The glamour of travel is DOA

International travel has been stripped bare with the arrival of the Eurostar service and an increase of low budget airlines throughout the UK and Europe. The Eurostar is a perfect example of making travel effortless and quick, however it is inarguably void of the glamour and excitement once associated with international travel.

 

For all its well-intended ease and speed, international travel has become boring, travellers no longer feel pampered or important. Films such as The Aviator depict a time when international travel was a big deal, it was exciting. Waiting in airports and the flights were an enchanting and fascinating experience. But not any more.

 

The operators ofcourse would argue differently, they would claim that they have still managed to create a travellers caste system that would rival anything you would find in India.

 

At the top echelon is the Business and Premier passenger, not only are they treated to a separate area with plush seats and refreshments, their superiority is further accented because their “Premier” area is only separated from the common traveller through clear glass. Staring into a goldfish bowl of laptops and suits, is the only way those yearning for such luxury can vicariously experience the lives of the other half.

 

This is how everyone used to feel when travelling- any traveller used to feel somewhat successful and exclusive if only for the duration of their flight and airport waiting time, which was incontrovertibly a lot longer than the 30 minute check in time required by the Eurostar, but wasn’t that part of the charm? On the most basic level international travel made the average Joe feel exclusive and important. This is no longer a liberty allowed to those who cannot afford the exorbitant Business or First Class fares. The industy has been stripped of all the pleasures that once made the average Joe traveller feel, if only for a day, glamorous.

 

As much as we all love to get cheap and efficient travel, the glamour and excitement of travel is dead.

To Blog or Not to Blog?

Everything I thought I knew about blogs and their authors was wrong.

 

Until today my perception of bloggers was that of self indulgent, socially inept cyber lemmings who choose to function in a protected cyber world which ensures they were exempt from any meaningful interaction or discussion.

 

 I do not want to hear about what John Smith had for breakfast or that his commute into town this morning was painfully slow. To me, this seemed like a waste of words, space and my time.

 

However, after a day spent discussing the increasing importance of blogging in the evolving media arena, I reluctantly admitted that my views had to change.

 

Apparently not all bloggers are self obsessed internet addicts who genuinely believe that their mundane existence is so riveting that I will put time aside each day to scroll through their rants and blow by blow account of why the number 83 bus was three minutes late and how it ruined their whole day.

 

I am still somewhat sceptical but admit that I dismissed blogs too quickly. I have been assured that the level of narcissism that seeps from blogs  I have been unfortunate enough to read can successfully be diluted into something both valuable and thought provoking.

 

It would seem that  I have been looking in the wrong places. There are a large number of quasi-professional blogggers whose postings are insightful, challenging and often provide access to an opinion that I may not have previously considered. Surely this cannot be a bad thing.

 

There may be an occasional ‘bus timetable’ blogger or the blogger who writes a novel because somebody left the milk out overnight, but these poor souls are not the majority.

 

So, I am joining this revolution. I am to become a blogger. I will not mention the number 83 bus. I promise.