Why Oh Why Wifi?

Let me start by saying I am no spring chicken & what I am about to write would have todays teenagers gasping in disbelief. When I first started going on holidays abroad, the only form of contact with home was writing a postcard (with a pen and fingers and everything), sticking a stamp on and posting it back to blighty. It wasn’t that phones hadn’t been invented – I’m not that old, but the call charges were very expensive. The postcard would generally arrive around a week after we returned from our trip, but hey- it’s the thought that counts. And it was great to re-live the holiday memories that always seemed so distant.

As technology developed and international telephone calls became a little cheaper we allowed ourselves the luxury of the odd call home to let the folks know we were ok. It was always fun trying to tell Granny everything we had been up to with the 3 minutes left on the phone card before the beeps went and cut us off.

Then in the noughties mobile phones really came in to their own and we were able to text or call home to let our loved ones know we had landed safely, to advise them we were off to the beach, had got sun burn, partied hard, met someone from the same town (would you believe that!) or whatever else we had got up to.

And now we have entered the world of social media. No longer are we happy with a postcard arriving telling us what we were doing 2 weeks ago. We want up to the minute facebook and twitter statuses letting the world know exactly what we are doing and when. And in order to do this whilst we are on holiday we need wifi. There is a part of me that likes being completely cut off from the rest of the world whilst I am on holiday. It forces you to have actual conversations with your companions (with mouths and eye contact and everything). It stops that sad site of people who are away together, but on their phones and tablets completely oblivious of each other. And above all it makes a holiday a real ‘getaway’. If you’re catching up with what everyone’s doing at home all the time you’re not really having a getaway.

Don’t get me wrong when I’m on a cruise and we hit land I would generally choose a cafe or bar advertising free wifi than one that didn’t. My personal favourite app for keeping in touch is Whatsapp. For those that don’t know about it, it’s basically a free messaging service where you can send texts, photos and videos and as long as you’ve got wifi it’s completely free. Also there’s a little part of me (and probably most of us if we’re honest) that likes to let all our friends at home know that we’re in a hot & sunny paradise whilst they are working and probably shivering back home.

Most cruise lines charge for wifi usage and some can be incredibly expensive, but if you can’t go for a few days without checking up on the rest of the world click here for some great tips for getting free wifi whilst cruising.

How times have changed! Are you pleased that international communication is cheaper and easier or do you yearn for the getaway days of old? Let me know what you think by commenting below.