzz and click: Slide show hosts had a captive audience.
Thompson says today’s travel documentation on social media can be off-putting, but it’s hardly new.
Back then there were slide shows. And they were rough.
“‘Best of my life’ travel photos on social media have gotten a little uncomfortable, but so was listening to someone drone on about their life-changing trip to Europe while not advancing fast enough to the 14th overexposed slide in a gothic cathedral as you walked into your second class on a mushy couch feigning interest.”
Similarly, Haas says Brownell has survived when so many travel agencies have slipped because it has always stayed true to its mission of being “advisors who create exceptional travel experiences.” (As opposed to just guys telling you that Delta has a 7:30 pm flight but not the usual 8:15 on Thursday.)
Then again, some things really are different, in ways that we should be grateful for.
“Early in my career—in the pre-internet era—I used to travel more days than I was at home,” Ezra recalls. “I was once sent to Brazil at the last minute to attend a meeting. It was conducted entirely in Portuguese. I am deeply grateful to live in a moment where a translation app is a download away.”
Can I enter the US without a negative COVID-19 test?
This means that from 12:01 a.m. ET on June 12, 2022, air passengers will not need to be tested and show a negative COVID-19 test result or show documentation of recovery from COVID-19 before boarding a flight to the United States regardless of vaccination status or citizenship.
How do we achieve herd immunity against COVID-19?
To safely achieve herd immunity against COVID-19, a significant portion of a population would need to be vaccinated, reducing the total amount of virus that can be spread throughout the population.
What is the percentage of people who need to be immune to COVID-19 to achieve herd immunity? We are still learning about immunity to COVID-19. Most people infected with COVID-19 develop an immune response within the first few weeks, but we don’t know how strong or persistent that immune response is, or how it differs for different people. There have also been reports of people being infected with COVID-19 for a second time. Until we better understand COVID-19 immunity, it will not be possible to know how much of a population is immune and how long that immunity lasts, let alone make future predictions. These challenges should preclude any plan that attempts to boost immunity in a population by allowing people to become infected.
Why is herd immunity important in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic?
Herd immunity occurs when a large part of the population becomes immune to an infectious disease, usually through vaccination – limiting the risk of the infection passing through a community from person to person.
When can we expect herd immunity for COVID-19?
COVID-19 is a highly contagious disease. A large percentage of the population must be immune to the disease (through infection or vaccination) before herd immunity will be achieved.
What are the long lasting fruits and vegetables I should buy for COVID-19 quarantine?
The WHO recommends consuming a minimum of 400 g (i.e. 5 portions) of fruit and vegetables per day. Citrus fruits such as oranges, clementines and grapefruit are good options, as well as bananas and apples, which can also be cut into smaller pieces and frozen for later consumption or to add to smoothies. Root vegetables such as carrots, turnips and beetroot, as well as vegetables such as cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower are relatively indestructible. Garlic, ginger and onions are also good options to keep at home as they can be used to add flavor to a variety of meals.
When are you no longer contagious with COVID-19? According to the CDC, data suggest that patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 remain contagious no longer than 10 days after symptom onset. Those with severe to critical illness stemming from a COVID infection are likely not contagious for 20 days after symptoms first begin.
What are the best foods to eat during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Eat fruits, vegetables, legumes (lentils, beans, etc.), nuts and whole grains (such as oats, wheat, brown rice, potatoes and yams) and foods from animal sources (such as meat, fish, eggs and milk).
Are you still contagious with COVID-19 after 5 days?
Chan School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, which has worked on similar PCR-based studies of contagiousness, agrees that ten days is a useful rule of thumb for when people should no longer be contagious. But he warns that a small number of people may still be contagious beyond that point.
How long does the virus that causes COVID-19 last on surfaces?
Recent research evaluated the survival of the COVID-19 virus on various surfaces and reported that the virus can remain viable for up to 72 hours on plastic and stainless steel, up to four hours on copper and up to 24 hours on cardboard.
Can the coronavirus survive on surfaces? It is not certain how long the virus that causes COVID-19 survives on surfaces, but it appears to behave like other coronaviruses. A recent review of the survival of human coronaviruses on surfaces found great variability, ranging from 2 hours to 9 days (11). The survival time depends on a number of factors, including the type of surface, temperature, relative humidity and specific load of the virus.
After how many days should you no longer be contagious with COVID-19?
Chan School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, which has worked on similar PCR-based studies of contagiousness, agrees that ten days is a useful rule of thumb for when people should no longer be contagious.
Can you get COVID-19 from touching infected surfaces?
It may be possible for a person to get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their mouth, nose or possibly their eyes, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.
