My Online Self

OK, so I have a million people I really don’t care about on my Facebook, I stream the latest music on Last FM and I regularly trawl technology blogs to keep abreast of advancements but what I really don’t understand is why I’m addicted to this screen in front of my face. Maybe because I use the web in almost every aspect of my life, to keep in touch with friends, for shopping, managing my money, and for entertainment . . . . basically I’m a typical 20 something . It seems that today we are more about living our lives through this window into the so called ‘World Wide Web’ than life itself. And what scares me is that it’s only going to get worse – according to Eric Schmidt (Google’s CEO) we will rely on the web for the most mundane of tasks, we will check videos of restaurants to gauge the ‘atmosphere’ before we eat there and look at potential flats from all angles before we get shown around by the 17 year old Saturday kid who doesn’t really care anyway. Even today most of this content can be screened direct to our iPhone’s so we can do it on the move, god forbid we leave our desks and actually interact with one another.

Hotel 360 degree videos have been common place in the travel industry for years but to be frank, they are awful. One of the most popular websites right now is Where The Hell Is Matt - this insanely happy man wanders the globe and dances like a child high on sherbet lemons and Panda Pops – but it’s incredibly addictive. There is an estimated 20 hours of video uploaded to You Tube every minute and we can’t get enough of watching other people complete the most random of tasks. Let alone the world of photos, the famous site FLICKR estimates that approximately 3 – 5 million photos are updated daily from around the globe. What does all this mean?? Does anyone actually have an experience in life they keep to themselves anymore, does everyone have to know and see everything about everyone else?

Any self respecting traveller these days updates his/her Facebook frequently, logs into WAYN to meet friends, uploads pics onto Flickr, shares ‘hilarious’ videos on YouTube, finds somewhere to stay on Coach Surfing and stays in touch with home through Skype.

When I went travelling I didn’t even have an iPod and to be totally honest I loved the escapism and the feeling of exploration. What is this obsession with staying in touch, my advice is to go explore, experience as much as possible but for the love of god keep it to yourself, the rest of the world is really not that interested.

Woolly Eyes

For someone that works in the travel industry I am completely bamboozled by the complexity of the low cost airlines pricing strategies. Considering I studied Economics at degree level I thought I could master most pricing strategies, then after a few chin scratching moments I finally got my head around it: They lie.

Most of the low cost airlines pull you in with £1 flights and the dream of far flung destinations riddled with blue skies and blue waters. However, the truth of the matter is low cost flights have gone from being a roaring success to a land of hidden costs: baggage costs, credit card fee's, airport check-in fee's, priority boarding, super-special-look-how-comfortable-I-am seats and airports that are so far away sometimes, I think that the pilot they employed was actually blind.

My advice = stop trying to fool us. Most of today’s internet surfers are savvy to these futile attempts at getting more cash out of our pocket so just stop trying. Give us a clear, transparent price that shows us what we really pay and land us in an airport somewhere close to the destination I actually want to go to. In the mean time I’m off to Barcelona for the weekend with Ryanair, flying into Girona for £15 – bring it on.

Travel 'Career' - Which career do YOU value more?

I work to live. fact. Complete and uter textbook cliche but it's because I have a thirst to enjoy more, be happier, experience more, see more, spend more time with my friends, family and loved ones, whatever you may spend your spare time doing I imagine it fulfils your own set criteria to make the daily grudge worthwhile. I look at my annual leave as an opportunity to condense all this spare time 'happiness criteria' into one mammoth binge of enjoyment that I call a holiday.

I like to think that most of my travels are carefully planned and have a lasting impact on my personal and professional life - but how do I know? Don't get me wrong, sometimes it's just a little jaunt with some friends, which I doubt anyone could say enhances my chances of becoming the next Bill Gates. However, one thing I know for sure is that my thirst for travel is well and truely in need of quenching, constantly.

I can't get enough of travelling - it's like some kind of addiction. Like most twenty somethings I gained this thirst during a GAP year where I started my travel career and finally left the UK into the unknown. I consider this the first real stamp in my travel 'Career' Passport. I now avidly look for the best deals on flights, sign up to newsletters, look out for new exciting destinations I'm obsessed!

I can assure you I'm not the only one too, so for those working in the youth travel market this type of trend is positive, with the current state of todays economy who knows when the older generation will start exploring again but I can safely say I'm happy to put up with Ryanair's cheapo seats if it means I get another fix. With technological know-how on my side and access to super fast internet at home the world really is waiting to be put on my travel CV.