WiFi, good or bad?

A Huffington Post article (What WiFi is doing to Backpacker Culture) made me think. Was asking myself some questions. Does wifi in hostels, or everywhere, in fact, change the travelers habits? Worst : is it a threat to backpaker culture?

I started going in hostels before wifi was everywhere. You would pay for a 15 minutes internet connexion and move on to do something else. We would play cards with stangers to kill some time. We would socialize because we had nothing else to do.

With time, it became almost impossible to travel without a compter or an iPad. So what?

In Valentina Jovanovski's article, it is written that hostels are more and more full of people doing nothing but looking at their computer screen. True. I am one of those, sometimes. Because it is a simple way to book a flight, a train ticket or a hostel. Because I want to keep in touch with friends and family. Or simply because I don't feel like talking to strangers. So!

If it's true that it doesn't help with human relationships, wifi is definitely an asset. A hostel without wifi is a hostel that is stuck in the past. And nobody wants to stay in the past.

So what is it we can do to encourage people to talk to each other? Nothing! Almost! Because it belongs to everyone to choose how they want to travel. With or without a computer, if one wishes to socialize, he needs to want to do it. Still, in some places, common rooms are so nice that people will start chatting anyway. Huge rooms with a small amount of seats are too common. Choosing a small hostel is usually a better bet.

I don't feel guilty to be connected 15 minutes a day when I travel. I prefer meeting strangers than sending e-mails to those I'm trying to take a distance from. And if I don't find any good mate in the hostel, I'll find them somewhere else.

The challenge will be to socialize those who watch movies in streaming mode or play games online all day long when they travel. There is alway an exception.

So go read that article and share what you think with me.

Summer is made to play

Taupo, New Zealand

First of all, I know, you're not used to me being silent for that long. It's rare that I stay without a word for a long time, but New Zealand's internet knocked me down.

Free wi-fi is hard to find in that part of Oceania. In McDonald's restaurants, you can only use a certain amount of Mb before being disconnected. In other places, you pay for the amount of Mb used. Upload a picture or a video and hop, no more time left...

So here I am, in Wellington, the capital of this beautiful country, in a chinese restaurant with free wi-fi.

I started my adventure in Auckland, a bipolar city like I call it, like the whole country, where it rains 15 times a day, but generally not for a long time. A mix of Sherbrooke and Montreal, the biggest city in New Zealand has nothing to impress when you first look at it. Luckily, I contacted a couchsurfer who guided me for nearly two days. He for example brought me on an old valcano for some hiking.

Four hours of bus further south, I got in Rotorua, known for it's thermal baths. But most of the points of interest are situated outside of the city. So you need a car. I just decided to walk along the lake and to go to a dinner-show about the maori culture... where I was named maori chief for the night. The lady probably chose me because I was the only lonesome traveler. Having to make weird faces in front of fifty something tourists, most of them being Koreans or Japanese, it means I will probably soon become a star in Asia. When you think of how many videos they took...

The advantage is that I met a Japanese girl I will probably see again in Tokyo, in the end of April or the beggining of May.

The next day, I left for Taupo, where cruises, sailing, skydiving, rafting, bungee and others are on the list of things we can do. I was using the city as a base to go to the Tangariro Alpine Crossing, a 19,4 km trail on the volcano they used for the Mordor in Lord of the rings. Departure : 5:40 in the morning. Start walking : arounf 7 AM. It took around 8 hours to walk the whole trail. Fortunately, my heel and my calf, which were giving me pain in the last few days, were miraculously in shape.

After fighting the sun, rain, snow, hail, rain again, I was so tired. but you'll see, it was totally worth it.

And today, after six hours on the bus, I got in Wellington, the capital. I'm here for a few days, but plans can change after that. Queenstown, which wasn't on my list, seems to be a favorite for all the travelers I meet... We'll see. If the flight is not too expensive.

In the end, note that all the terminals here refuse to read the chip on the credit cards. For an unknown reason, my Visa card wasn't working. After a reverse fee call in the phone system of my bank, I was told something like I was kind of stupid because my card is supposed to work properly. (I'm writing it in my own words). So I'll keep on looking stupid each time my card is not working.