Am I the only one who travels without a smart phone and/or laptop?

[FINFAN]

Like the OP, I'd have to own them to travel with them, lol. I swear some people actually hurt themselves trying to figure out how I am talking on an archaic clam-shell cell phone. Now, to be fair, DH uses both all the time for work travel, I can get by with hotel facilities. I agree they can make life so much more convenient since we are expected to be "on-line/accessible" at all times ~ so I do see the value in them. I find you can either embrace the technology for leisure travel ( with the on line check ins, pre printing boarding passes etc from eh convenience of the palm of your hand) or you can choose to *turn the switch off*, check in at the desk, get your boarding pass there, look at the actual monitors in the airport for arrival/departure times...pay your bill as you leave the hotel etc....but it is nice to have access to banking while traveling these days, that is one convenience I really like with technology.

 

[Colleen27]

Not at all. I had a laptop for years but when it came time to replace it we decided on a desktop instead, because I just didn't care enough about the portability to compromise on price or performance to get another laptop. The one nice thing about it was the ability to unload my camera while traveling, but a couple extra memory cards cover that just as well.

I resisted the smartphone thing for a long time, but after using Lines, Mapquest, and a few other mobile sites from my old web-enabled dumb phone while traveling I did finally come to the conclusion that upgrading to an Android made sense. For the $50 purchase price and $10 extra on our wireless bill I have much easier access to all of that, and since we're a road trip sort of family (other than our WDW trips) it makes travel much easier/more convenient.

 

[Colleen27]

The reason you're so bad at navigation is most likely that you rely on your phone. The way that people build spacial maps in their brain is by observing their surroundings and learning the placement of things.

Getting directions from your phone short circuits that experience to "TURN LEFT" "TURN RIGHT" "GO THERE" which prevents you from actually building an internal map of where you are.

You could say that your phone is making you stupid, direction-wise.

I think people tend to be either good or bad at navigation by nature. It is only the younger (and I'm saying that as a 32yo) generation that has always been able to rely on phones/GPS for directions but there have always been those who just aren't good with directions. DH is that way - he needs exact, turn-by-turn directions to follow because he has no natural sense of direction and doesn't have a good memory for places (and he drove a moving truck for 10 years, pre-GPS) . I, on the other hand, have always been able to navigate; by 8yo I was riding "shotgun" on family trips to read the map/triptik and give my mom directions, and I have a natural sense of compass directions that is immensely helpful even without a map.

 

[angierae]

Call me addicted to my phone, I won't be offended. But there's nothing on my phone to "disconnect" from on vacation. When I'm on vacation, my employer doesn't call me or expect me to do any work. Anything I'm doing on my phone on vacation I am doing for _pleasure_, which is the point of vacation, no?

To each his or her own, of course. People who choose to leave their phones behind or not have a smart phone are of course perfectly entitled to do so. But I'm not doing anything "wrong" because I choose to have mine with me to stay in touch with family and friends (and friends who ARE family) while I'm on vacation.

 

[TinkPirateMom]

I never get to vacation without my smartphone and laptop. Go read all the posts about I contacted my TA 35 minutes ago and she hasn't responded yet and that is the reason why. Everyone wants their TA to have seen every hotel room they are considering staying in but nobody wants to hear that they can't speak to their actual agent when they want to.

 

[disneychrista]

I do not own or have plans to ever own a smart phone.

If the hotel I am staying at has free internet access, then I will bring my laptop.

 

[crazelion]

I have a feature phone that has internet access which all I need. It does have Google maps but it slow as h@ll. I now have itouch and andriod tablet that I will take on vacation. But it helps keep the kids occupy while i am driving or on the bus. Do i stay connected all the time no. I phone probably don't even ring on vacation at all.

 

[POOHsie]

I have a pre-paid cell phone that I use when I'm away from the house. I would like to have a smart phone, but the cost and contract commitment aren't justifiable.

I would also like to stay Deluxe at WDW. I could splurge and do it, but it seems truly wasteful at my income level. As it is, I always stay at a Moderate, POR or POFQ. To someone else who only stays at a Value resort, perhaps my Moderate seems truly wasteful. It would be hard to argue that point.

We all have to honestly evaluate our true needs vs. cost of unnecessary extras. I can't tell you how many people I know who have smart phones, Netflix, cable TV, Kindles, but struggle to meet their monthly bills. One or the other of the above items seems to be cut-off occasionally for temporary lack of payment. Seems these items are a budgetary monkey on their back.

 

[pixiewings71]

The reason you're so bad at navigation is most likely that you rely on your phone. The way that people build spacial maps in their brain is by observing their surroundings and learning the placement of things.

Getting directions from your phone short circuits that experience to "TURN LEFT" "TURN RIGHT" "GO THERE" which prevents you from actually building an internal map of where you are.

You could say that your phone is making you stupid, direction-wise.

haha, this is so wrong it's actually comical. You must have missed the statement I made about getting my first smart phone just 1 year ago, it was 1 year ago this month actually. So no, this is absolutely NOT the case for me. I do not have a GPS in my car either so prior to having the smart phone I didn't have navigation assistance at all, unless I checked mapquest before leaving the house, which I rarely did. I simply did my best and muddled through it, which was not ideal. lol

No some people are just horrible with maps. Period.

My husband has never been good with them and that was proven long before GPS's and turn-by-turn apps ever entered our lives.

This is 100% true, I am terrible with maps, absolutely horrible! Luckily my DBF is a whiz with them so he's always been our navigator.

I think people tend to be either good or bad at navigation by nature. It is only the younger (and I'm saying that as a 32yo) generation that has always been able to rely on phones/GPS for directions but there have always been those who just aren't good with directions. DH is that way - he needs exact, turn-by-turn directions to follow because he has no natural sense of direction and doesn't have a good memory for places (and he drove a moving truck for 10 years, pre-GPS) . I, on the other hand, have always been able to navigate; by 8yo I was riding "shotgun" on family trips to read the map/triptik and give my mom directions, and I have a natural sense of compass directions that is immensely helpful even without a map.

I'm definitely not 32 and I still forget that my phone will navigate me where I want to go. lol It's actually a source of comedy among my friends, we all joke about how I'd get lost unless I've driven somewhere at least 10 times....and it's pretty much true. I'm simply bad at navigating.

DBF and I joke about how he needs navigation for the mall and I need navigation for everything else, how that guy can get lost in our tiny little mall I have no idea but he does.....LOL

 

[GOOFY26]

No your not the only one I don't have me either.

 

[Adipoo]

We travel with two smartphones, two iPads, usually only one laptop (for work emergencies).

And we like it that way.

 

[mdsoccermom]

We also travel with laptops, iPads and smartphones. Doesn't mean we're attached to them all day. However, DH and I have businesses we need to keep up with. Plus, we like to keep in touch with people, post pictures, etc. Having access to all my travel apps has also helped me in a huge way with flight delays, etc.

If you don't want to travel with gadgets, fine. If you want to, fine. There is no right way.

 

[Scurvy]

No, OP, you're definitely not the only one who travels without a smart phone or laptop. Several of my friends and family members don't have internet access when they travel - and I know this because they tend to call me to ask me to look things up for them since they can't do it themselves. I've had people call me to ask me to look up when a store will be open or when it will close for the day, where the nearest doctor/drugstore/dentist is, restaurant recommendations for wherever they happen to be, and all kinds of other things. I've looked up lots of phone numbers, sports scores and driving directions for people who don't have smart phones of their own. It could be that even more people I know also travel without smart phones or laptops, but they aren't asking me to find things out for them.

I don't mind finding things out for people, I really don't. It does strike me as hilarious though that some of the people I look things up for most often are also the most vocal about how unnecessary smart phones are, or about how they don't need to be "connected" when they aren't at home. Well, of course you don't need a smart phone or a laptop - you're using your "dumb" phone to get me to look things up on the internet instead.

Personally I love my smart phone. I love being able to find out anything I need or want to find out at almost any time. It's so convenient to have one when traveling that I'd never voluntarily choose to go without one again.

 

[AndreaDM]

Call me addicted to my phone, I won't be offended. But there's nothing on my phone to "disconnect" from on vacation. When I'm on vacation, my employer doesn't call me or expect me to do any work. Anything I'm doing on my phone on vacation I am doing for _pleasure_, which is the point of vacation, no?

To each his or her own, of course. People who choose to leave their phones behind or not have a smart phone are of course perfectly entitled to do so. But I'm not doing anything "wrong" because I choose to have mine with me to stay in touch with family and friends (and friends who ARE family) while I'm on vacation.

Hear hear! I'm on vacation right now, we've been in the car all day and I'm typing this on my iPad which goes everywhere with me along with my iPhone. Just because we survived for years without smart phones doesn't mean we can't enjoy them now. . Playing Words has kept me from going crazy on this long drive. Don't worry, we'll squeeze in some family time! O, and I'm 42, perfectly capable of reading a map, but guess what, I don't have to!

 

[kathie859]

Good grief! I won't buy a hand bag that doesn't have an area for me to put my cell and IPad in it comfortably. I can't imagine traveling without the ability to quickly get directions or hours of operation of someplace I want to go.
I love taking photos with my phone and sending them to my kids and grand kids and sending messages to my friends. I have two friends that I stay in close contact. One is off visiting a daughter in Alaska, one is spending a month in Florida and I'm off to California this week. If it wasn't for IPad's we'd never talk!

I will say that when I worked (retired now) I turned off my cell or I would be interrupted a few times a day and I hated that. But now technology is my friend--not a bother.

 

[Squirlz]

We need to check in on our business occasionally while traveling. we tell our customers that we won't be filling orders, but twice our shopping cart has gone down while we were on the road. That needs to get fixed right away.

Also we regularly have customers e-mailing about a problem with their animal. A timely answer could literally mean the difference between life or death.

Our phones and GPS tell us traffic and weather conditions ahead. I guess my phone has made me too stupid and unobservant to know traffic is stopped 3 miles ahead!

 

[Alyssa88]

I always have my smart phone on me, one time I walked to the fax machine at the office. I think that's the longest we've ever been apart, lol.

 

[marie1203]

I travel with my smartphone and my laptop that doesn't mean I use them. I like to have the internet capability if necessary. Before I use to leave my phone in the hotel room now since we have a dog that gets out when we leave I keep my phone with me at all times. I have his tracking app and it let me knows right away.I also use line time apps for disney and other things that make our vacation easier. I do not pick up phone calls unless they are from my mom or sister because then I know its an emergency They know better then to call during vacations. However I do not surf the internet, check bank accounts, or any of the daily things.

 

[Makcarly]

I'll bring my iPhone with me but I won't be bringing my laptop. I took a cruise a few years ago lugging that thing from airport to airport was no fun and the ships internet was slower than molasses that it just wasn't worth it.

 

[mrodgers]

Our cell phones are only a connection between my wife and I when we are at work, and the occasional contact with the kids (usually them asking if they can play the x-Box or on the computer just from another room in our tiny house, LOL.) If we are traveling, we are usually right next to each other, so really no need to have the phones. They are handy at Walmart though because no matter how much Wifey promises she will be "right here", she is never "right here" and I end up hunting her for an hour, LOL.

The phones are just AT&T pre-paid, so they are very limited on data. They are real smart phones, but at only $10-15/month, they are extremely limited. I basically only use mine on wifi at home or work. They are not used for chit-chatting away, we don't use facebook or twitter, nor do we even use email at all. We are very private and keep to ourselves pretty much and don't really have friends that we have to stay in touch with constantly.

Since it is pre-paid, I keep it updated with 10mb data for $5/month. If I was traveling (haven't since getting the phones at Christmas time) I probably would add 500mb for $25 just so I had it if we did need it. It certainly would be useful on the road when wanting to look something up on the net.

I have a work issued laptop and I would take it along with me. I don't take it for social things, mainly it is used to dump the camera cards on every night. I would surf a few minutes at night, but not much at all. I am hourly at work, thus work is left at the timeclock when I leave the building. The laptop is for being mobile around the manufacturing plant I work at and not for keeping in contact with work when I'm not there, so I don't need to take it on travel because of work.

So, yes I would have them both, a smartphone but limited and a laptop, but they would barely be used. We only had a single Tracfone we shared when we went to Disneyworld and only had 2 Tracfones when we went to Myrtle Beach. Disneyworld the phone wasn't used at all, only there incase we needed to contact or needed contacted for an emergency by family members at home. Myrtle Beach, most of the use was my wife texting me from the balcony as I trudged out to the beach to gather up our stuff if we left it telling me "sexy man on the beach" or something silly.