The Road More Traveled
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Last year during a think tank I realized how much mobile devices are changing my behavior. It started with the first GPS I used, a Hertz Neverlost system that got me to the Orlando airport in time for my flight home. Without this technology my experience would have been very different.
Technology, for the most part, has made my travel life better. Instead of relying on fliers and in-hotel advertisements, I pick my restaurant and entertainment based on what the crowd thinks. I use Yelp for restaurants, Fandango for movies, and my GPS to set my path to each. I don't go to the closest restaurant I see from my hotel, but the one around the block in an alley, like I did at Salt in Vancouver, BC.It's the first time over all the years using computers that technology is having a significant, obvious impact on my life. It is literally molding my experiences wherever I go. So far this has been a good thing but I do feel like I may be traveling the road more traveled, and that worries me. Hopefully we'll see more systems that reward exploration and discovery. This may mean we'll have more bad experiences, but it also means we'll have higher rewards when we do discover something new and amazing.